Review: Lexicon MPX Native Reverb Plug-In

It’s amazing that Lexicon has been able to hold off this long without releasing something like the MPX Native reverb plug-in. You would think as soon as plug-ins arrived on the desktop that there would have been no easier plug-in to create than a reverb with algorithms already written and ready to roll out. But perhaps wisely, they started from the top and worked their way down — with the PCM Native plug-ins predating the cheaper variants. It helped avoid the temptation for users to just jump onboard with something like the MPX and stop there.

The MPX plug-in is based on the MX hardware, and shows it in the GUI. The knob and button styles, and blue faceplate colour are mimicked on the plug-in version. The PCM Native series has entirely separate plug-ins depending on whether you want to apply a Hall, Chamber, or one of the other five reverbs on offer. While MPX stacks them all in the one plug-in shirking the more standardised nomenclature for a range of spatial sizes; from Tight Spots with Voice Over Booth preset, through Rooms, to Giant Spaces like Stone Cathedral and Gymnasium. There are of course chamber, plate and hall presets within those categories, you’ve just got to wind through to find them. It’s a pretty neat, simple navigation system that encourages discovery.

On the control side, you’ve got 10 parameters split over two pages, as well as a mix knob. ‘Color’ is a nice touch that lets you send the reverb to the dark or bright side, and in conjunction with the Rolloff control, gives you plenty of command over the reverb’s tone. Reflection and Reverb Levels, Diffusion, Reverb Time and Predelay are your other main shaping controls, while the Reverb Type (the fundamental Halls, Chambers, Plates and Room behind the more elaborate presets) are bundled with Reflection and Reverb Attack on the second page.

MPX also has an input level meter that’s really handy when setting up bus levels for each channel, as well as a real-time Spectral Intensity Analyser that display’s the effect’s amplitude over frequency.

One noticeable difference between the Native and MPX plug-ins is in the processing power. While Lexicon assured us that the quality of algorithm is the same across all of its hardware and plug-ins, the difference lies in the control and CPU implementation. Allowing you finer detail over the reverb tails and allowing more delay taps as you go up in the range.

This was certainly obvious when testing the processing limits in ProTools. 48 stereo 96k tracks, each with an instance of MPX had a 2012 2.6GHz i7 Macbook Pro with 8GB of RAM hovering at around 60% of native CPU usage. It only took the more processor hungry PCM Native Hall half that many instances to reach the same 60% usage, and it really started to take its toll on the system with only a few more instances.

The MPX plug-in sounds great, but there is a noticeable difference in class between it and the Native version. In attempting to try similar parameter setups on each plug-in (not easy, considering the controls vary between the two), I found the MPX to be more ‘in-your-face’ and crowd the source material a little more than the Native version, which was more subtle and let the source shine through, making it a better choice for vocal material. Overall, the MPX is a great buy, and would fit in anyone’s DAW mix environment as a great go-to tool for quickly finding an appropriate reverb within the single plug-in, with plenty of instances available. Then if a little more detail is required, just jump up to something like PCM Native.

MPX supports VST, RTAS and AU for Mac and Windows, but does require an iLok 2.