Like ppl have mentioned: FX hardware is not the best place to start.
If you want to get started with outboard, I’d start with the input (preamp, tracking compressor) and the output (bus compressor).
Those will give you the biggest returns when starting out with analog hardware
Personally I find it hard to justify outboard digital effects as vsts are so good. Yet to find any outboard digital delay or reverb better than plugins, unless deliberately lofi digital is your thing (old Yamaha and Roland delay units). As far as considerations, the number of ins outs on your interface and spdif can be nice for outboard digital things
Agreed. I'd start with analog preamps, compressors, channels strips, EQs, etc - things that improve source sounds and make mixing easier. ITB spacetime effects (reverb & delay) are incredible now and there isn't much to gain, IMO.
If you do want outboard reverb, get real spring and plate units.
I agree with the other comments that there's not much point in getting an outboard digital reverb in your case. But also, that price is AWFUL. There's one on [reverb.com](http://reverb.com) for $140. One on eBay for $120.
A little pro tip for people looking to use hardware that don’t have tons of money and just like the status of having it; the sound should be low on your list of reasons for the investment. My reason? I like the workflow, I like being able to resell stuff I’m that I buy used, and having knobs helps me work through my adhd. The sound? It’s fine. It’s different and I really like they, but people would be perfectly happy with my ITB mixes. Additional tip: avoid stuff they can’t be repaired, and find a local who can repair stuff and you’ll live a killer analog life.
Will you use it on 75% of your mixes? If not, I wouldn't bother. I used to have a small collection of nice pieces (including a Lexicon MX400) and I ended up selling it all over time.
Building a collection of different flavor preamps and mics would honestly be the most justifiable outboard gear investment for anyone who doesn’t run a studio.
And maybe an FMR RNC : )
One thing to consider is the 500 series. As others have mentioned, outboard for digital effects makes no sense. Anything non-linear is worth it (compressors, preamps, saruration units).
You need good converters for it to be worth your while. Otherwise you'll get the outboard effects with lots of latency, unless you measure the delay created by each piece of gear and input it into your DAW to be corrected. But the amount of delay is going to differ with each different time-based effect you're using. So it's almost useless.
The best way to use digital outboard gear is to send a digital input into it so it skips the conversion.
Basically:
Your converter sends an analog output (based upon the 0s and 1s of your recorded audio) to the input of the digital gear, that's one conversion, the digital processor converts that analog signal to digital then the effect is applied, the digital processor does another conversion back to analog, then your converter converts that analog signal back to digital.
Computer->interface analog output (D to A conversion) -> digital processor input (A to D conversion) -> processing-> digital processor analog output (D to A conversion)-> interface analog input (A to D conversion).
If your interface can't handle that without making your reverbs sound super out of time, that's not something you should buy right now.
If you can send a digital signal into your outboard gear without ever going into the realm of analog and returning, you are almost gold. (IE: ADAT, S/PDIF, AES25/50, MADI, Dante, but these are almost never found on old gear with the exception of S/PDIF).
Plugins are just as good (though I'm naturally biased to think that digital outboard actually sounds "better" if it's older/ if I get to turn an actual knob instead of using my mouse), and don't require any AD or DA conversion.
Here's some advice I wish I had a few years ago:
If you want to start a rack full of cool audio stuff, you need to start with focusing on equipment for recording. This could be preamps, compressors, EQs, that all hit your signal before converting to digital and going into your computer. Analog audio travels more or less at the speed of light (cable length slightly changes delivery, so there is not any latency. Even then you can use your analog outboard processors, and their delay time will almost always be the same, so you can set in your DAW the correction for the full trip DA AD conversion. Digital outboard should wait for when you have a crazy good converter and understand how to fix latency in your DAW.
EDIT: Downvoted for being right
Unless you already have a hybrid setup and a good board to mix through -- please don't. Outboard beyond a couple specialty pres and maybe some compressors for tracking is a waste and is going to introduce the potential for noise, distortion and latency. And you will never resell the thing, either.
Buy things that can't be recreated completely with plugins. High-end preamps, tape machines/tape delay, spring reverbs, plate reverbs etc.
It's better to spend money on really good mics than buying digital hardware FX. With plugins you can recreate digital hardware units with 99.9% accuracy, but you can at best get maybe a 20-30% accuracy when trying to do the same with a microphone modelling software.
I have about 20 outboard reverb/multi effects by Alesis, Behringer, Korg, Lexicon, T C Electronics and Zoom including the MX200. The most I payed for any of them was about $250 (for a new MPX100 when they first came out). Most were between $100-$200 second hand. Some of them I got for less than $100. (I am using New Zealand $$ values, considerably lower than the US$). The MX200 is my least favourite of them, beaten only in badness by the Behringer. I do prefer knobs on the front for adjusting effects in real time. You could have some fun with that and learn a few things along the way. And you might like its character as much as I dislike it. But I think $325 is over priced, especially if that is US$.
> most I *paid* for any
FTFY.
Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in:
* Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.*
* *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.*
Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment.
*Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
to be honest for those units is not worth it these days. there is a lot of Really good Plugins that sounds as good or even better and cheaper. unless you want a specific unit that no plugin sounds like it like the BRICASTI M7 for [example. ](http://example.in)In my case i have a Lexicon PCM 60 and 80 and i use them all the time in Vocals and drums. sound just fantastic and still cant find a plugin that i say that is time to sell them. probably it will be really a hard to sell anyway. if you want buy Gear spend money on other things like Preamps if are into recording for example.
Like ppl have mentioned: FX hardware is not the best place to start. If you want to get started with outboard, I’d start with the input (preamp, tracking compressor) and the output (bus compressor). Those will give you the biggest returns when starting out with analog hardware
Personally I find it hard to justify outboard digital effects as vsts are so good. Yet to find any outboard digital delay or reverb better than plugins, unless deliberately lofi digital is your thing (old Yamaha and Roland delay units). As far as considerations, the number of ins outs on your interface and spdif can be nice for outboard digital things
Agreed. I'd start with analog preamps, compressors, channels strips, EQs, etc - things that improve source sounds and make mixing easier. ITB spacetime effects (reverb & delay) are incredible now and there isn't much to gain, IMO. If you do want outboard reverb, get real spring and plate units.
I agree with the other comments that there's not much point in getting an outboard digital reverb in your case. But also, that price is AWFUL. There's one on [reverb.com](http://reverb.com) for $140. One on eBay for $120.
Yeah fuck that. IMO good pre amps are the only things worth buying
Is Undertone Audio a good pre amp?
Never used one but they look awesome
A little pro tip for people looking to use hardware that don’t have tons of money and just like the status of having it; the sound should be low on your list of reasons for the investment. My reason? I like the workflow, I like being able to resell stuff I’m that I buy used, and having knobs helps me work through my adhd. The sound? It’s fine. It’s different and I really like they, but people would be perfectly happy with my ITB mixes. Additional tip: avoid stuff they can’t be repaired, and find a local who can repair stuff and you’ll live a killer analog life.
Will you use it on 75% of your mixes? If not, I wouldn't bother. I used to have a small collection of nice pieces (including a Lexicon MX400) and I ended up selling it all over time.
Consider not buying it and instead getting 5 plugins that will be easier, faster and higher quality
Building a collection of different flavor preamps and mics would honestly be the most justifiable outboard gear investment for anyone who doesn’t run a studio. And maybe an FMR RNC : )
One thing to consider is the 500 series. As others have mentioned, outboard for digital effects makes no sense. Anything non-linear is worth it (compressors, preamps, saruration units).
What’s your reason for wanting to buy it?
honestly, its cheap and would be my first piece of gear
That is more than that unit was at retail. You should be able to find an MPX1 for that price
Ok but do you like how it sounds? Do you have enough IO in your interface? Have you looked for similar plugins or impulse responses instead?
You need good converters for it to be worth your while. Otherwise you'll get the outboard effects with lots of latency, unless you measure the delay created by each piece of gear and input it into your DAW to be corrected. But the amount of delay is going to differ with each different time-based effect you're using. So it's almost useless. The best way to use digital outboard gear is to send a digital input into it so it skips the conversion. Basically: Your converter sends an analog output (based upon the 0s and 1s of your recorded audio) to the input of the digital gear, that's one conversion, the digital processor converts that analog signal to digital then the effect is applied, the digital processor does another conversion back to analog, then your converter converts that analog signal back to digital. Computer->interface analog output (D to A conversion) -> digital processor input (A to D conversion) -> processing-> digital processor analog output (D to A conversion)-> interface analog input (A to D conversion). If your interface can't handle that without making your reverbs sound super out of time, that's not something you should buy right now. If you can send a digital signal into your outboard gear without ever going into the realm of analog and returning, you are almost gold. (IE: ADAT, S/PDIF, AES25/50, MADI, Dante, but these are almost never found on old gear with the exception of S/PDIF). Plugins are just as good (though I'm naturally biased to think that digital outboard actually sounds "better" if it's older/ if I get to turn an actual knob instead of using my mouse), and don't require any AD or DA conversion. Here's some advice I wish I had a few years ago: If you want to start a rack full of cool audio stuff, you need to start with focusing on equipment for recording. This could be preamps, compressors, EQs, that all hit your signal before converting to digital and going into your computer. Analog audio travels more or less at the speed of light (cable length slightly changes delivery, so there is not any latency. Even then you can use your analog outboard processors, and their delay time will almost always be the same, so you can set in your DAW the correction for the full trip DA AD conversion. Digital outboard should wait for when you have a crazy good converter and understand how to fix latency in your DAW. EDIT: Downvoted for being right
Unless you mix on a console I don’t see a point buying digital reverb outboard any longer.
Unless you already have a hybrid setup and a good board to mix through -- please don't. Outboard beyond a couple specialty pres and maybe some compressors for tracking is a waste and is going to introduce the potential for noise, distortion and latency. And you will never resell the thing, either.
Buy things that can't be recreated completely with plugins. High-end preamps, tape machines/tape delay, spring reverbs, plate reverbs etc. It's better to spend money on really good mics than buying digital hardware FX. With plugins you can recreate digital hardware units with 99.9% accuracy, but you can at best get maybe a 20-30% accuracy when trying to do the same with a microphone modelling software.
I have about 20 outboard reverb/multi effects by Alesis, Behringer, Korg, Lexicon, T C Electronics and Zoom including the MX200. The most I payed for any of them was about $250 (for a new MPX100 when they first came out). Most were between $100-$200 second hand. Some of them I got for less than $100. (I am using New Zealand $$ values, considerably lower than the US$). The MX200 is my least favourite of them, beaten only in badness by the Behringer. I do prefer knobs on the front for adjusting effects in real time. You could have some fun with that and learn a few things along the way. And you might like its character as much as I dislike it. But I think $325 is over priced, especially if that is US$.
> most I *paid* for any FTFY. Although *payed* exists (the reason why autocorrection didn't help you), it is only correct in: * Nautical context, when it means to paint a surface, or to cover with something like tar or resin in order to make it waterproof or corrosion-resistant. *The deck is yet to be payed.* * *Payed out* when letting strings, cables or ropes out, by slacking them. *The rope is payed out! You can pull now.* Unfortunately, I was unable to find nautical or rope-related words in your comment. *Beep, boop, I'm a bot*
Oh no! The spelling police bot got me. Off with my head...
to be honest for those units is not worth it these days. there is a lot of Really good Plugins that sounds as good or even better and cheaper. unless you want a specific unit that no plugin sounds like it like the BRICASTI M7 for [example. ](http://example.in)In my case i have a Lexicon PCM 60 and 80 and i use them all the time in Vocals and drums. sound just fantastic and still cant find a plugin that i say that is time to sell them. probably it will be really a hard to sell anyway. if you want buy Gear spend money on other things like Preamps if are into recording for example.
Not a fan of LiquidSonics Seventh Heaven?
Consider that you definitely don’t need them in almost any situation.
Don’t buy hardware reverbs. Spend $325 on good pluginhs
Primarily consider whether you actually need them at all or whether you just GAS for some fancy looking boxes.