Reversing Phase on unbal. line (for mid side)

leddy

Well-known member
Quick question,

Suppose I like to record M/S, and I want to print to tape before I convert to M/S (mid mic on one channel, side on another, then copy side channel and flip phase during mix down). Doing this keeps the ability to adjust the MS without using up a third track.

Using my Tascam 424mkIII, I can take the output of the side channel (say channel 4) and line out into channel 5, but I need to flip the phase. Can you just reverse the pins on an unbalanced line? What's the best way to get this done?

Thanks.
 
Yes. On an unbalanced line you can achieve phase-reverse simply by reversing the positive and shield connections at one end of the cable.
 
i would'nt expect this to work... consider this... you're taking the "hot" line of ch4 and putting it to grnd of ch5 input... and taking the "hot" input of ch5 and putting it to grnd of ch4 output... since the grnds of the two ch are infact the same i think you're gonna get a whole lotta nuthin... unless the output of 4 isn't properly terminated in which case ya may roach that output... gee sounds like fun... no???:eek:
 
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mmmm...yeah....so....how DO you reverse phase on an unbalanced line? I was speaking before I was thinking and I guess the idea I was talking about was related to a balanced line; swapping the hot and cold terminals.

Leddy, sorry for possibly nearly pushing you into cooking something, and thank you demented for flagging it. :o
 
the only easy way is to copy it to another channel but that assumes the thing has a flip switch on the input... so much easier ITB... if ya really gotta do this then perhaps a diy box could be in order... just a balanced line driver chip routed back to two inputs...
 
You can use a transformer to reverse polarity, just wire one side backwards. Otherwise, you need an active circuit.
 
I wish I understood the electronics stuff better. As soon as my kids are a little older I think I might go back to school and take some electronics courses. I'd really like to start doing some DIY stuff (maybe build some kits from Hamptone, etc.).

ITB is what I have been doing. I just want to get out of the PC for the fun of it. Make some recordings that never go through AD converters just to hear them and compare to my ITB stuff.

Mshillarious, I just remembered I bought an XLR plug polarity reverse gizmo from you a while back. I think I could go from the unbalanced line to a direct box, the XLR out of the DI to the polarity reverse plug, then back through a preamp in the mixer, no? I might have to sort out male-female plug issues, but that should probably work I would think.
 
A little overkill, but yeah, that would work. Probably a lot cheaper to buy an isolation transformer and wire it backwards, though....
 
A little overkill, but yeah, that would work. Probably a lot cheaper to buy an isolation transformer and wire it backwards, though....

If I knew anything about buying isolation transformers and wiring them backwards, I'd be all over it...:)

I already own a bunch of DI's.
 
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