Thanks! I love huge racks!!
Well, I'd probably take the MPX-1 over the SRV2000 simply because of its versatility.
The SRV2000 is great for that kind of reverb, and it can do a nice delay, too, if you know the Easter Egg trick. It works well for short reverbs and the long reverbs have this grainy almost (but not quite) lo-fi sound that's really nice. But, that's all it can do. If you want it to just those things, it's a great character piece. Just know that it doesn't really do much else.
The MPX-1 doesn't have nearly the sound qualities of the older Lex units (e.g. PCM70, PCM81, etc.), but it still sounds good and better than most units <$1k and better than some <$2k. It does decent chorus/flanger, great delays, really great reverbs, and even some limited pitch shifting. There are tons of presets and most don't need much tweaking, if any at all, to sound really good. If you ever get into the advanced editing functions, there's so much you can do, but it gets complicated quickly. There's no real need to get that deep into programming it, though, since the basic tweaks are very easy to get to.
Another Lexicon alternative might be the LXP-15 II. One pops up every so often (more so than the SRV2000) for about the same money. This one has a little more of the "Lexicon sound" but not at the same level as the PCM series. It's darker than the SRV, but just as grainy in its own way. It can do some limited multi-effects, modulations, delays, and is a little more versatile in the reverb department, too.
Another Roland option might be the SRV-330. These are getting harder to find and are usually a little more than the SRV2000, but it's so much more advanced. It's strictly a reverb unit (I think there may be some presets than have chorus and/or delay with them, too, but I don't remember off the top of my head), but it sounds really nice. Sonically, I'd put it in the same category as the MPX-1 if not a little better on the reverb side, but it's limited to being a reverb. It's got a nice warm, maybe analog-like sound. Definitely not as digital or sterile sounding as a lot of newer units can be (including the SRV3030). Just BTW, the SRV330 was part of a series of effects from Roland, the other two being the SDE330 delay (great unit) and the SDX330 modulation effects.
Of course, all of this is just my opinion. I do own all these units, but I use them in my recording rig.
And yeah, I was thinking about putting together a build thread for both my new "economy size" rig and the rearranging I'm doing for my big rack. It might be a couple of weeks, I'm still waiting on a few parts, too. Haven't gotten all the required cables mapped out, yet, and discovered I'll need a new midi switcher. Still waiting on another Furman PL-8, Decimator Pro, and Yamaha SPX (all backordered, but should be in next week). In the mean time, I'll try to post a thread with some pics of my newly re-racked Boogies in a day or two.
