Phase checker.

[Bad_Rock]

I need some kind of instrument to check the phase of the speakers. If possible an affordable one.

 

Thanks

[J Pearce]

I use my ears and a GLITS test tone. Works well for me.

 

[edit]

 

Look here for more info on the GLITS test tone.

 

[edit again]

 

Just thought this only checks phase before amps, relying on mono fold down.

[Bad_Rock]

Something simpler could be? I mean I saw one technician with an old school turbosound phase checker wich had the size of my palm.

[IanG]

Something simpler could be?

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

A 9v battery and your eyes.

[Bad_Rock]

Well not that simple. I was told whirlwind makes some pretty small phase checkers. Any advise?

[david.elsbury]

Do you mean polarity, as in which terminal of the speaker makes the cone move outward?

Or do you mean phase, the phase of the sound wave where if you have two speakers next to each other, they are out of phase and you get phase cancellation happening?

It's an important difference.

For polarity use a 1.5volt cell, touch it to the speakers and see which direction it moves.

For phase you can use Smaart aparantly, check out this post from the Theatre-Sound list.

 

Well not that simple. I was told whirlwind makes some pretty small phase checkers. Any advise?

You're not talking about cable phase checkers now, are you?

 

David

[Bad_Rock]

Well with the speakers u can use ur cell phone battery to check if they move forward but what do u do with the horn? Sometimes when you change the diaphragm you make the mistake of plugging it in the wrong way.

 

But now that you mention it is very important to me to know when there is real phase cancellation with two boxes placed next to each other.

 

Ill check that old post.

 

Thank you David.

[david.elsbury]

Well with the speakers u can use ur cell phone battery to check if they move forward but what do u do with the horn? Sometimes when you change the diaphragm you make the mistake of plugging it in the wrong way.

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

I would have said that a cellphone battery is too high a voltage for my liking, since it's like 5 or 6 volts, and packs a fair bit of current, but sweet as.

Regarding the diaphrapm, that's a darn good question. I wait eagerly to see what other people have to say.

 

David

[Simon Lewis]

You can use a polarity checker (neutrik minirator/minilyser etc.) biut they're not cheap.

Batteries will check for correct wiring in the cabinet.

 

Neither method properly checks for phase, as this varies with frequency and is dependent upon crossover topology and order....

[Chappie]

There is little point in using a polarity checker to see if an HF compression driver has been wired up correctly with reference to the LF driver because many boxes are wired this way from the factory. The only way to check would be to reference it against other boxes of the same type.

 

If you need to actually check the phase of a cabinet you will need to use SIM, Smaart, MacFOH or something similar that can display an accurate 360 degree representation of phase with respect to frequency.

[Bad_Rock]

Wich one of those programs is the easiest one for slow learners like me? :)

[Simon Lewis]

Wich one of those programs is the easiest one for slow learners like me?  :)

<{POST_SNAPBACK}>

 

To be honest, all of these programmes can generate masses of impressive data... but unless you understand what that data means, then it's useless or even a danger to good sound!

 

Before buying anything, go through all the connections in your system to make sure that the polarity isn't reversed, and that all the equipment uses the 'pin 2' hot or 'tip' hot convention. If not, you may have to make changes to your wiring.

 

When you are sure that all of your equipment has the correct polarity, go and buy a good system design book such as Sound System Engineering (Davis & Davis) or the Audio Cyclopedia (Ballou).

 

Neither are cheap, but both are cheaper than Smaart, and you'll need to understand what is going on before you can interpret the data these programmes generate. Also, you can attend Smaart classes or SynAudCon etc. but I'd be inclined to get a text book or two first!

 

When you have an idea of what is happening in the time and frequency domains, then using these programmes can be very informative...

 

Simon

[Bad_Rock]

Is it true that line arrays are more difficult to set that regular mid high boxes ? I heard they are a lot more easy to be canceling each other if you don't set it right.

 

Thanks

[Martin]

Try this:

Galaxy Audio Cricket

[Bad_Rock]

Any idea of the price?

 

Thanks