Lexicon Omega Desktop Recording Studio

• Record up to 4 tracks at once
• 44.1kHz to 48kHz sample rates, 16-bit or 24-bit resolution
• Two XLR mic, four TRS line, and one Hi-Z instrument inputs
• Two TRS line outputs, S/PDIF and MIDI I/O
• Software suite includes Cubase LE4 and Lexicon Pantheon VST reverb plug-in

You will see basically two kinds of reviews for the Lexicon Omega: Reviews from people who love the features and reviews from people who have had problems with the unit. This is because the Omega has some very serious quality control issues with their overseas manufacturing.

I have read many user reviews and have found that as many as 1 out of 4 people have had problems that make this device unusable. If you happen to get a good unit it will be great for a home studio or even a portable system that you can take on the road. Unfortunately many, many units have hardware defects. These cause the unit to disconnect, corrupt the host computer, and add digital noise to the mix.

Some people mistakenly believe that this is a driver issue or a configuration issue. Lexicon tech support will try to lead you down this path before they admit the quality problems. Don't believe it. I have done software and hardware engineering for almost 25 years and I can assure you that if your Omega unit acts erratically, it is most likely a hardware failure. Send it back and insist that they fix it while it is still under warranty.

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I've owned the Lexicon Omega for 2 years. It worked for a few months, then began behaving very erratically. It will connect/disconnect from the computer constantly, and even caused my computer to get the 'blue screen of death.' (My computer has never been the same and I am having to replace it now.) I returned it to the manufacturer while it was still under warranty. However, it still did not work when they returned it to me. Now it is out of warranty. It definitely has defective craftsmanship. I have heard some good reviews for this product, so if you get a good one, then you are in luck. However I'm not willing to take that chance again. I definitely do NOT recommend this product to anyone.

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Simple interface, high quality mic preamps, powerful headphone amp. The inputs and outputs can be balanced or unbalanced. Cubase LE is great software and easy for beginners to learn. My only complaint is that there is no power switch on the interface, and the unit gets fairly warm after being left on for awhileyou have to manually unplug it or build a switch into the cable.

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The sound quality is very good. One of the requirements I had was a DB/peak meter on the device, instead of in the software. This really helps remove clipping and distortion on the digital side, as you are controlling the peaks at a much better stage of the digital conversion chain.

Installation of the software was a breeze, with one exception. When I first tried it out, I didn't really read the directions and left the device set as the main audio device in windows, and got no audio from it. You can't set it as your main sound device in windows (but you can in individual applications). I assume this is to keep the signal clean. I am using a relatively old system (athlon 750, 500m ram, 20G HD, usb 1.1) and was pleased that I had no issues with recording on this system yet (Except when the HD got full, then it started skipping on recording and playback. This was fixed easily on my end). So far I have recorded up to 8 stereo (16 mono) tracks with no issues in playback or recording.

The included software is a huge bonus. I normally use Audacity and Cakewalk, but the real-time use of VST plug-ins in Cubase are nice. I'm still trying to figure out Cubase. When I first tried the lexicon reverb, I thought it sounded terrible. However, I discovered that in Cubase, the inserts default to 100% effect in the mix. When I corrected the wet/dry mix it sounded much better.

As far as hardware goes, the unit seems solidly constructed. It is bigger than I expected from what I saw in the photos, but is not obnoxious considering the knobs and jacks that have to fit somewhere. It requires it's own power (separate from USB) but that is good because it reduces another source of line noise by separating the power line. It could be taken somewhere with a laptop (assuming there is a power supply) but I am not sure it was designed as a portable device. The knobs all seem solid and smooth. The jacks have a quality "snap" to them that makes them feel sturdy.

My one complaint is that the device isn't intended to be set as the main sound device in windows. This means I had to send the sound card output to a mixer to hear media player or other windows functions at the same time as my audio inputs through the Omega. I can see why they did this to keep windows beeps and bells from ruining your recording but it is a slight annoyance when I want to practice to a CD using the computer. That said, it is a minor inconvenience and outside the scope of what the product was intended for (recording). There may even be a workaround that I am not aware of.

All in all I am happy with it, and it is nice to know that there is still much more I can do with the software that I haven't figured out how to do yet. To me this means that my recordings will only get better as I learn the capabilities of this system.

I wish I could write a good review for this product. From the day I bought it, I have had nothing but problems with it. First time i used it, it was OK but that was about it. I tried recording some demos for an acoustic band and was embarrassed by the unit's lack of repeatability and I mean in simple tasks like getting a selected input to work. Right now the unit acts as a paper weight because my computer won't ever recognize it. Reaper can't see it, audacity can't see it. When I download the omega software, I get nothing that actually recognizes the piece of hardware, just a start menu folder that has 2 PDF files and an option to reinstall and an options to uninstall.

I truly wish this unit would work simply. I just want a simple recording unit to catch a couple tracks at a time. My family is on an incredibly tight budget and I can't keep buying 200 dollar gimmicks that make an attempt at recording to PC. I have tried two other recording setups, one from Korg, and a stand alone unit. To date I have found nothing that works well.