Lexicon PCM70 Editor

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Lexicon PCM70 Editor & Librarian, currently at v1.3

This Editor / Librarian has been built & tested on a PCM70 running on Firmware 3.01

Features:

  • Edit all Parameters in Real Time
  • Edit all Patches / Modulation
  • Save your Patches to Disk, then Load them again later
  • Write the v2 Presets to the REG Memories of your v3 PCM70 for the best of both worlds

Bug Fixes in v1.3

File Browser was blank in the Mac Versions, now fixed!

Various Warning messages would fire off when running up a Restricted Instance, now fixed!

Download Panel: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Apb6P_37oe5eh_l8rnsHyKpMAoiPhA?e=HnzY4q

Download Windows .exe: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Apb6P_37oe5eh_lpeeomqyuHJk8KSg?e=zoV7Gq

Download Mac .app: https://1drv.ms/u/s!Apb6P_37oe5eh_l7nhzQJkNdg8d-WA?e=mfMHgb

29 thoughts on “Lexicon PCM70 Editor”

  2. Hey !

    I’m about to buy one, and also the eproms to update.
    Could you quickly explain how to use the preset system ? My dream workflow would be to be able to load into the editor, and then to the hardware the original Lexicon presets. Then tweak, and later recall the current editor state via the “send snapshot” function. Is that possible to do ?

    Another thing I’m interested to know is this : is a bi directionnal communication necessary ? In my setup I often have trouble with midi out from synth going back to the computer. My interface looses focus kinda… So I’d like to know if I can operate the Lexicon via the editor, only with midi out from the computer, to midi in of the reverb unit.

    Lastly : do you recommend a snapshot delay (in ms) for the recall to succesfully work ? I know that these old units can have slow response. My Matrix 1000 is terrible in this regard.

    Thank you anyway. This little editor seems to be a good “enabler” to explore the old lovely unit.

    Louis

  3. Hey !

    I’m about to buy one, and also the eproms to update.
    Could you quickly explain how to use the preset system ? My dream workflow would be to be able to load into the editor, and then to the hardware the original Lexicon presets. Then tweak, and later recall the current editor state via the “send snapshot” function. Is that possible to do ?

    Another thing I’m interested to know is this : is a bi directionnal communication necessary ? In my setup I often have trouble with midi out from synth going back to the computer. My interface looses focus kinda… So I’d like to know if I can operate the Lexicon via the editor, only with midi out from the computer, to midi in of the reverb unit.

    Lastly : do you recommend a snapshot delay (in ms) for the recall to succesfully work ? I know that these old units can have slow response. My Matrix 1000 is terrible in this regard.

    Thank you anyway. This little editor seems to be a good “enabler” to explore the old lovely unit.

    Louis

  4. When you put in the v3 EPROMs all your Preset Memories will change to the v3 ones. I’ve added a function that will load all the original v2 Presets that you lost, into the Registry Memories, that way you have all the v3 and the v2 Presets available.

    I have to admit I’m not familiar with the Snapshot system, I imagined you would load an Effect then tweak it, and then choose whether to save your tweaked Effect to Disk and / or to a Registry Memory. That was my imagined workflow.

    I think bi-directional operation is necessary tbh, I wrote it that way, certain things would work with only one way communication but you would be missing a lot of functionality.

    • Ok thanks. Actually you know I only need to be able to recall what I have going on in the editor, on a given session. Being able to send the editor panel state to the hardware at the beginning of a session and be done with it (or possibly repeating this a lot because you have one reverb and many tracks lol). So, I mean, what would be nice is to have, in the editor, the factory presets from Lexicon, because if I understand right, they are well programmed, sweet starting points. Then from there, only with the editor interface, edit things (the hardware interface is no longer necessary at this point), switch quickly thru the lexicon presets etc.. Basically work my way to a good sound, and one that is fully RECALLABLE. these are the only thing I need to do with the editor. So in a nutchell you thing the editor can do that ? I have downloaded your editor already, but I can’t tell for sure, without the hardware, if this will work in my workflow. I might have to give it a shot I guess ..!

  5. Out of the blue, could you look via your unit if the snapshot function you find in the top menus allow you to send all the editor state to the hardware ? And this only with midi out from the computer, to the midi IN of the hardware ? I’d be immensely thankfull. Again, it’s really the only thing I need, no need to stock any presets on harddrives, or in the unit itself, here :). CTRLR is so good because it can act as a very smart remote control, that takes care of synthesis (the panel) and memory/librarian (the daw sessions). The clumbersome hardware interface is not a factor anymore ! It’s the best of both world !

  6. Hey, this is awesome. I just got a Lexicon M300 and was thinking about making a panel for that model. Any chance you were planning to work on that as well? If not, I might give it a shot and inspire it based off this PCM70 one, it looks great.

    • I don’t think a M300 will be forthcoming, as I’m currently still trying to find the time to finish the PCM80 Panel I’m working on, and since it’s much more complicated than the PCM70 it is going to take a looonnggg time! Glad you like this one though 🙂

  7. Hey, awsome panel, thanks man! I’m having some trouble loading presset from the machine. Mine is changing pressets and values when I change them in the ctrlr but nothing happends when I hit Active Program Request… any ideas what could be wrong?

    • Edit: My interface has a “MIDI In” LED that do flash whenever I hit the Program Request button and the screen of the pcm does the glowing thing it does when some parameters change.

      • The ‘Active Program Request’ is just a way of synchronising the Panel to the current state of the PCM70. If you have changed Presets from the Panel then the Panel will already be synchronised to the PCM70 so pressing the ‘Active Program Request’ will appear to do nothing on the Panel because all the Parameters are already synchronised! The way to check it is to disconnect the Hardware from the Software, make some changes on the Hardware, reconnect the Software to the Hardware, Press the ‘Active Program Request’ and hopefully the Panel will then change to reflect the state of the PCM70. If not, let me know and I’ll try and troubleshoot it.

  9. Spiffo, excellent work! You managed to get all functionality in there, I’m truly impressed! I’m on Mac 10.14.6 with a PCM70 v2 and all works perfectly except:

    1. File browser shows nothing but the light blue background. Am I missing something in the structure of the save/load process? I can save presets as .syx, to disk, but don’t seem to be able to load them from disk. Saving from the panel to the PCM REG works as expected.

    2. After changing parameters the PCM70 won’t recognize a program change (or active prog request), but the PCM display just give a small blink while still showing the previously edited parameter. If I however press the PGM button on the PCM, program change works as expected. Could this behavior be due to the fact I’m on a PCM70 v2 (and not v3.01)?

    All the best
    Karl

    • Hi I have the same problem with a pcm70 v3.01 and ctrlr version

      Version = 6.0.26, Build date = Mon, Oct 07, 2019 4:33:24 PM, Branch = Stable, Juce = 5.4.1, libusb = 1.0.19, liblo = 0.28, lua = Lua 5.1.4, luabind = 0.9.0, boost = 1.57.0,

      1) I don’t get the program names when I change presets
      2) if I click load v2 preset the button doesn’t do anything and immediately goes off
      3) I cannot save presets
      4) program change and parameter change seems to work only when the PGM switch is selected

    • Hi, yes I’ve finally got a MacBook so I can test on Mac. You are right the File Browser is completely blank, it must be something to do with the different File Structures, it could be I have to tweak it and provide a Mac Version so the File Save & Load will work. I intend to get onto that soon!

      • Hi Spiffo,

        if you have something like:

            fileToRead =
        utils.openFileWindow(
        "Open sysex dump file for Korg MS2000(r)",
        File.getSpecialLocation(File.userDesktopDirectory),
        "*.syx",
        true
    )

        it won’t work on Mac:

        You probably need

            fileToRead =
        utils.openFileWindow(
        "Open sysex dump file for Korg MS2000(r)",
        File.getSpecialLocation(File.userDesktopDirectory),
        "*.*",
        true
    )

        • Thanks dnaldoog, that could be another issue I need to look at. The main reason the File Browser is blank on a Mac is because the uiFileListBox has it’s uiFileListCurrentRoot set to C:\ which obviously does not work on a Mac. Setting it to /Users/ instead seems to have done the trick!

    • Yes, it’s been built & tested on PC and the PCM70 I have has v3.01 Firmware. I’m only one man with a day job so it’s just not possible for me to test & troubleshoot on all possible Firmware and systems, sorry!

          • OK, so Program Change & Parameter Changing only works when the PGM LED is ON on the Hardware? And the Active Program Request does NOT work for you? Could you post the Firmware Version running in your PCM70, the Ctrlr Version you have installed and whether you are on PC or Mac?

      • The behavior is exactly as described above by kyaal:
        1. File browser shows nothing but the light blue background. I can save presets as .syx, to disk, but don’t seem to be able to load them from disk. Saving from the panel to the PCM REG works as expected.

        2. After changing parameters the PCM70 won’t recognize a program change (or active prog request), but the PCM display just give a small blink while still showing the previously edited parameter. If I however press the PGM button on the PCM, program change works as expected.

        At the beginning, when the preset name is still displayed on the pcm-70 display, you can switch presets with ctrl. But after turning some parameter in ctrl, it is highlighted on the pcm-70 display and further switching between presets no longer works. The display only blinks, but nothing happens. For what the field with presets on the right in the panel is responsible, I do not know because it is empty.

        Changing preset parameters, nevertheless, always work, but after touching them, the preset cannot be changed to another from ctrl.

        Lexicon PCM70 Version 3.01
        MacOS Mojave 10.14.6
        Ctrlr-5.3.198

        • OK, Version 1.3 is out!

          File Browser is fixed for Mac, I’ve tested File Operations on a Macbook Air running Monterey and everything appears to work normally!

          If you change a Parameter on the Panel then the Hardware drops into Editing Mode and will then ignore incoming Program Change Messages. This appears to be the normal behaviour of the PCM70! Unfortunately the MIDI Spec is not very sophisticated and there seems no way of making Program Change Messages start working again remotely from the Panel, you just have to remember to push the PGM Button on the Hardware, sorry that’s just the way it is!

  11. Great panel! Thank you so much for your efforts.

    I found a bug. The app doesn’t send program change. So I have to manually change the program on the pcm 70 and after this sync the panel to pcm. This is not a big issue but would be great if this would be fixed. I’m on Windows 10. I use the standalone app. The panel is buggy when I open it in the ctrlr app – the sync function is not working at all.

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