DFX256

Digital Effects Processor

ENGLISH User’s Manual

DFX256 
 IMPORTANT SAFETY INSTRUCTIONS

The apparatus shall not be exposed to dripping or splashing and that no objects filled with liquids, such as vases,
shall be placed on the apparatus. The MAINS plug is used as the disconnect device, the disconnect device shall
remain readily operable.

Warning: the user shall not place this apparatus in the confined area during the operation so that the mains switch
can be easily accessible.

1. Read these instructions before operating this

apparatus. CAUTION
2. Keep these instructions for future reference. RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK
DO NOT OPEN
3. Heed all warnings to ensure safe operation.

4. Follow all instructions provided in this document. CAUTION: TO REDUCE THE RISK OF ELECTRIC SHOCK,
DO NOT REMOVE COVER (OR BACK)
5. Do not use this apparatus near water or in locations NO USER SERVICEABLE PARTS INSIDE
where condensation may occur. REFER SERVICING TO QUALIFIED PERSONNEL

6. Clean only with dry cloth. Do not use aerosol or liquid

cleaners. Unplug this apparatus before cleaning. The lightning flash with arrowhead symbol, within an
equilateral triangle, is intended to alert the user to the
7. Do not block any of the ventilation openings. Install
presence of uninsulated “dangerous voltage” within the
in accordance with the manufacturer’s instructions.
product’s enclosure that may be of sufficient
8. Do not install near any heat sources such as radiators, magnitude to constitute a risk of electric shock to persons.
heat registers, stoves, or other apparatus (including
amplifiers) that produce heat.
The exclamation point within an equilateral triangle is in-
9. Do not defeat the safety purpose of the polarized or tended to alert the user to the presence of important operat-
grounding-type plug. A polarized plug has two blades ing and maintenance (servicing) instructions in the literature
with one wider than the other. A grounding type plug accompanying the appliance.
has two blades and a third grounding prong. The wide
blade or the third prong is provided for your safety. If WARNING: To reduce the risk of fire or electric shock, do
the provided plug does not fit into your outlet, consult not expose this apparatus to rain or moisture.
an electrician for replacement of the obsolete outlet.
10. Protect the power cord from being walked on or CAUTION: Use of controls or adjustments or performance
pinched particularly at plug, convenience receptacles, of procedures other than those specified may result in
and the point where they exit from the apparatus. hazardous radiation exposure.
11. Only use attachments/accessories specified by the
manufacturer.
12. Use only with a cart, stand, tripod, bracket, or
table specified by the manufacturer, or sold with
the apparatus. When a cart is used, use caution
when moving the cart/apparatus
combination to avoid injury from tip-
over.

13. Unplug this apparatus during lighting

storms or when unused for long
periods of time.
14. Refer all servicing to qualified service personnel.
Servicing is required when the apparatus has been
damaged in any way, such as power-supply cord or
plug is damaged, liquid has been spilled or objects
have fallen into the apparatus, the apparatus has
been exposed to rain or moisture, does not operate
normally, or has been dropped.

 DFX256
 DFX256
Digital Effects Processor

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION......................................................................................................................... 4

FEATURES.................................................................................................................................. 4

GETTING STARTED................................................................................................................... 4

CHANNEL SETUP.......................................................................................................................5

FRONT-PANEL DESCRIPTION...................................................................................................6

REAR-PANEL DESCRIPTION.....................................................................................................6

PRESET PROGRAMS.................................................................................................................7

SAMPLE CONNECTIONS........................................................................................................ 15

SPECIFICATIONS..................................................................................................................... 16

Phonic reserves the right to improve or alter any information suppied within this document without prior notice.
V1.1 JUN 23, 2006

DFX256 
 INTRODUCTION GETTING STARTED

Congratulations on your purchase of the Phonic 1. Check the AC voltage before connecting the
DFX256 digital reverberator. The DFX256 is a high plug. Choose the main supply for the sound sys-
quality and easy-to-use stereo digital reverberator. tem with care. Do not share sockets or earthing
To take full ad-vantage of the DFX256’s functions, with light dimmers.
and enjoy a longand trouble-free use, please read 2. Run audio cables separately from dimmer wir-
thisuser’s manualcarefully and keep it for future ref- ing, using balanced lines wherever possible. If
o
erence. necessary, cross audio and lighting cables at 90
right angles to minimize the possibility of inter-
ference. Keep unbalanced cabling as short as
possible.
FEATURES 3. Check your cables regularly and label each end
for easy identification.
● 256 effect programs available 4. Before switching on the main power, keep all
● Programs include reverb, delay, flanger, chorus, output rotary faders all the way down to prevent
tap delay, tremolo, phaser, pan effects and com- damage or excessive noise caused by bad level
binations adjustment, wrong wiring, defective cables, or
● 32-40 bit digital signal processing plus 24 bit AD/ bad connections.
DA conversions 5. Always turn on the DFX256 PRO before the
● True stereo reverb power amplifier; turn off the DFX256 after turn-
● Easy-to-read 3-digit LED display ing off the amplifier.
● Compact “1U” rack mount dimensions 6. Always turn off the unit before connecting or dis-
● Foot SW Jacks allow the user of a footswitch to connecting the unit to the power source.
mute the effect 7. Never use any solvents to clean the unit. Clean
● Auto-bypass when power is off. it with a soft, dry cloth.
● Signal and clip LEDs easy setup of the optimum
input level
● A professional quality digital reverb designed for
musical instruments,recording, and sound rein-
forcement

 DFX256
 FRONT-PANEL DESCRIPTION

1. INPUT LEVEL CONTROL 6. OUTPUT LEVEL CONTROL

The input level control sets the level going into the This rotary control sets the level going to the amplifier
DFX256. You should set the level so that Peak indi- or mixer from the output of the DFX256.
cators only flash RED occasionally.
7. POWER SWITCH
2. MIX (DRY / WET) CONTROL This switch turns the power of the DFX256 on/off.
This control sets the balance between the unaffect- When the power is off, the DFX256 will be in signal
ed signal coming through the inputs and the effects bypass position automatically i.e. this feature allows
being generated by the DFX256 i.e. the balance of the direct signal to pass through the DFX256 even
wet (effect) and dry (no effect) sounds. By keeping when the power is not switched on.
the Mix somewhere in the center, a blend of dry and
wet signal can be achieved. 8. SIGNAL INDICATORS
These 2 small LED indicators, located within the digital
3. EFFECT MODES CHART effect display, show when either the left or right inputs
This chart shows you what 256 effect modes are in are receiving a signal (the left LED indicates when the
the DFX256. left input is receiving a signal, the right indicates when
the right receives a signal). When the LCD display
4. LED DISPLAY (above these indicators) flashes “C”, the signal in the
This 7-segment display indicates the current effect left or right channel is excessive (ie. clip), and should
program in Program mode. When the display shows be reduced to keep the audio’s integrity.
the letter “C” flashing, this means either the right
or left input signals are too high and should be re- 9. LOAD INDICATOR
duced. This small LED indicator, located within the digital ef-
fect display, will flash when users are previewing dif-
5. PROGRAM SELECT KNOB ferent effects (when turning the program select knob).
Turning this control will allow users to ‘preview’ the When a new program is loaded, this LED will stop
different digital effects. Pushing it in will load the pre- flashing.
set. If this control is not pushed within a few seconds
of changing the effect, the DFX256 will automatically
revert back to the previously loaded effect. When
this control is held down for a few seconds, the digi-
tal effects b will be bypassed. Holding it down again
will reactivate the effects. When selecting the Tap
Delay effect (T1 - T6), pushing the Program Select
control will allow users to adjust the delay time. The
time between the final two presses will be calculated
and used as the delay time.

 2  4 5 6 7

 9

DFX256 
 REAR-PANEL DESCRIPTION

10. AC 10V IN INLET 12. OUTPUT (LEFT & RIGHT)

The supplied AC Adapter is plugged into this con- There are 1/4” phone jacks which connect to devic-
nector. es such as the effects returns on a mixing console
or power amplifier inputs.
11. FOOTSWITCH
This is a 1/4” stereo phone jack. If a foot switch is 13. INPUT (LEFT/MONO & RIGHT)
connected to this jack, you can use your foot to There are 1/4” phone jacks which connect to sourc-
switch the effect mute on/off (bypass). es such as the effects sends of mixing consoles. For
mono application, use the “Left/Mono” input.

 2 

0

 DFX256
 PRESET PROGRAMS
PRESET PROGRAMS

EFFECT 1: ROOM

7 Segment LED
Room ROOM REV-T I M E P RED EL AY H I - RAT I O HPF L PF D RY/ W ET
1 1 0. 05 40 0. 5 80 2. 5K 0~100
2 2 0. 05 0 0. 6 0 1. 8K 0~100
3 3 0. 4 0 0. 95 382 9K 0~100
4 4 0. 4 0 0. 93 430 1. 25K 0~100
5 5 0. 45 5 0. 95 500 12. 5K 0~100
6 6 0. 45 30 0. 9 0 6.3K 0~100
7 7 0.6 0 0. 9 550 2.36K 0~100
8 8 0.6 6 0. 92 0 5.6K 0~100
9 9 0. 65 22 1 0 19 K 0~100
10 10 0. 9 6 0. 96 0 8K 0~100
11 11 1 10 1 500 20 K 0~100
12 12 1. 2 15 0. 98 410 9. 5K 0~100
13 13 1. 4 60 0. 98 0 5. 6K 0~100
14 14 1. 4 0 0. 96 22 6. 7K 0~100
15 15 1. 6 22 1 0 10. 6K 0~100
16 16 3. 85 25 0. 96 0 4.75K 0~100

EFFECT 2: HALL

7 Segment LED
Hall HA L L REV -T I M E PRED ELA Y H I - RAT I O H PF L PF D RY/ W ET
17 1 0. 9 0 0. 9 0 9K 0~ 100
18 2 1 20 0. 95 26 10. 6K 0~ 100
19 3 1. 9 5 40 0. 98 0 15 k 0~ 100
20 4 1. 7 5 48 0. 98 0 9. 5K 0~ 100
21 5 1. 8 20 0. 83 0 4.25K 0~ 100
22 6 1. 8 5 40 0. 95 340 7. 1K 0~ 100
23 7 1. 9 30 0. 98 675 8. 5K 0~ 100
24 8 2. 2 25 0. 99 0 2.24K 0~ 100
25 9 2. 3 100 0. 7 0 6. 7K 0~ 100
26 10 2 .4 5 30 0. 95 25 8. 5K 0~ 100
27 11 2 .5 40 0. 8 85 12. 5K 0~ 100
28 12 2. 5 0 4 75 3.15K 0~ 100
29 13 2. 7 85 1 40 12. 5K 0~ 100
30 14 2. 7 20 0. 85 0 8K 0~ 100
31 15 2. 8 40 0. 97 0 8. 5K 0~ 100
32 16 3. 3 75 0. 85 63 10K 0~ 100

DFX256 
 EFFECT 3: PLATE

7 Segment LED
Plate PLATE REV-T I M E P RED EL AY H I -RAT I O HPF L PF D RY/ W ET
33 1 0. 55 0 1 625 20K 0~1 00
34 2 0. 55 0 1 625 20K 0~1 00
35 3 0. 75 20 1 0 12.5K 0~1 00
36 4 0. 9 12 0. 98 0 12.5K 0~1 00
37 5 1 10 1 0 10.6K 0~1 00
38 6 1. 2 25 1 20 7.1K 0~1 00
39 7 1. 3 35 1 0 20K 0~1 00
40 8 1. 8 30 0. 98 80 12.5K 0~1 00
41 9 2 1 1 67 20K 0~1 00
42 10 2. 25 25 1 42 20K 0~1 00
43 11 2. 6 180 0. 97 0 15K 0~1 00
44 12 2. 75 30 0. 98 0 4. 25K 0~1 00
45 13 3 0 1 625 20K 0~1 00
46 14 3 5 0. 99 0 8K 0~1 00
47 15 3. 35 1 0. 98 0 16K 0~1 00
48 16 3.8 20 0. 85 0 1.4K 0~1 00

EFFECT 4: DELAY-1 (ST)

7 Segment LED
Delay-1(ST) DELAY-1(stereo) L- D EL AY R-D EL A Y C- D EL A Y FB -D EL A Y
49 1 0.16 0.03 0.03 0. 04
50 2 0.16 0.08 0.16 0
51 3 0.16 0.08 0 0
52 4 0.16 0 0.18 0
53 5 0.16 0 0.16 0. 14
54 6 0.16 0 0.16 0. 2
55 7 0.16 0 0.16 0. 21
56 8 0.52 0.2 0.5 0. 3
57 9 0.6 0.2 0.6 0. 4
58 10 0.6 0.2 0.6 0. 4
59 11 0.8 0.3 0.5 0. 7
60 12 0.21 0.2 0.2 0. 1
61 13 0.14 0.05 0.16 0.16
62 14 0.25 0.05 0 0. 5
63 15 0.03 0.06 0.06 0. 05
64 16 0.3 0.06 0 0. 6

 DFX256
 EFFECT 5: DEALY-2 (MONO)

7 Segment LED
Delay-2(MONO) DEL AY-2(mono) L - D EL AY R-D ELAY C-D ELAY FB - D ELAY
65 1 0 0 0. 5 0. 3
66 2 0 0 0. 5 0. 3
67 3 0 0 0. 15 0. 1
68 4 0 0 0. 15 0. 03
69 5 0 0 0. 15 0. 15
70 6 0 0 0. 2 0. 3
71 7 0 0 0. 2 0. 2
72 8 0 0 0. 4 0. 4
73 9 0 0 0 0. 3
74 10 0 0 0 0. 4
75 11 0 0 0 0. 4
76 12 0 0 0 0. 55
77 13 0 0 1. 2 1
78 14 0 0 1. 2 1. 2
79 15 0 0 0. 5 1
80 16 0 0 0. 15 0. 4

EFFECT 6: CHORUS

7 Segment LED
Chorus CHORUS L FO P E R-D EL AY PH A SE L PF
81 1 0. 3 2 180 7.1 K
82 2 0. 8 5 180 6K
83 3 1. 2 20 0 8K
84 4 1. 8 1 0 6. 3 K
85 5 2. 2 60 180 10K
86 6 3. 6 15 180 500
87 7 3. 2 30 180 8K
88 8 4 90 0 1. 2 5K
89 9 5. 6 120 180 10 K
90 10 6. 4 200 0 1K
91 11 7. 5 88 180 10 K
92 12 7. 8 80 180 50 0
93 13 8. 4 50 0 10 K
94 14 8. 8 10 180 85 0
95 15 9. 2 5 0 10 K
96 16 10 115 180 10 K

DFX256 
 EFFECT 7: FLANGER

7 Segment LED
Flanger FL ANGER LFO PER-D EL AY P H AS E
97 1 0.1 2 180
98 2 0.3 6 0
99 3 0.6 10 180
100 4 0.7 15 180
101 5 1 1 180
102 6 1 10 180
103 7 1.6 20 180
104 8 1.6 20 180
105 9 2 1 180
106 10 2 2 180
107 11 2 2 180
108 12 2.6 2 180
109 13 2.8 6 180
110 14 2.8 4 180
111 15 4.6 2 180
112 16 4.6 4 180

EFFECT 8: PHASER

7 Segment LED
Phaser PHASER LFO D EL AY P H AS E
113 1 0. 1 3. 5 180
114 2 0. 4 0. 6 90
115 3 0. 8 3. 2 180
116 4 1. 4 0. 6 180
117 5 2. 2 1. 6 180
118 6 2. 6 4 180
119 7 3. 3 1 180
120 8 4 2. 8 180
121 9 4. 8 1 180
122 10 5. 2 0. 1 180
123 11 5. 8 0. 8 180
124 12 6 1. 2 90
125 13 6 3. 2 180
126 14 7. 2 5 180
127 15 7. 8 2. 6 180
128 16 10 5 180

10 DFX256
 EFFECT 9: PAN

7 Segment LED
Pan PAN SPE E D D EPT H T YP E
129 1 0.1 100 L --> R
130 2 0.4 100 L --> R
131 3 0.8 100 L --> R
132 4 1.2 100 L --> R
133 5 0.1 100 R--> L
134 6 0.4 100 R--> L
135 7 0.8 100 R--> L
136 8 1.2 100 R--> L
137 9 0.1 100 R<--> L
138 10 0.4 100 R<--> L
139 11 0.8 100 R<--> L
140 12 1.2 100 R<--> L
141 13 1.8 100 L --> R
142 14 1.8 100 R--> L
143 15 1.8 100 R<--> L
144 16 3.4 100 R<--> L

EFFECT 10: TREMOLO

7 Segment LED
Tremolo TREMOLO SPE E D D E PT H
145 1 0. 5 100
146 2 0. 8 100
147 3 1 100
148 4 1. 2 100
149 5 1. 6 100
150 6 2 100
151 7 2. 4 100
152 8 3 100
153 9 3. 4 100
154 10 4 100
155 11 4. 4 100
156 12 5. 2 100
157 13 6 100
158 14 6. 6 100
159 15 8 100
160 16 10 100

DFX256 11
 EFFECT 11: DELAY + REV

7 Segment LED
Delay+Rev DELAY+REV D E L AY- 1 REV
161 1 1 ROOM 1
162 2 2 ROOM 7
163 3 3 RO O M 11
164 4 4 RO O M 12
165 5 5 RO O M 14
166 6 6 RO O M 15
167 7 7 H A LL 1
168 8 8 H A LL 3
169 9 9 H A LL 6
170 10 10 H A L L11
171 11 11 H A L L15
172 12 12 H A L L16
173 13 13 PLA T 1
174 14 14 PLA T 3
175 15 15 PLA T 6
176 16 16 PL A T12

EFFECT 12: CHORUS + REV

7 Segment LED
Chorus+Rev CHORUS+REV CH ORU S REV
177 1 1 ROOM 1
178 2 2 ROOM 7
179 3 3 RO O M 11
180 4 4 RO O M 12
181 5 5 RO O M 14
182 6 6 RO O M 15
183 7 7 H A LL 1
184 8 8 H A LL 3
185 9 9 H A LL 6
186 10 10 H A L L11
187 11 11 H A L L15
188 12 12 H A L L16
189 13 13 PLA T 1
190 14 14 PLA T 3
191 15 15 PLA T 6
192 16 16 PL A T12

12 DFX256
 EFFECT 13: FLANGER + REV

7 Segment LED
Flanger+Rev FLANGER+REV FL A N GER REV
193 1 1 ROO M 1
194 2 2 ROO M 7
195 3 3 ROO M11
196 4 4 ROO M12
197 5 5 ROO M14
198 6 6 ROO M15
199 7 7 H AL L 1
200 8 8 H AL L 3
201 9 9 H AL L 6
202 10 10 H A L L11
203 11 11 H A L L15
204 12 12 H A L L16
205 13 13 PLA T 1
206 14 14 PLA T 3
207 15 15 PLA T 6
208 16 16 PL A T 12

EFFECT 14: PHASER + REV

7 Segment LED
Phaser+Rev PHASER+REV PH ASER REV
209 1 1 ROO M 1
210 2 2 ROO M 7
211 3 3 ROO M11
212 4 4 ROO M12
213 5 5 ROO M14
214 6 6 ROO M15
215 7 7 H AL L 1
216 8 8 H AL L 3
217 9 9 H AL L 6
218 10 10 H A L L11
219 11 11 H A L L15
220 12 12 H A L L16
221 13 13 PLA T 1
222 14 14 PLA T 3
223 15 15 PLA T 6
224 16 16 PL A T 12

DFX256 13
 EFFECT 15: TREMOLO + REV

7 Segment LED
Tremolo+Rev TREMOLO+REV REV T REMOLO
225 1 ROOM 1 1
226 2 ROOM 7 2
227 3 ROOM11 3
228 4 ROOM12 4
229 5 ROOM14 5
230 6 ROOM15 6
231 7 H AL L 1 7
232 8 H AL L 3 8
233 9 H AL L 6 9
234 10 H ALL11 10
235 11 H ALL15 11
236 12 H ALL16 12
237 13 PLATE 1 13
238 14 PLATE 3 14
239 15 PLATE 6 15
240 16 PLATE 12 16

EFFECT 16: SPECIAL EFX

7 Segment LED
Special efx SPECI AL EFX
241 1 DELAY-1-1 FLAN GE- 3
242 2 DELAY-1-1 CHORUS- 4
243 3 D EL A Y- 1- 1 PH ASER- 7
244 4 CH ORU S- 2 FL A N G E- 1
245 5 CH ORU S- 5 PH ASER-10
246 6 TREMOLO - 6 FLANGE-11
247 7 TREMOLO-12 CH ORU S- 4
248 8 PH ASER- 5 FL AN GE- 9
249 9 PH ASER- 5 T REMOLO-12
250 10 FL A N G E- 1 TREMOLO- 6
251 11 PH A SE R- 7 PAN - 2
252 12 PA N - 2 FLA N GE- 3

EFFECT 17: GATED + REV

7 Segment LED
Gated+Rev GATED-REV T H RESH O LD AT TACK REL EASE REV
253 1 -20 0 0.02 PLAT- 1
254 2 -20 0 0.5 PLAT- 8
255 3 -20 0 0.1 H A LL-15
256 4 -20 200 0.01 H A LL-16

14 DFX256
 SAMPLE CONNECTIONS
SAMPLE CONNECTIONS

ONE MONO CORD IN, ONE MONO CORD OUT (to an amplification system or mixer input)

INSTRUMENT OF
TO MIXING CONSOLE OR AMPLIFIER
EFFECTS SEND

ONE MONO CORD IN, TWO MONO CORDS OUT (to a stereo amplifier or two mixer inputs)

INSTRUMENT OF
TO MIXING CONSOLE OR AMPLIFIER EFFECTS SEND

TWO MONO CORDS IN AND OUT (to a stereo amplifier or two mixer inputs)
This can be stereo signal in/out or mono signal in/out.

INSTRUMENT OF
TO MIXING CONSOLE OR AMPLIFIER
EFFECTS SEND

DFX256 15
 SPECIFICATIONS

DFX256
Frequency Response 20Hz ~ 20kHz
Dynamic Range 90dB
AD/DA 24-bit
DSP processing 32~40-bit
Sampling rate 44.1kHz
Maximum Input Level 0dB
Residual Noise < -80dB (20Hz ~ 20kHz)
T.H.D. < .05% (typical)
Input
Number of Channel: 2 (phone jack)
Nominal Level: -20dB
Impedance: 20k ohms (mono: 10k ohms)
Output
Number of Channel: 2 (phone jack)
Nominal Level: -20dB
Impedance: 600 ohms
Effect Programs ROOM
HALL
PLATE
DELAY-1(stereo)
DELAY-2(mono)
CHORUS
FLANGER
PHASER
PAN
TREMOLO
DELAY+REV
CHORUS+REV
FLANGER+REV
PHASER+REV
TREMOLO+REV
SPECIAL EFX
GATED-REV
TAP DELAY
Front Panel Controls Input level, Mix-dry/wet, Program select, Output level, Power Sw.
Real Panel Jack 2 Input phone jacks, 2 Output phone jacks, foot Sw- phone jack, DC jack
Dimensions (WxHxD) 19"x1.75"x4.2" / 483 x 44 x 107mm (1U)
Net Weight 2.64 lbs / 1.2 kg

The specifications are subject to change without notice.

16 DFX256
6103 Johns Road #7
18 DFX256