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The Lexicon Alpha Desktop Recording Studio continues the tradition of excellence established by its popular siblings, the Lambda and Omega desktop recording studios.Alpha Studio is a bus-powered 2x2x2 USB I/O Mixer packaged as a complete recording solution with Cubase LE and the Lexicon Pantheon VST Reverb plug-in. The Alpha Studio features one XLR microphone input, two TRS line inputs, and two TRS & RCA line outs. Alphas front panel features an ultra high-z 1/4-inch instrument input for direct to computer recording and a 1/8-inch high powered headphone output for use with professional or consumer headphones.Record anywhere you can carry your laptop! Studio quality hardware and powerful software that turns your PC or Mac into a 24-bit recording studio.FOUR INPUTS: RECORD UP TO TWO TRACKS AT ONCE!Stereo line inputs for keyboards, drum machines or analog output of a CD/MP3 player. RF-filtered TRS active-balanced inputs accept either balanced or unbalanced signals.Low-noise mic preamp with balanced XLR inputs.High-impedance front panel input for electric guitar or bass.PROFESSIONAL MIXER FEATURESSeparate mic and line level input controls with individual peak indicators.Monitor mix control for balancing an audio source between live input and playback mix level while recording. Can be switched to stereo or mono.High-powered headphone amp offers ultra-clear fidelity while delivering ample power for any type of headphones.RF-filtered and TRS balanced Line outputs for speaker monitoring.USB POWEREDConnect to your computer with the included USB cable and record with the included Cubase LE software. No need for a power supply... so you can record anywhere you can take your laptop.
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Technical Details
- Record up to 2 tracks at once- 44.1kHz to 48kHz sample rates, 16-bit or 24-bit resolution
- One XLR mic, two TRS line, and one Hi-Z instrument inputs
- Two TRS and RCA line outputs
- Software suite includes Cubase LE4 and Lexicon Pantheon VST reverb plug-in
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By Jeffrey Wertz (New York City)
I'm an audio professional and radio dj for over 30 years. People who knock this unit don't seem to know what they are talking about.
Back in the early 1980's you couldn't buy any Lexicon box for under $2000. And those were 1980's dollars!
I use this unit with my Thinkpad, radio dj software and a Lacie external hard drive to have access to 50,000 songs while I'm on the air. Granted, I don't record through this unit (I use Pro Tools in my studio), but I can tell you this: for a mere $[...] bucks this unit has that famous pristine Lexicon sound quality that used to cost us at least a couple grand in 1980s bucks.
Great sound. Pro balanced +4 dbins and outs, just the right feature set and high enough reliability for live broadcasting.
I'm more than happy I checked around and selected this fine piece of gear.
By G. Reagan
Contrary to what some think, this does work with Win7 x64 unless I just have an updated version. It will work as a WDM or MME device using the default Win7 drivers and shows up as a USB audio device. I'm using Cakewalk Sonar 8.5 PE so I didn't bother installing Cubase but the following method should work just the same if you want the better ASIO mode.
First google the asio4all driver and install the latest which was the 2.10 beta version at this time. Plug the Alpha in, it will say error but that is probably just the missing Lexicon ASIO driver. Once that installs, go to the Windows sound device panel and set the USB audio device as the default for playback and recording. If the USB audio device doesn't show yet, unplug the Alpha then plug it back in or restart.
Now when you start a program that can use ASIO mode, the asio4all icon will show in the system tray and you can set which devices to use. Adjust the ASIO buffer size if there is any crackle in the playback caused from missing data. I was able to get half the latency compared to the Lexicon driver running in XP so I wouldn't even bother using their driver even when they finally update it.
As for the actual device, it's very solid and has a clean sound with low latency (30-60ms). The base is metal and the top is plastic but an industrial strength. There isn't really much of a choice in this price range for 24bit 48Khz so I consider this a good replacement for default on board sound more than anything. It's nice to have the monitor mix to have 0 latency when needed then switch back to standard playback. One thing I don't like is that the output level is linked to both the headphone and line out so you can't adjust them independently.
I'm pleased with it and give it 5 stars for myself but 3 stars for regular people. It can't really be recommended simply because of the extra steps needed for Win7 x64 which is becoming the default Windows install.
By R C-R
The Alpha works fine with Apple's new OS 10.6 (Snow Leopard), but you will have problems installing the Cubase LE 4 software that comes with it -- the installer will stall at the "one minute remaining" mark & never finish. Steinberg has released a "hotfix" for this 10.6-only issue but it won't work with the Lexicon disc in the product box, probably because that disc has an old version (4.0.3) of Cubase LE 4 on it. That version also has other problems that will affect Leopard users too, so ultimately you will want to get Mac version 4.1.2 or better of the software. You can get the installer for 4.1.2 from Steinberg, but only by accessing its server using an anonymous connection to "[...]" as a guest, or by contacting Lexicon Pro customer support & asking that the updated disc be sent to you. The 4.1.2 installer will still hang if you run it under Snow Leopard, but after you force quit it, Cubase will be properly installed & work perfectly.
But it is definitely worth the hassle. Cubase LE 4 may be Steinberg's "lightest" version of this software but it still is among the most capable products of its type & is the only way you can use the Lexicon pro quality "Pantheon" VST reverb plugin included with the product. Price even Lexicon's cheapest stand-alone reverb unit & you will see why the Alpha is a bargain.
As for audio quality of the Alpha itself, I'm a pro sound mixer & I think it is quite good. Most users will not notice that it has fully balanced, +4 dB pro level line in & line out connections, but this makes a huge difference when used with other pro equipment. Just understand that it is a 2 in, 2 out interface -- those 3 conductor jacks on the back each take one signal apiece, & this is what you should use whenever possible.
If you are looking for a dirt cheap pro quality interface & software bundle, you won't do better than the Alpha at $80 from Amazon, even with all the hassles of getting the software installed.
By Mr. Vadim Permakoff (NJ, USA)
I needed a sound input / output device for my notebook, which is not that expensive and suitable for home recording. Not for professional recording - just to make a recording of my 6 years old daughter learning to play a piano. So... I was looking on Internet to find some inexpensive (but not the cheapest) USB PC Interface, and I found this device here on Amazon. I was quite impressed by the description of the Lexicon Alpha, which was all about 24 bit A/D converters and all the features, and included Steinberg LE, etc.
I ordered it directly from the Amazon (I mean it was sold by the Amazon, not the other company) a few days ago and received it as expected, no problem with that. I opened the box and I was somewhat disappointed by the cheap look of the device. The box is made from cheap plastic (this I knew from the previous reviews and was not surprised by that), but even connectors are made from plastic! Even nuts on the connectors are made from plastic and all this indicates that it would not last any long. Anyway, I thought, the convertors are 24 bit and they should produce some decent sound, and I don't need anything better.
So, I connected it to my notebook, and voila! - it worked right from the start! My Windows XP did say - new device is found, and did recognize the device as "Lexicon", even without installing the drivers. So far so good. But then I put on my headphones and tried to listen my Yamaha keyboard connected via the Lexicon - it did not sound right! It did sound like some cheapest Casio $20 toy. OK, let me listed the CD, I thought, but CD did not sound any good either, the sound was even worse then I can get from my notebook headphone output.
I thought, may be the problem is that I did not install the drivers. So, I inserted the installation disk and started the installation. The installation started as expected, I did all steps to unplug and plug back the device, and so on. After installing drivers I tried the sound again. Nothing changed. May be I need to restart the computer? I did - nothing changed. May be I need to reinstall drivers? I did - nothing changed. Apparently it was a sound quality, which this device can produce.
At this point I was quite disappointed, but still did not think to return the device. I thought, I needed it only for the simple home recording, may be it will work OK just for that. So, I tried to do some recording, only to realize that the background noise is so bad, that it is impossible to get any decent recording from this device. In other words - it was bad in all respects! I saw one review, where the reviewer did complain about horrible background noise, why did I not listen?
As a result, after several hours lost to make any use of this junk, I'm returning it back and I will probably never buy anything from Lexicon again.
I'm giving two stars to Lexicon Alpha only because it works and it has Cubase LE 4 in the package, but, really, it should be one star.
Updated: to be fair to Lexicon, I should mention that the background noise I got, while connecting my Yamaha to the Alpha audio input, and at the same time connecting Yamaha to the notebook to transfer MIDI using USB. This is what I needed. If you don't need to connect some of your equipment directly to the computer, you may be ok, because you will not have a loop, which will pick up all the noise. However, I should also mention here, that other devices have a ground-off switch (for example, like e-mu usb audio interface, which I got after returning Alpha, and which, I believe, is excellent), which will allow you to connect equipment exactly as I did and have no noise at all.
By D. grindstaff (slightly off to one side)
I will tell you why people are downrating this worthless piece of junk. I have owned mine for a bit over a year and it has had multiple issues on two different systems. When it works, sure it is great but when it takes the hike , give up on it. Better yet save your money.
I have worked in pro studios with a 48 channel STUDER and a Mac, ran OTARI 8 track tape machines and fooled around with Synclavier so I doubt I am the type expecting "too much" from the Alpha. I wanted an inexpensive solution for a carry around break out box to my 24 channel mixxer and laptop or for taking to parties.
ONE look at the Lexicon Pro site says it all. FAIL. Not a single post praising the machine just a lot of deleted posts and a few asking where the Heck IS support.
[...]
I got the Alpha with an eye on Ableton LIVE which actually is awesome. The fully functioning Cubase LE 4 that comes with the Alpha is all I have to show for my 119$
Computer techs (more than one) agree it is not the computer, software conflicts .etc- it is the unit it's self.
I am sure at least some of the units are not defective, mine did not act up until it was off warranty.
The problem?
Slow or non-existant support.
Old drivers.
Independable and obviously of cheap manufacture.
I will quote a post on the Lexicon Pro site:
Sadly, after rebooting the Alpha is once again making the noises and is crunchy and pops like a burning fire.
I will set it aside for now and save for a better soundcard.
Good luck, I doubt I shall bother returning to this forum.
I remember when Lexicon was the KING of tech back in the day. We used Lexicon in the studio at the recording music production school and the reverbs and delays were exquisite. I advise Lexicon to discontinue this card and stick with audio effect devices and avoid the fails.
I see the list of "Sister companys" on this website and will avoid buying a single product again based on the issues here. I have owned or own at least 4 of those other products. This is like watching a Dr. pick his nose then asking us to ...say.....ahhhhh.
So go ahead and buy this, save your receipt and be ready to return. If and when you play Live through this and the audience heres a ceral commercial don't say you were not warned.
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