Intellijel Cylonix Shapeshifter v1.03 - Manual (Page 10)

10
Oscillator SYNC Modes
The oscillators can be reset, or synchronized, whenever a synchronization event occurs. A synchronization
event happens whenever the voltage at the SYNC input jack rises above about 0.2 volts, and also whenever the
phase of the internal synchronization oscillator passes zero when the INT. SYNC mode is enabled. The synchro-
nization oscillator runs at the same nominal frequency as oscillator 1 (except that it is not affected by frequen-
cy modulation or detuning). The specific behaviour of the oscillators in response to a synchronization event
depends on the currently selected SYNC mode, as described below and shown in the figure on the next pages.
Press the SYNC/PULSE/STEP button to activate the rotary encoder for selection of the SYNC mode. The selected
SYNC mode will be shown in the upper row of the LCD display.
There are 8 different SYNC modes that can be selected:
HardSync - in this mode the phases of both oscillators 1 and 2 are reset to zero when a synchronization
event occurs. This is most common type of synchronization effect found in other oscillator modules.
SoftSync - in this mode the phases of both oscillators 1 and 2 are reset to zero when a synchronization
event occurs but only when the oscillator waveform is in the first quarter of its cycle (i.e. where the phase
is between 0 and 90 degrees). Thus the oscillators might not be reset on every synchronization event. This
gives a somewhat noisier and more erratic sound than hardsync.
Rev Sync - in this mode the direction of the waveform is reversed when a synchronization event occurs.
For example, a rising sawtooth waveform will become a falling sawtooth waveform. This tends to provide
a rather smooth sound, useful for basses, especially when INT SYNC is enabled.
Hold/1sh - in this mode the output of oscillator 1 switches between being held constant (freeze effect)
or running free on each synchronization event. This is useful to provide choppy gating effects with low
frequency SYNC inputs. Oscillator 2 will go through one complete cycle on each synchronization event.
BumpSync - in this mode the phase of oscillator 1 is ‘bumped’, or offset, by 1/4th of a cycle (90 degrees)
and the phase of oscillator 2 is bumped by 1/8th of a cycle (45 degrees) whenever a synchronization event
occurs.
2=1 Sync - this mode operates in the same way as HardSync mode, except that whenever the output of
oscillator 1 is equal to the output of oscillator 2 an additional synchronization event is created that is sent
to oscillator 2 only. The typical result is to create ‘chirps’ in oscillator 2 where its waveform chases that of
oscillator 1, being repeatedly reset with shorter and shorter time intervals until it catches up.
1=2 Sync - this mode is similar to 2=1 Synch mode except that the additional synchronization event is sent
to oscillator 1 only. In this mode the ‘chirps’ are created in oscillator 1.
Sync Off - in this mode the synchronization events have no effect on the oscillators. It can be useful when
the SYNC input is used to step the presets in PRESET STEP mode to avoid the transient that might other-
wise occur, and also in CHORD mode to prevent the phase alignment of the 8 oscillators (unless you want
that effect!).
Examples of the response of oscillator 2 to synchronization events in each sync mode is shown in the next two
pages. The yellow arrows indicate the time of occurence of synchronization events.