Aligning Direct And Mic'd Signals; Using Output Delay - PRESONUS studiolive III series Owner's Manual

11 Resources
11.7

Using Output Delay

11.6.2

Aligning Direct and Mic'd Signals

11.7 Using Output Delay
7. Use the eighth encoder to the input delay to 5.5 ms.
8. Ask your guitarist to play a staccato pulse and listen for any remaining
flamming. Move up or down 0.1 ms until you hear the tightest sound.
When combining a direct input signal with a mic'd signal from a single source, the
direct sound will arrive earlier than the microphone's signal because the latter's
source has to travel some distance through the air before reaching the microphone.
This results in the two signals being out of phase with respect to each other. This
problem can sometimes be corrected by alternatively flipping polarity on the direct
and microphone channels to find which combination of the two signals provides the
desired result. However, by using input delay it is possible to achieve a closer, more
accurate phase relationship.
1. To begin, press the Solo edit button.
2. On the Touchscreen, select Solo In Place and Latching Solo Mode.
3. Solo both the Direct Input channel and the microphone channel.
4. Set the pan position of both channels to the center. This will sum both
signals mono and allow you to better hear the phase differences between
the channels.
Press the Direct Input Channel's Select button.
5.
6. Press the Input Button in the Fat Channel.
7. Increase the delay time on the Direct Input channel. This is the easiest way
to hear the change in phase between the two signals. Listen to both till you
find a happy medium between the combined signals.
Power User Tip: The final result may not be perfectly in time but this is not necessarily
your goal. Adjusting the phase relationship between the direct and mic'd signals can help
to create space in a mix and keep the sounds coherent.
When one of the output buses is selected, you can set an output delay up to 170 ms
in 0.1 ms increments. When speakers are placed apart from one another, listeners
will hear the sound from the closest source before they will hear it from the furthest.
This is because electricity travels much faster to each loudspeaker than the acoustic
waves travel from each loudspeaker to the listener. This can also be an issue when
the acoustic level of an instrument or amplifier on stage can be heard over the same
instrument or amplifier being reproduced by a loudspeaker. This can dampen the
attack and intelligibility of the sound and create an unpleasant phasing effect. To
compensate, you need to delay the signal going to the speakers closest to
the listener.
In small venues where the guitar amp and the drum kit can be clearly heard over the
Main Front-of-House system, an output delay can "move back" the Front-of-House
system to the backline. This will sharpen the attack of the instruments and prevent
phasing issues.
StudioLive™ Series III
Owner's Manual
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