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That's new old rack day, they haven't made the Vortex since '94. And it was a terrible flop then, because guitarists don't know what to do with weird improvisational effects. There's really nothing like the Vortex, I used one on semi-permanent loan back in the 90s and have missed having one around.

It's certainly not the ONLY delay I'd ever recommend to ANYONE ever. Sure, it does semi-respectable stereo tape emulation in any ridiculous interval you can think of, but that's not why you buy one.

Take your crazy modulated, envelope-controlled weirdness, set them to feed back on each other in one of sixteen algorythms, and well...then realize you can have an A/B preset (which is where the DL6 stole it from, I'm certain) except it morphs between them with inbetween sounds that are sometimes nothing like what's at either end except the rough time of the delay taps. It's also batshit easy to program, no menus ore submenus, just three knobs and a couple buttons.

Ever wanted a delay that degraded the signal repeats to sound like they were being run through a ring modulator and ground to pulp? This is so the box for you.

The only thing that's come close to it in an all in one weird (and then only in one setting) is the Tera Echo.

I rolled the dice on a Vortex over Labor Day weekend - a seller had one up with a no-DOA guarantee but missing power supply (and since it takes the same PSU as my Alesis Midiverb 2 I figured I could check it out and just order another if it was AOK). $100 and yay me.

Does a very credible Leslie sim as well (( know of a few Pink Floyd-worshipping dudes who had one to do Echoes-type stuff) plus the very out there things.

I know a couple people here have one who aren't rack averse.

But damn, all I can say is I don't know why I waited this long to get another one. It's like my evil child has returned home when run in series with the Space Echo. Oh, glorious feedback. Oh, glorious spitting joy.

Sounds interesting, I have a 3ru rack thats just housing a furman power conditioner at this time. Seeing this rack empty is quite bothersome to me since I have to stair at it all the time. Reserving 1ru for an ada mp-1 preamp when I see another one pop up on the cheap. Been thinking about what to do with the last space and looks like you gave me somthing to look into.

I've been pretty curious about the Vortex for at least a year now. I know there's another Lexicon rack that does nearly all of the same functions without the input pot issue that the Vortex (and Alex) sometimes have—not sure if it's worth getting into though.

rfurtkamp wrote: Ever wanted a delay that degraded the signal repeats to sound like they were being run through a ring modulator and ground to pulp? This is so the box for you.

Yes. Would you post a clip?

Yea, can when I'm feeling a little better.

Key on getting the Lexicon stuff of that era is get a return policy. You may pay a little more, but they're alright. It's not the input pot on the Vortex that is the issue, it's the 16-position rotary dial/encoders that were proprietary. Can usually shoot the input on the Vortex with Deoxit/Faderlube and be good, but the other ones...not so much.

There really aren't many good demos of these things out there at all.

This is two tracks of the Vortex with Jazz Chorus, and a little Quadraverb+ for vintage rack fun that I used to make sure it works.



Check out the Loopers Delight archive site for much info on the thing from period users (like the guy who did most of the design). Recommended expression pedal is an EV-5 (it's what was industry standard at the time) as a FYI.

Ok, so I couldn't sleep after all, so you get 100% wet no morphing, no expression pedal Bleen. It goes more ring moddy on the decay if I want it to, but I just stuck with the tempo setting I had it at and made the effect pronounced.

Jaguar > Jazz Chorus > Vortex, ebow at obvious point.

https://soundcloud.com/rfurtkamp/lexico ... et/s-gld0j

I've wanted one since they came out. I've not seen anything else that allows its easy approach to that sort of oddness.

Yea, there really isn't anything like it. It's not a swiss army knife of anything but "let's see what happens" and you lose an hour to knob twiddling.

I've been sitting on one for a while -- never got off the ground with using it because it's really best with two (as in stereo) amps. And I felt like I already had too much equipment to wrangle. But maybe in the future though.

Regarding the rotary knob problem (it can slip/work erratically) there are outboard footswitch units that will advance the unit's settings, do tap tempo etc. So you don't have to actually touch the rotor knob.

Standard Vortex footswitch:


3rd party footswitch with additional functions


Just saying, if your rotary knob goes bad you can replace it, or bypass the manual interface with a footswitch. Bad rotary knob is not the death of your Vortex.

Here's one that works for the Lexicon Jamman. It might also work for the Vortex. Or one can be built.

http://www.ebay.com/itm/Lexicon-JamMan- ... 233ffadf38

Yea, the footswitch sometimes works if the encoder goes bad as an option, sometimes not.

This one is actually really, really clean (input pot scratchy, almost no dust under knobs but was still there so it wasn't exactly cleaned up presale). If there's a problem I'll probably just buy another.

I only looked at the subject very quickly and thought this was about one of the Nord Lead synths.

Lexicon is still sweet shit tho. Carry on.

I've wanted a Vortex FOR EV AR.

Mainly due to Greg Edwards use of one on the early autolux tracks.

Very cool clip! Thanks for posting that! I dig the resonance in the ringy parts.

Yea, I'll be relearning what all the things do over the next few months. It's not a box that has two sounds and done, that's for sure.

Short of a period Eventide, I have everything I ever wanted in my project studio rack in the 90s now.

rfurtkamp wrote: Short of a period Eventide, I have everything I ever wanted in my project studio rack in the 90s now.

Better late than never they say!