A question regarding phase issues

[MaximumMetal288]

I'm still trying to figure out the exact details regarding audio files being out of phase and what not. What I've got so far is that when 2 or more tracks are out of phase, the peaks do not match up and that will give them that weird sound.

But what I'm wondering is, how detectable are phase issues? Is it blatantly obvioius that something is out of phase, or do you have to know what to listen for?

Thanks!

 

[colonel kurtz]

well, the thing to realize about phase is that you'll never have a multi-mic'ed source COMPLETELY and perfectly in phase...you can get close if you use matched mics in an x-y setup or something of the sort, but in most cases you're still going to get a tiny bit of cancellation as each mic "sees" things a little bit differently, and thus has slight variations in the waveform

that said, the 1st thing you should do is trust your ears. if things get that washed-out, phasy sound, then you have problems. you can also use a PAZ meter to tell you if there's phase cancellation going on...but honestly, IMO, if you can't hear it, don't sweat it.

think about the use of room mics - these are there to pick up the ambience of a track, but also are delayed a few ms from the close mic tracks. used properly, they can beef a track up like no one's business, even with the phase shift and resulting cancellation. you just have to find a way to make that shit work for you.

 

[smy1]

Mike Stavrou says that for years he painstakingly tried everything to get all the drums in phase only to discover that drums that are *slightly* out of phase are much more powerful because not every hit is coming in exactly at the same time, but the inconsistencies build up to create a fatter sound. Makes a lot of sense to me ...