GFI System DUOPHONY User manual

User Manual
D U O P H O N Y
Advanced Parallel Blender
Table of Contents
1 Overview Page 1 - 3
2 Controls 4 - 6
3 Modes and Routing 6 - 7
4 Knobs and Buttons 8
5 Navigating Presets 9
6 Options 10 - 11
7 Global Settings 12 - 13
8 Using Modulation 14 - 16
9 Using Expression 17
10 Using Aux (external) Switches 18
11 Using MIDI 18 - 19
12 Example Applications 20 - 21
13 Resetting the Pedal 22
14 Firmware Update 22-23
USE R MANUAL

1
1. Overview
Duophony is our take on the ‘Parallel Blender’ pedal. What is exactly a ‘Parallel Blender’? The idea is really
simple: a pedal that blends the signals from 2 or more sources.
This is nice and safe.
But, what if you could combine the Delay and the Reverb like this intead?
source 1
source n
output
source 2
In the context of musical instruments, why would one want to mix sound sources like this? In most cases it
comes down to ‘effects’. Guitar, bass, and also synth players may use many kinds of effects. The ability to
combine the various kinds of effects by blending them together creates opportunities to discover new
sounds, enchance or alter how the effects sound, or even conjure up a whole new kind of effects.
For instance, the usual way of constructing your effects arsenal is by chaining the effects together in series,
perhaps something like this:
DELAY
REVERB
Or maybe concoct a dirt section cocktail with the fuzz, Overdrive, and Distortion like this?
FUZZ
DIST
O/D
An example of ‘tone enhancement’ usage scenario is to blend in your clean (unprocessed) sound with the
processed sound from your effects, to retain the precious low end that may be missing from the effects
OVE RVIE W
Blending dry signal with wet signals
O/D
REVERB DELAY MOD DIST O/D FUZZ COMP
These are just a few of the applications of parallel blender pedal, we will see many more later.

2
With Duophony, we extended this basic concept of parallel signal blending and pushed it to its full poten-
tial, allowing users to seamlessly integrate this parallel blend device into their effects chain and get the
most out of it.
Here’s a simplified block diagram of the Duphony’s internal signal paths and processing for your reference.
Some details are omitted for clarity.
If nothing is plugged into the effects loop, no signal will flow on the loop path.
Insert a patch cable between the Send and Return jacks if you wish to bypass the effects loop.
Send-X Ret-X
Buffer
Phase
gain X
BLEND
ENGINE
Digital
Controller
Send-Y Ret-Y
gain Y
dry level
Input Out-L
Out-R
MIDI
EXP/AUX
Digital signal
Analog signal
TS
TS
All analog signal paths are stereo, unless otherwise noted.
LOOP Y
< put your effects here >
< put your effects here >
LOOP X
Y path
X path
Dry path
OVE RVIE W

3
OVE RVIE W
IN
OUT
Instrument /
Line Level
sources
IN
OUT
TS for mono TRS for stereo
TS for mono TRS for stereo
Left Output
Right Output
LOOP X LOOP Y
MIDI
INPUT
Expression
Aux Switches
Midi Controller
- TS - TRS
Typical Interconnect

4
2. Controls
MIX CONTROL:
Duophony sports two rotary touch sliders that are used to control the blend between Loop X and Loop Y.
Sliding clockwise will give Loop Y more proportion in the mix, and sliding counter-clockwise will give Loop X
more proportion in the mix.
indicates the proportion of Loop X
in the mix.
indicates the proportion of Loop Y
in the mix.
Setting the Left and Right mixes independently
Thanks to the two independent sliders, it is possible to set the mix independently for Left and Right chan-
nel, giving you an unprecedented flexibility in sculpting stereo mixes. For example, you can have a mix like
these:
, or
Touch button
CYAN LED color represents the
proportion of Loop Y in the mix. GREEN LED color represents the
proportion of Loop X in the mix.
CON TROLS
LEFT RIGHT
25% 75%
75% 25%
LOOP X
LOOP Y
LEFT RIGHT
100% 0%
0% 100%
LOOP X
LOOP Y
The default behavior of the sliders are ‘synced’, i.e. operating one slider will set the mix for both Left and
Right channels equally. To temporarily break this ‘linkage’, and thus operate the slider independently:
press and hold the touch button while operating the slider.
Upper slider controls the
mix on the LEFT channel.
Lower slider controls the mix
on the RIGHT channel.
1. Press and hold the touch button
2. Operate the slider

5
DRY LEVEL CONTROL:
Duophony also has the ability to blend in the clean (dry) signal into the mix. DRY LEVEL control is used to
set the amount of dry signal passed into the mix. As with the Mix control, the upper slider controls the dry
level for Left channel, and the lower slider controls the dry level for Right channel.
Tap the touch button to go back
and forth between MIX control and
DRY LEVEL control
Dry level is represented by BLUE LED color
Sliders controls MIX Sliders control DRY LEVEL
CON TROLS
SPEED & DEPTH CONTROL:
Yes you read it right! Duophony does have a modulation engine. See chapter 8 - page 14 for detailed infor-
mation on this fantastic feature.
The modulation speed and depth are also controlled using the touch sliders. The upper slider controls the
Speed, and the lower slider controls the Depth. Speed & Depth are represented by single
BLUE LED
Mix Dry Mod
A note about the touch sliders
The touch sliders work best with soft touch. If you find the sliders are somehow unresponsive, try operat-
ing them with softer touch, do not press on the surface.

6
GAIN CONTROLS:
Both Loop X and Loop Y have independent gain controls to help balance the level between the effects in
the loops. These gain controls are positioned after the loop return. This control is capable of cutting and
boosting the gain, and goes from mute to +6 dB. As you make the adjustment the gain dB values are dis-
played on the screen.
Gain control for Loop Y Gain control for Loop X
Tips: You can quickly turn off (mute) an effects loop by pushing the corresponding Gain knob/
button. Pushing the knob once again will turn the loop back on.
CON TROLS
3. Modes and Routing
MODES:
Duophony offers 3 parallel blend modes:
XY Mix
Loop X and Loop Y are mixed proportionally.
For example, if Y is set to 30%, X will be at
70%. This mode is marked by the LED color
VIOLET.
Y plus [X]
In this mode, the Mix control functions as a
level control for Loop Y, i.e. Y goes from 0 to
100%, while X is always at 100%. This mode
is marked by the LED color BLUE.
X plus [Y]
In this mode, the Mix control functions as a
level control for Loop X, i.e. X goes from 0 to
100%, while Y is always at 100%. This mode
is marked by the LED color RED.
MODES and ROU TIN G

7
The Modes option is found in the Options menu (saved on per preset basis).
Press and hold the X knob for 2 secs to enter Options menu.
Options
1. Modes XY mix
Y plus X
X plus Y
Example use case for Y plus [X] and X plus [Y] modes:
Put a delay pedal in Loop X Put a reverb pedal in Loop Y, you can then blend in the delay on top of the re-
verb without reducing the reverb, or vice versa. This works best with pedals that have a KILL DRY or 100%
Wet feature.
MODES and ROU TIN G
ROUTING:
Duophony offers 2 routing options:
Parallel routing is what this pedal is all about, but what about series routing? Why would you want this
option in a parallel blender pedal? Well, without this option, once you’re done hooking up everything on
your pedalboard, the effects that you’ve put in Duophony’s effects loop will be permanently stuck in paral-
lel configuration, there’ll be no way to have them combined in series, without rewiring your pedalboard.
The Routing option efficiently removes this setup rigidity and lets you switch back and forth between par-
allel and series on the fly.
Routing option is applied on per preset basis, so you can have parallel configuration in some preset and
series configuration is some others. Routing can be configured in the Options menu.
Parallel Series
Loop X Loop Y
Loop Y
Loop X
In Series routing the Mix control is disabled and will not
affect the output sound, all other features and controls
(including the X and Y Gain controls) are still functional.
Options
2. Routing Parallel
Series

8
4. Knobs and Buttons
 Turn - adjust the Gain for Loop X
 Push - toggle loop X on and off.
 Hold - enter Options menu (see ch.6)
 Twist - Set Modulation on or off (see ch.8)
 Turn - adjust the Gain for Loop Y
 Push - toggle loop Y on and off.
 Hold - enter Globals menu (see chapter 7)
 Twist - Set Expression mapping (see ch.9)
Every knob is also a button. The following operations can be done on each knob :
TURN PUSH or TAP HOLD TWIST ( press and turn )
Here’s a summary of what each knob/button does, this is just a quick reference, more detailed informa-
tion will be given in the respective sections of this user manual
 Push/Tap - scroll through the sliders functions (see chapter 3, page 4-5)
 Hold - Unsynchronize the sliders (see chapter 3, page 4)
KNOBS and BUT TON S

9
5. Navigating Presets
There are 16 preset locations in Duophony, organized into 8 banks.
Patch A Patch B
Patch A Patch B
Patch A Patch B
Patch A Patch B
BANK 1
BANK 2
BANK 3
BANK 8
Calling a Preset
The two patches in each bank (patch A and patch B)
can be quickly recalled by pressing footswitch A or
footswitch B.
The LED will indicate which preset is currenctly active.
Bypassing the Pedal
To bypass the pedal: press the footswitch that corre-
sponds to the currently active preset.
NA VIGATIN G PRESETS
Changing Banks:
Press both switches simultaneously to increment
the bank number upwards. You can do this repeat-
edly to reach the desired bank number, or you
turn the X knob or the Y knob to quickly incre-
ment / decrement the bank number. When you’ve
reached the desired bank, press A or B to call the
desired patch.
Tips:
External switches can be connected to the EXP/
AUX port and configured for Bank Up / Bank Down
operation. This is much more convenient than hav-
ing to step on two footswitches simultaneously. 1. Press simultaneously. Repeat as required, OR ...
2. Turn the knob for
faster bank scroll.
Saving Presets
To save the current parameter settings to a preset location:
1. Press and hold button Y and button X together.
Release when the screen reads:
<Bank1 >
A.save.B
2. If you wish, you can change the bank number by
turning the Y knob or the X knob.
3. Press footswitch A to save to patch A, or
footswitch B to save to patch B.