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WHY DO I NEED A PHASE SWITCH ?
The phase switch is useful for two reasons:
1. Due to the interactive and changing nature of phase, acoustic amplification
depends on maintaining optimum phase relationships between amplified
instruments, sound systems and venues.
2. Since an industry standard for polarity has not been established for all sound
equipment, the phase switch can compensate for any unintentional differences
that might occur between instrument and sound system.
APPLICATIONS
In any situation where the mic'ed instrument faces a loudspeaker, there will be
an interactive phase relationship between the two. This usually occurs with stage
amps, side fill and floor monitors at close distances.
• LOW VOLUME AMPLIFICATION
At low volumes, when a mic'ed instrument and speaker are at similar levels and
are in phase, the sound is full and solid, with the lower frequencies emphasized.
When a mic'ed instrument and speaker are out of phase at low levels, the bass
frequencies cancel out to some extent. The resulting sound is somewhat unnat-
ural and unbalanced compared to in phase.
• HIGH VOLUME LEVELS
At high volume levels, when a mic'ed instrument and speaker are in phase, the
sound pressure from the speaker will excite the instrument's sound chamber,
creating a feedback loop at the instrument's lowest octave. This "cavity reso-
nance" feedback can be dealt with by putting the mic'ed instrument and speaker
out of phase or by adding equalization.
A. USING THE PHASE SWITCH TO REDUCE FEEDBACK.
Inverting the PHASE switch will put the mic'ed instrument and speaker out of
phase with each other, cancelling the low frequency feedback.
If you move from your position on stage more than a few feet, you may have to
invert the PHASE switch again to maintain an out of phase relationship
between the mic'ed instrument and speaker.
ACOUSTIC GUITAR SYSTEM
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