REX50
Digital Multi Effector
This is a cool, old funky unit from the late '80s. I think it's a bit underrated, because it offers quite a lot of different effects - basically the little brother of the SPX90 - it's very flexible, dead easy to program, and small & compact.
For those of you who remember the digital effects of the magic '80s, this is a machine that can offer them in spades. Even the digital distortions typical of the era are well represented. The delay/echoes in particular are very good on this machine, and the reverbs - while not sparkly and full of detail - have plenty of character. This multi effect is good for any instrument, from keys, to guitar, bass, and vox.
I used a Roland JV-2080 (expanded) with its internal effects turned off. I fed the 2080's stereo outs directly into the REX50 ins. The dry sound is played first, followed by the processed version.
| Effect with audio sample | My comments |
| 01 - REV 1 HALL | Classic hall. There seems to be a hint of chorus also, in this preset. Nice. |
| 02 - REV 2 ROOM | Smaller room, warm. |
| 03 - REV 3 VOCAL | Nice platey vocal reverb |
| 04 - REV 4 PLATE | Great and realistic!!!` |
| 05 EARLY REF. 1 | Typical '80s, and very good! Warm and nice. |
| 06 GATE REVERB | In full Phil Collins style |
| 07 DELAY L,R | Awesome delay program! It really sounds like a tape-based delay!!! |
| 08 STEREO ECHO | Very cool and techno |
| 09 STEREO FLANGE | Typical '80s pedal flanger style. |
| 10 CHORUS | More '80s for you. |
| 11 STEREO PHASING | Gentle phaser effect. |
| 12 SYMPHONIC | Here I'm just hitting the bypass button - you can clearly hear the effect. Great! |
| 13 REVERSE GATE | Fantastic reverse gate, sounds like something John Lennon would record! |
| 14 ADR-NOISE GATE | Useful noise gate. |
| 15 COMPRESSOR | Perfectly usable compressor, it actually sounds nice! |
| 16 REVERB & GATE | More '80s coming your way... |
| 17 PITCH CHANGE A | Very cool, albeit crude pitch changer! |
| 18 PITCH CHANGE B | This one allows to make three-part harmonies. |
| 19 PITCH CHANGE C | And this one spreads out the harmonies in the stereo field. |
| 20 PAN | I tweaked this preset a little bit - to make it sound like a tremolo effect a la David Lynch/Angelo Badalamenti. |
| 21 DISTORTION | Aaaaaahhh... and here we have the typical digital distortion of the '80s. Love it or hate it, it's a particular sound. |
| 22 DIST.+REV HALL | Doesn't sound too bad... |
| 23 DIST.+REV PLATE | See? Digital distortion can sound warm and analog!!! |
| 24 DIST.+GATE REV | Cool |
| 25 D.+REVERSE GATE | Reminds me of Bowie for some reason. |
| 26 DIST.+ DELAY | Supremely techno. |
| 27 DIST.+ ECHO | More of the above. |
| 28 DIST.+ FLANGE | Like hearing a rock song from the '80s. |
| 29 DIST.+ CHORUS | Hair metal. |
| 30 DIST.+SYMPHONIC | A la Jimi. |
- compact and light;
- dead easy to use;
- offers MIDI control;
- great delays and special effects
| Features at a glance | |
| Year of release: | 1987/88 |
| Display: | yes, LCD numeric only, red on black |
| Preset Effects: | 30 in ROM, 60 RAM |
| Sound generation method: | PCM |
| MIDI: | in only |
| Sound expansion capabilities: | n/a |
| Outputs: | Two stereo ins, two stereo outs |
| Controls: | buttons only (classic digital era..) |
| Dimensions: | |
| Weight: | |
Available at www.yamaha.com
Links
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