Sony G90 manual Conclusion, Ing the Denon Anechoic Orchestral Music Recording CD

should mention that my loudspeaker array is

less than ideal for assessing Lexicon’s surround

modes. The side loudspeakers are bi-polar (the

Revel Embrace set to bi-pole for music sur-

round, di-pole for films), and the rear speakers

were the point-source Mirage Reference Monitors. Lexicon rec-

ommends seven timbre-matched loudspeakers in an acousti-

cally absorbent room. Nonetheless, I got a good impression of

what each surround mode was doing. (I’ve also heard these

modes in Lexicon’s listening room.)

The subtlest of the music processing modes is called Music

Surround, which sends the left and right signals to the left and

right loudspeakers unaltered. The MC-1 in this mode creates a

low-level center-channel signal, along with side and rear signals

(with seven-channel playback). The side and rear speakers

receive ambient information extracted from the recording.

Delay and steering are used on the side and rear channels.

Music Surround produces a gentle expansion of the soundstage

that takes the presentation out of the front speakers. In Music

Surround, I was never consciously aware of sound arriving

from the sides or rear. Instead, my listening room walls seemed

to disappear aurally, replaced by a larger acoustic. Switching

back to two-channel mode caused the soundstage to collapse

into the front loudspeakers. About 30 percent of the music I

tried in Music Surround benefited from the processing.

Smaller, more intimate music was best reproduced with-

out any processing. The classic Bill Evans recording Sunday

at the Village Vanguard (a superb transfer on JVC XRCD) was

more immediate and direct in two-channel mode, even though

the “Nightclub” surround mode created an amazingly realistic

impression of a club acoustic. In surround, I felt a sonic and

emotional distance from Evans’ introspective expression.

One of the most spectacular examples of two-channel

playback conveying a sense of the recorded acoustic is Keith

Johnson’s stunning recording of Rutter’s Requiem on the Ref-

erence Recordings label. When played back with HDCD

decoding on a superlative two-channel system, Requiem is

transcendent. Could this maximally optimized recording be

improved upon with surround processing?

Requiem didn’t benefit from any of the MC-1’s processing, in

my view. The processing did expand the acoustic, but at the

expense of reduced image specificity. Just for fun, I ran Requiem

through the decidedly unsubtle Cathedral ambiance-generation

mode. Although this was a gross distortion of the recording, the

feeling of being transported to a large acoustic was stunning.

Twenty minutes in the listening chair with the lights off and I was

awestruck at how convincing the illusion was.

I also evaluated the ambiance-generation modes by play-

ing the Denon Anechoic Orchestral Music Recording CD

[Denon PG-6006], an orchestral recording made in an ane-

choic chamber (a reflection-free room). This recording does-

n’t just seem dry; the sound is totally distorted in a way we

never hear in real life. The complete absence of reverberation

allowed me to add effects with the MC-1 and hear exactly the

effect’s contribution to this unique recording. The MC-1’s

reverberation generation was exceptionally clean and

smooth, producing an almost convincing impression the

recording was made in a real hall.

Overall, the MC-1’s music surround modes were more suc-

cessful on some types of music than on others. Most of the

time I preferred two-channel reproduction. Nonetheless, I

found some music discs more involving and engaging in sur-

round sound. That’s a big step for a confirmed two-channel

purist – and a testament to the careful thought that went into

the MC-1’s music-surround processing.

Conclusion

The Lexicon MC-1’s unparalleled array of sophisticated signal-

processing modes represent the state-of-the-art in consumer

multi-channel controllers. For those who listen primarily to

film soundtracks or surround-sound music, the MC-1 provides

exceptional surround performance, unique signal processing,

and a terrific remote and user interface. The thought that

went into the music surround modes and the effectiveness of

Logic 7 were particularly impressive.

If you’re a two-channel music purist looking for a home-

theater controller, the MC-1 may not be for you. The lack of a

two-channel bypass mode that circumvents the MC-1’s A/D

and D/A converters limits the musical performance possible

from your system. It does little good to own a High End digi-

tal processor or turntable if its analog output is digitized by

the MC-1. This shortcoming was exacerbated by the only fair

sound quality of the MC-1’s D/A stage.

If you want the ultimate performance from both film and

music sources, you can always add an analog preamplifier. It’s

a bit of a hassle and adds to the system cost, but the MC-1’s

outstanding film-soundtrack and multi-channel music perfor-

mance make it worth the effort.

M a n u f a c t u r e r I n f o r m a t i o n

LEXICON, INC.

3 Oak Park

Bedford, Massachusetts 01730-1441

Phone: (781) 280-0300; fax: (781) 280-0490

Web: www.lexicon.com

Source: Manufacturer loan

Price: $5,995

A s s o c i a t e d E q u i p m e n t

See text.

Manufacturer’s Response

We would like to thank The Perfect Vision and Robert Harley for the comprehensive review of the MC-1. One of our primary goals in the MC-1 and DC-2 was to improve upon the earlier DC- 1’s audio performance. We procured samples of the latest Dig- ital to Analog and Analog to Digital converters from our vendors and began a series of objective and subjective tests. During this process we came across a prototype DAC from AKM. The per- formance of the AKM exceeded that of every other DAC we tested, and handily exceeded the performance of the DC-1’s DACs, which Mr. Harley noted in his review.

We used several analog and digital sources to compare the ADC/DACs to ensure that even the purists would be satisfied with the results. It was no contest. The AKM converters easily won the subjective listening tests with comments like: “com- pletely neutral,” “dead quiet,” and “extremely dynamic.”

We stand by our decision and feel that the MC-1 and DC-2 shatter the myth that digital audio products are “grainy” com- pared to analog designs. The performance of digital audio prod- ucts has reached the point where the ceiling is now being dic- tated by the limitations of analog.

THE CONSUMER PRODUCTSTEAM

LEXICON, INC.