Recording - June 2016 - 38

easy-to-use controls. Each of these effects has its own modulation send slider, making it very easy to modulate them in musically interesting ways. Below these effects are non-modulatable
effects including Pitch, Dirt, Motion, Compressor, Tone, Delays,
and Reverb (you can never have enough reverb). Despite how
interesting and well-crafted the naked sound sources are, you
can really breathe expressive life into EXHALE's sounds with
the built-in effects and modulation.
The human voice is uniquely compelling in music, even
when it's not immediately recognizable as a sound source,
and EXHALE takes this concept to a whole new level. It is yet
another must-own virtual instrument from Output. These guys
consistently deliver creative, well-designed instruments that are
eminently useful in modern production... and if you want to
hear what I'm talking about, EXHALE is a great place to
start.-JH

Relab Development LX480
$399; www.relab.dk; www.slatedigital.com

In our February 2016 issue we took a look at the new Slate
Digital Virtual Mix Rack (VMR) which is also part of Slate's
subscription-based Everything Bundle. Said bundle includes
every plug-in in the Slate Digital lineup, as well as the LX480
Reverb plug-in from Danish plug-in developer Relab
Development, which we held over for its own review here. It's
available directly from Relab on its own, but adds substantially
to the value of the Everything Bundle if you're interested in
joining the Slate Digital family.
While the LX480 is currently Relab's only product, Martin
Lind and the Relab team are well known in the reverb world for
designing IK Multimedia's CSR reverb suite, the X-Verb for the
SSL Duende line, and reverbs for the Sonicore SCOPE system.
The LX480 is a software model of Lexicon's 480L. The 480L
was released in 1986 and is arguably the most legendary
and revered reverb that Lexicon ever made. For the LX480,
Relab has painstakingly modeled the input and output stages,
reverse-engineered the 480L's algorithms, and then mapped all
38

RECORDING JUNE 2016

of the unit's original parameters to a visual facsimile of the
original unit's LARC remote interface.
Making use of modern computer power, there are plug-inonly additions and updates as well. You get multiple choices of
analog and digital output noise and anomalies, additional
parameters, additional editing choices to existing parameters,
and you can re-skin and customize the GUI to the look of your
choice (complete with coffee stains) or a cool black modern
look. The LCD screen is also adjustable for color and intensity.
LX480 models the depth and conventions of the original to a
T, including how the LARC interface loads, edits, and stores
programs. Reading the PDF manual is essential, and it does a
great job of explaining what is original, new, and expanded.
As was the case with most Lexicon effects processors, there
were other effects algorithms in the 480L in addition to the
reverbs, but only the four reverbs (Random Hall, Hall,
Room/Plate, Random Ambience) and the Twin Delay algorithms are represented here. Also, to date none of the original
add-on cartridges have been modeled either.
Having said that, most of the original stock reverb programs/
presets are included, along with a host of new ones that take
advantage of the LX480's expanded capabilities. You even get a
handful of additional emulations of the later Lexicon PCM91
reverbs. Of special note is a new algorithm labeled Random Hall
HD which does away with the processing limitations in the original
unit for higher quality spaces, reflections, and sound.
Once you get the hang of the interface, editing and tweaking
programs is a breeze. Unlike the original LARC, you can drag
and edit in the LCD window with your mouse as well as with the
sliders. In terms of routing, the architecture of the original is also
emulated. You can choose between four routing configurations:
Single, Cascade, Mono Split, and Stereo Split.
In my tests, four stereo instances of LX480 ate up just under
half of my CPU power in Cubase 8.5 on a 2011 MacBook
Pro (quad i7 2.5 GHz, 8 GB RAM). Relab's Martin Lind was
surprised at this result, noting that normal load is 9% at most
and usually far less, so your results may be better than mine.
Soundwise this plug-in is a great balance. It has clear and
open spaciousness, yet has the full opulent Lexicon sheen at the
same time. It captures the vintage nuanced sound of the original
well, and sonically falls nicely between Universal Audio's
Lexicon 224 emulation and Lexicon's own PCM Native Bundle,
which is a software port of the current PCM92/96 family. By
way of comparison, the LX480 is not as thick and lush as UA's
224 and leans more toward the Native Bundle in transparency
and clarity, but is much more swimmy.
This is a classic workhorse reverb with a broad number of
algorithms and sounds that work well on everything from
vocals to acoustic guitars, drums, and more, including deep
space soundscapes. If you are a fan of, or have been chasing
the classic Lexicon sound, Relab's LX480 is hard to beat. I'd
like to thank the folks at Slate Digital for bringing it to my
attention so I could tell all of you about it, too!-PV

Sonnox Oxford Envolution
$270 native, $435 HDX, $249 for UAD-2; www.sonnox.com

Envolution is the latest plug-in in the Sonnox Oxford line. It is
available for VST, AAX and AU natively and in AAX HDX as
well (iLok required), and it is also available for the Universal
Audio UAD-2 Powered Plug-in platform. I tested the Native
and UAD-2 versions side by side, and they sound and function
exactly the same.

http://www.relab.dk http://www.slatedigital.com http://www.sonnox.com

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Recording - June 2016