Lowrey MX-2 or Rhapsody

[jjsinaz]

Hi folks. I used to play when I was a kid and never pursued it. I am 60 now and would like to play again. I have two Lowreys that are available; one is an MX-2 that I can get for free, the other is a Rhapsody which the guy want $100 for. Haven't looked at either yet but I am going to look at the MX-2 tomorrow. Which of these two organs is the more desirable.

[dressur4]

I would get both if one if free. but if one or the other. get the Phapsody much newer and one level below the Royale I would get both cause the MX-2 was the flagship whereas the Rhapsody wasn't it was the one below It was the SU400

[jjsinaz]

Thanks for the reply. Unfortunately, I don't have room to have both. How much newer is the SU-400? I was kind of leaning toward that one as it looks like it has more bells and whistles than the MX-2. The Rhapsody was listed for $300 and he dropped the price to $100 today. I would probably offer $50. Do you know if any of the circuit boards interchangeable between the two?

[andyg]

Rhapsody is two generations newer. The MX2 is NT series, then came the LX and the SU after that. So maybe 8 - 10 years newer at a guess and no, no circuit boards would be interchangeable. No parts available for either, of course. The Rhapsody is much more capable than the MX2, so go in with a lowball offer and enjoy!

[jjsinaz]

Thanks Andy. Great info. I think I will pursue the Rhapsody first and see how it is.

[dressur4]

Well yes if you only can have one organ I would most certainly get the Rhapsody just give the man the 100 bucks it's worth more than that even as old as it is. I see them from time to time on GREEDbay for 2000 of course they don't sell. but people think they will at ridiculous prices. I got my Grand Royale for 500 bucks You will love that organ I would love to have that MX-2 they were a neat organ too. board are NOT interchangeable and IMPOSSIBLE to find. So get an isolation transformer and protect it from lightning and surges,,,, should last a long long time.

[jjsinaz]

Well it looks like it's going to be the MX-2. Somebody else beat me to the Rhapsody. The Rhapsody was still there when I went to look at it, so I fooled around with it a little. Looks like it would have been a fun organ. I noticed some funny background noises on it though, whenever you weren't playing any notes. Don't know what might have been causing them. The MX-2 looks like it was more well cared for and no strange noises. All keys and pedals play and it is free, so how can I go wrong. Now I just have to get it home

Thank you guys both again for your input. I'm sure I will have more questions once I get the organ

[dressur4]

The good news is.. that it was the flagship of the Lowrey line and the Rhapsody wasn't and the MX2 is a mean machine and you will love it there will be other deals out there so no worries I got a Gran Royale for 500 and that was to me fair So hold out for something newer you did good. and it is a good organ

[jjsinaz]

lol Well, I suppose I have to figure out how to play this one before I upgrade

[dressur4]

It reminds me of my suburban. I got a 1993 Suburban that runs great in mint condition. I see a new 2018 Chevy Suburban and it's fancier and has more doo dads and stuff but it's still a Suburban. It's like Lowreys the MX-2 is like my 1993 suburban and my Grand Royale is like a 2004 suburban. We get wrapped up into the color touch screen and the fancier woodwork and the supposed better voices, but how many voices do you really need? I have heard a video of a millennium and sounded divine. and not much better than the new ones but it's the larger touch COLOR screens and the other trimmings. that make us WANT it. and our once cherished Grand Royale now looks quite dim. but when you were able to get a touch screen with the Royale it was awesome, Now it's old and stodgy. We instead need to be satisfied with what we have . I am already wanting that Liberty and I just got my Grand Royale Rather, I need to focus on getting really great at playing instead getting the latest and greatest I would rather be the greatest player than have the greatest organ my feelings Like with my 1993 Suburban. I am enjoying it as much as someone who get a 2018 . Made great memories already in it. So enjoy your MX-2 at one time it was the Aria of the Lowrey line. They sound really great

[jjsinaz]

Well, I got the MX-2 home this morning and have been fooling around with it. Seems like there is a problem with the PCM section. Sounds very "scratchy". Any ideas on that issue? Also, what is th FX touch bar under the lower manual?

Haha. Dressur, I know what you mean about the 1993 Suburban analogy. Sometimes more is not better.

[jjsinaz]

I'm starting to figure this thing out. I only know one song really well from way back when I was a kid and it sounds nice when I play it. (I'll see you in my dreams). It;s starting to come back

Update: It's really starting to come back. Been playing all afternoon I'd really like to be able to figure out what is going on with the PCM voices though. They are sounding bad A lot of scratchy, distortion like noise, as best as I can describe it. Attaching a pic of the organ

[andyg]

The only true PCM sounds in the organ are the drums. Flutes and Strings are basically from a Kawai SR series organ tone generator (IIRC it says SR4 inside somewhere!) and the instrumental sounds are from two Kawai K1 synths. All of these would be using Kawai's "VM" (Variable Memory" system. So a trumpet would have a short PCM sample for the attack and then a digitally produced waveform for the sustained part of the sound. It was possible to stitch them together very well, even though the sounds were only 8-bit resolution.

So I'm guessing you mean the instrumental sounds? First thing I'd do is the routine maintenance for almost all digital organs of this era. Open it up, identify all the internal plugs and sockets on the boards, and then unplug, clean and reseat them all, one by one. Your contact cleaner of choice should be Caig De-Oxit D5. This isn't a universal cure but it often does sort this sort of thing out.

Try this and see what improvements, if any, you get.

the FX touch bar has one function on the MX-2, it gives you a rhythm break and fill-in in the backing style. It was often temperamental. When we added three pin power cords over here for EU regulations, it usually stopped them working anyway. You can duplicate the fill in function on the footswitches, which is probably easier to do anyway.

[jjsinaz]

Thank you Andy. This is very helpful. I have a background in Electronics and Electrical Engineering, so I am familiar with these type of things, I just needed pointed in a direction to look. From what you are saying, I would suspect the problem to be associated to the Kawai Synth boards, as the flutes and strings play perfectly. If I can get this problem resolved, I think the organ will be near perfect (as on older organ can get). If you turn off the "PCM Voices" it is a really great sounding instrument. I'll get some of that contact cleaner and take a poke at it.

[Jeff Mazza]

I don't want to be the bearer of bad news, but usually the scratchy orchestral / solo voices is a bad board. It's very common on early 90's organs to have small leaky capacitors.

On the MX-2 the two boards that fail the most are the HL002 board and HL023 board. I don't recall which does what but I do one of them gives distortion to the sounds the other gives distortion in the accompaniment / drums.