Last night I finally sat down and gave special focus to my Erica Synths LRX-02 drum machine. I dug in, created a empty kit in an empty project started to have a play with it. These are my subjective thoughts.

In physical terms, there is a lot to like about the LXR.  Its compact size means it doesn’t take up a lot of desks pace.  Its got a solid metal build that feels reassuring, yet it’s not too heavy to carry around if you wanted it to be part of a portable rig.  The controls feel robust, though I think the buttons feel a little plastic.  Having full size DIN MIDI in and out is nice (no thru port).  If you’ve got very big sausage fingers, you might have some trouble with some of the smaller buttons, but I doubt it.   Its pretty much a perfect size and build, IMHO.

When you turn it on, it loads is OS and the last project you had opened from the micro-SD card slot in the back.  I find it interesting that the whole OS is on the SD since this means the unit will not function without it inserted.  In addition, all memory in the unit is volatile so anything not explicitly saved to the MicroSD will be lost when you power off. 

Using the unit is straight forward, particularly if you’re an old guy like me who remembers the days when Three Letter Acronyms won the day with synth/drum machine operation.  For the most part, there are 4 parameters on screen at one time and you can edit them either with the 4 parameter knobs under the display, or you can turn the Data wheel to select the parameter and then press it to focus just on that parameter.  This is very useful when you’re just getting used to using the unit, as the focus changes to a screen with a full parameter name. 

This system works well, and you get used to it.   There are a few parameter pages and settings hidden behind a shift button and the same combination of shift+button will take you to different places depending on if you’re in Voice or Performance mode.  Not ideal, but you get used to it.

I spent most of my time editing a kit and working in pattern mode.  The kits contain 7 sounds which are digitally synthesized.  Which synthesizer model you can use is limited to which track you are editing (similar to the Elektron Analog Rytm).  I find this curious because it *is* a digital synth.    Seems limiting. 

Since this isn’t a full review, I’m not going to go through each different type and discuss them.  Suffice to say they sound good and give you a lot of possibilities.   I particularly like that, by default, the kicks are tuned to a scale so you can easily transpose them to match the song you’re working on.  In addition, you are not obligated to use them as drums at all.  Creating pitched playable sounds on the LXR is easy and fun.  There is a focus on short percussive sounds, though, so I don’t think you will be crafting your next ambient magnum opus using it.  Still, this takes it into groove box territory, which is welcome.

For the most part, I really like the LXR and want to make more use of it.  If there were any complaints I could make, they’d be just a few.   First, you cannot change the step basis from 16th notes to anything else.   With my other machines, I often like to work with 8th per step and then use ratches or other means to fill in gaps.   With the LXR you only have 16th note steps and that’s it.  Fortunately, it does allow you to at least set the last step per track (up to 64 steps)so you can play with that to get more evolving patterns, but because of the step limitation noted above, you won’t be able to do polyrhythms without getting into manually micro-editing the steps.  A shame.

The second thing I do not like is the FX section.  The delay doesn’t sync which, on a rhythm machine, why bother? The other FX are good enough.  Along with this, I wish it had more individual outputs for processing sounds separately.   I can make due with what it has, but more would always be appreciated.

One more thing that needs to be noted: bugs.   It definitely got a few of them.  None of them really impact its usefulness so far, but they are still annoying and why I’d never use it in a live context.   For example when playing in song mode, it sometimes glitches between pattern changes.  This seems to happen after the unit has been on for quite a while and is particularly noticeable at the beginning of the track after you hit play.   The only way I’ve avoided this is if I have the pattern the song begins with already loaded up.  Unfortunately, you will also hear the glitch when the song mode changes the pattern.   Oddly, if you are in pattern mode and switch between the same two patterns manually, no glitching occurs. 

All in all, I think the LXR-02 is a keeper even with the bugs.  It has a lot of competition coming from the Elektron Syntakt, however, which has more tracks, more FX (that are usable) and a better overall workflow.  That one lacks a song mode, however, and is a few hundred dollars more than the LXR.  For now, I’m keeping both.  We will see if that remains true.