a phase question ...

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lonewhitefly

lonewhitefly

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i am wondering if someone with a clearer head might be able to clear up something for me ...

i recorded a 2-track stereo bounce of a group of instruments to 2 separate tracks on an 8-track machine. i now wish to go mono, so i just centered the 2-tracks and have a mono that pretty much sounds the same as the stereo mix (but in mono of course). are there any potential phase issues i am missing here? the original tracks in the bounce mix are all mono, except a stereo piano spread, which collapses to mono reasonably well on its own (there is a solo piano section, so i was able to listen to the piano on its own).

i know that if you do this on a 2-track tape, it gets all kinds of crazy smear and cancellation going on, but that doesn't seem to be the case here. i specifically left a track between them on the 8-track (so the 2 tracks are not side by side) when i did the bounce (the stereo spread is on tracks 5 and 7).

thanks for any help!
 
As long as your cables are good and you had no phase problems when you initially tracked all the instruments I see no reason for there to be any phase issues. Trust your ears, If you don't hear any problems there probably aren't any problems. Try posting the stereo and mono tracks up here, that way everyone here can help you more easily.

I've never done this before so I guess you'd be better off waiting for someone else to chime in.

-Barrett
 
thanks for the reply ... yeh that's kinda what i thought but i don't want something that i miss to come back and bug me later ...

also forgot to note that the bounce was done to a 2-track tape deck in stereo. i guess i'm worried that the tracks that were mixed center in the bounce would have some kind of phase issue where they might not sound as solid as they did in the center of the stereo image. i can't hear any big difference when comparing. i know that the intruments panned hard L and R will go lower in volume slightly, which is okay in this case.
 
Two things that might cause issues are if you're using certain kinds of digital reverb to do fake stereo, and if you're using a stereo expander.

I've never had the reverb problem, but using the stereo expander (Vitalizer Jack) on channels which are panned hard left or right can cause said channel to evaporate if the mix is then summed to mono. Somewhere I have an example of this happening if anyone's curious.
 
If the mix sounds about the same in mono as it does in stereo, you don't have a phase problem. For the most part, that's how you can tell. If something disappeared in mono, then you would have a phase problem.
 
thanks guys ...

yes i know "if it sounds good, it is good" but sometimes ears can be deceiving! plus i tend to alternate between overanalyzing and being too aloof, sometimes an inconvenient combo!

yeh i don't mess with expanders, etc (or really even stereo reverb ... unless you count the occasional delay panned a little different than spring), so no worries there. in fact, this group of instruments is dry except for the reverb on the guitar amp track (mono).

i think i'll just accept it as is (it sounds fine) or maybe experiment with sending one of the channels to a 15 ips delay to see if it sounds cool that way ... that would eliminate any potential phase problems and maybe make that piano track that was in stereo "pop" a little more in mono.

thanks again!

donny
 
Farview said:
If the mix sounds about the same in mono as it does in stereo, you don't have a phase problem. For the most part, that's how you can tell. If something disappeared in mono, then you would have a phase problem.
Click to expand...

yeh it sounds reasonably close. either my mind or my ears are telling me that there could be a hint of a comb filtering sound or smear, but i can't tell if its the power of suggestion or if its actually there!
 
Well, you will obviously be missing the sense of space that you get from stereo. But, if the mix doesn't change considerably when going from stereo to mono, you should be pretty ok.
 
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