Lexicon, a division of Harman Specialty Group which delivers high-end Hi-Fi and Home Video devices. It unveils their new digital MC-4 AV processor derived from the MC-12 controller. An AV processor is the brain of your Hi-Fi or Home Video system. This comes after the release of their flagship RV-8 receiver, which is an eight-channel audio/video control center with independent zone monitoring offer control of video/audio source in three zones.
Five composite and five S-video connectors with NTSC, PAL and SECAM compatibility form MC-4’s Video inputs. Three sets of component video input connectors allow for High Definition TV (HDTV) compatibility. Two broadcast quality video switchers provide seamless transition and noise-free output when switching video sources through the MC-4.
Audio: Eight pairs of RCA audio jacks. One can opt for up to eight stereo devices; or one 5.1-channel device and five stereo devices, or two each of stereo devices and 5.1 channel devices for separate multi-channel audio devices (DVD-Audio and SACD). In addition, four coaxial S/PDIF and four optical S/PDIF inputs provide up to eight digital audio sources.
The MC-4 allows for separate Super Audio CD and DVD-Audio source players, plus three HDTV video sources, five DSP engines, eight configurable inputs and an intuitive user interface. The device is THX Ultra2 Certified. It also comes with playback in THX Ultra2, THX Surround EX or LOGIC7 using four separate Analog Devices SHARC DSP engines and a Cirrus Logic DSP engine for Dolby Pro Logic ll, Dolby Digital Surround EX, DTS 96/24, DTS-ES (discrete and matrix) and DTS NEO:6 decoding. Audio conversion comes in eight D/A converters with 24-bit resolution (44.1 kHz to 192 kHz). 24-bit A/D conversion ensures top sound quality with analogue sources.
Wow…! Since it is Lexicon’s “entry” price, it comes at the low ₤3500 proposal. But what a machine.
Tech Specs
8 channels, 8 configurable inputs Up to two 5.1-channel analog audio inputs Analog bypass available for stereo and 5.1-channel analog audio inputs S/PDIF coaxial and S/PDIF optical digital audio inputs Automatic switching between analog and digital audio inputs 24-bit/192kHz D/A converters Stereo side and rear outputs and a dedicated subwoofer output 2 broadcast-quality video switchers 3 component video inputs with full HD-TV compatibility 5 S-video and 5 composite video inputs 4 32-bit, floating-point DSP engines Separate DSP engine to decode Dolby Digital and DTS signals LOGIC7® decoding Dolby Digital Surround EX and Dolby Pro Logic II decoding DTS 96/24, DTS Neo:6, and DTS-ES (matrix and discrete) decoding THX Ultra2 and THX Surround EX decoding 2 trigger outputs Rear panel IR input RS-232 control Rack-mount optionwww.lexicon.co.uk