01—Chase Bliss Audio
CXM 1978
Recreating the Lexicon 224 — the reverb behind every Steely Dan record and every '80s film score — in a stompbox.
The most accurate Lexicon 224 you can buy without paying ten grand for the rack unit. If you make records, this earns its space.
02—On the bench
A digital reverb modeled on the Lexicon 224 — the rack reverb that defined the sound of the late 1970s and early 1980s, from Steely Dan's Aja to Vangelis's Blade Runner score. Chase Bliss built CXM 1978 in collaboration with Meris and a former Lexicon engineer to chase that exact 16-bit, plate-and-hall-and-chamber lushness that no other digital reverb has quite matched. Four modes (hall, plate, room, chamber) plus a 'modulation' control that adds the slow chorusing that gave the 224 its three-dimensional bloom. Stereo in and out. The 'tank' is huge — decay times stretch into the tens of seconds, and the algorithm holds together at every length.
- 01the actual 224 hall, not a 'lexicon-style' approximation
- 02modulation knob is what makes it sing
- 03stereo image is wider than the box should allow
- 04holds together at 30-second decays
- 05plate mode is dryer and percussive
03—Contested claims · 1
Where readers pushed back.
04—In the room
Where else this pedal lives.
- Andy Othling
- Justin Vernon
- Adam Granduciel
Strymon BigSky covers more reverb territory for less, but won't get you the 224 specifically.