Original ADAT Phase Issues
Our friend and customer Paul H. sends us the following footnote to our recent absolute phase tech tip (see TTOTD 4/16/98): “In the original ADAT the Analog to Digital conversion circuitry inverted the phase. The digital data stream then was phase reversed, but the Digital to Analog conversion restored the original phase. The ADAT XT does not suffer from this phase reversal as far as I know. Therefore if you play back a tape recorded on an original ADAT on an XT machine it is phase reversed. Likewise if you transfer data from an original ADAT into Pro-Tools in the Digital domain it will be phase reversed. If you are a believer in the audibility of absolute phase as I am it is necessary to compensate for this phase reversal.”Editor’s note: We’ve talked about absolute phase and how it relates to recording, but also be aware that it can have a very significant effect on the sound of a live PA as well. Try reversing the polarity on your low end speakers of your PA some time. Also, begin to think about the implications of speaker polarity in stage monitoring systems…
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