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How to phase align main to sub in Smaart, REW, Open Sound Meter, SATlive, and Crosslite

By Nathan Lively

The audio analyzer functions primarily as a verification tool. For this reason this article will focus on creating alignment presets, which can then be modified in the field using simple distance measurements.

To fit this into a single article I will offer an overview of a single method for each software. Although the steps with each tool might differ slightly, in general they follow this pattern:

  1. Measure each source solo.
  2. Do whatever is necessary to achieve alignment.
  3. Measure sources combined and verify summation against a target. Listen.

The Setup

  • Ground-plane.
  • Grille-to-grille (coplanar, side by side).
  • Microphone placed equidistant from each LF driver at a reasonable overall distance in order to capture actionable data and still measure the entire loudspeaker as a whole instead of a single driver or port. For subwoofers, this usually means going outside unless you have a very large room. (approx 5x measurement distance)
with permission from Merlijn van Veen

Set Levels

If you are designing an overlap crossover (+0dB), this is easy. Simply match solo measurements to the target and EQ out the summation bump at the end.

If you are designing a unity class crossover (0dB), this is surprisingly one of the most difficult steps because you want the end result to hit the target, not the individual measurements themselves. The goal is to hit the target in a single step. With most tools you’ll be working in the dark, trying to imagine where the sum is going to end up. This is why there’s a whole subroutine in my SubAligner app dedicated to finding the perfect level relationship to hit the desired target. Shout out to SATlive for being the only software that I now of that includes a perfect addition trace so you can set initial levels without worrying about the alignment right away.

For everyone else, you can start by setting levels at -6dB relative to the target and you’ll probably need to do more adjustments in the end once you see the final result.

Where is the spectral acoustic crossover?

For efficiency, it is recommended to focus on the area of interaction at greatest risk of cancellation where magnitude values are within 10dB of each other, aka the combing and transition zones.

Make the pictures match

Use delay, polarity, and filters to achieve your desired result. Either follow manufacturer specifications or get creative and come up with your own path. Maybe create presets for both and see which one your colleagues prefer in a blind listening test.

A common first step is to achieve alignment at a single starting frequency within the crossover region where you have high confidence (coherence). Find the phase offset (ΔPhase) between main and sub, then close the gap. Since the sources are equidistant, you might want to start with filters, but try both ways. Again, if you’re using a manufacturer’s preset, always start by following their guidelines.

If you’d like to use filters:

  • ΔPhase / 45º = Filter order to try. eg. 90º / 45 º = 2nd order (12dB/oct) filter (Butterworth, Bessel Normalized, and Linkwitz-Riley)
  • For all-pass filters (APF): ΔPhase / 90º = Filter order to try.
  • High-pass filters (HPF) will cause positive phase shift.
  • Low-pass filters (LPF) will cause negative phase shift.
  • It may be easier to see this in action on an unwrapped phase plot.

Applying filters is a big topic outside the scope of this article, but if your interested, please see Phase Alignment Science Academy.

If you’d like to use delay:

  • ΔPhase / 360 / Frequency * 1000 = time in milliseconds
  • If you need to wrap around the top and bottom of the phase graph then use 360 – ΔPhase. eg. If the measured phase offset between two points is 200º, but the traces are near the top and bottom of the graph and you suspect that they need to wrap around, then 360º – 200º = 160º Δphase.
  • Once you have a single frequency aligned, test out other variations at half and whole cycles away. For half cycles, add a polarity inversion. eg. If you’re aligned at 100Hz then try variations at +5ms INV, +10ms, -5ms INV, -10ms.

If you’d like to consult the Southern Oracle, you must first pass the Sphinxes’ Gate and the Magic Mirror Gate.

Verification

After you have tried several variations, choose the one who’s combined result best matches your preferred target. To break a tie, use the option with less delay or less processing overall. Listen to the result or audition multiple presets to find the one that sounds the best.

Smaart

One of the reliable things about Smaart is that the data will never change after it is stored outside from the quick compare function. This means that any change you care to make must be implemented directly in your output processor and then measured in real time.

  1. Add 10ms of delay to both outputs. The amount of delay is arbitrary, but will save you time in step 6.
  2. Measure the Main solo and capture the trace.
  3. Without changing the compensation delay, measure the Sub solo.
  4. Set the sub level to match your target trace. Capture the trace.
  5. Find the spectral crossover using trace offsets.
  6. Make the pictures match.
  7. Verify alignment and summation. Listen.
  8. Remove any extra delay left over from step 1. 

Here’s an example combining an L-Acoustics X15-HiQ with an SB118. Initial measurements reveal a 38º phase offset between them. We might first attempt to close this gap with 1.16ms of delay on the sub (38º / 360 / 91Hz * 1000), but further tests would reveal an improved alignment with a half cycle of delay and polarity inversion in the main.

Recommendations from SubAligner and the L-Acoustics Preset Guide confirm this result. If you’re a SubAligner user you can open this direct link to the alignment.

Tips: For high quality actionable data I recommend setting temporal averaging to Inf and resetting the averages with each new measurement. Consider downloading measurements from the manufacturer, Tracebook, or SubAligner in order to have some expectations to work against.

REW

The rest of the audio analyzers covered in this article offer functions to simulate output processing. In REW the EQ window allows you to experiment with different filters and then generate a new measurement that includes those filters. Then you can experiment with gain, delay, and polarity using the Alignment Tool and its auto solver options.

  1. Measure Main solo.
  2. Estimate IR Delay. Shift and Update Timing Reference.
  3. Measure Sub.
  4. Find the spectral crossover using Measurement Actions.
  5. Experiment with filters and the Alignment Tool to make the pictures match. Generate an Aligned Sum for each variation.
  6. Compare all of the Aligned Sum variations for alignment and summation. Listen.

Tips: For high quality actionable data I recommend setting the number of measurement repetitions to 8 and the length to 256k.

Open Sound Meter

  1. Measure the Main solo and capture the trace.
  2. Without changing the compensation delay, measure the Sub solo. Capture the trace.
  3. Set the sub level to match your target trace.
  4. Find the spectral crossover using gain changes.
  5. Make the pictures match. You can click on a measurement and adjust its delay and polarity while watching a sum trace calculated with File > Add math source.
  6. Verify alignment and summation. Listen.

In this image you can see me creating the sum trace on the left and then manipulating the main trace on the right to achieve better summation.

SATlive

SATlive includes some of my favorite tools for crossover alignment, which were my inspiration for getting started with SubAligner. The Live Add trace gives you a real time crystal ball preview of what the combination of main and sub will look like. The Perfect addition trace creates a target so you can see how well you are doing. The Delay-Suggestion Tool will run an auto solver and make recommendations for delay and polarity. The Area Of Interaction Tool can be used to visualize the crossover region.

  1. Measure the Main solo and capture the trace.
  2. Without changing the compensation delay, measure the Sub solo. Capture the trace.
  3. Set the sub level to match your target trace while observing the Perfect Addition trace.
  4. Find the spectral crossover using the Area Of Interaction tool.
  5. Make the pictures match with the aid of the Delay-Suggestion Tool.
  6. Verify alignment and summation by comparing the Live Add Trace against the Perfect Addition Trace. Listen.
satlive

Crosslite

Crosslite also includes auto solver functions, but instead of using a brute force iterative approach, it will attempt to align the start or peak of the impulse responses, which can be filtered to focus on the crossover region. One of my favorite tools in Crosslite is the cursor. It can be enabled to find the phase difference between measurements and even converted into time for the alignment. Crosslite also offers various filter options and can be thought of as a full DSP simulator.

  1. Capture the Main and Sub solo.
  2. User Memories > Functions > Sum > Process Method > Sum Magnitude to generate a perfect addition trace. Adjust the sub level until the Sum Magnitude matches your target trace.
  3. Find the spectral crossover either using Gain or cursors.
  4. Make the pictures match. The most efficient starting point may be found by inserting a peak filter at the input around the center of the crossover region and running the Optimize Time function. Experiment with changing the alignment to rise or peak and the filter from normal phase to phase zero. The best option here may depend on the quality of the measurement data. Always check the phase graph afterwards.
  5. Verify alignment and summation. Listen.

Next Steps

Now that you’ve created an alignment preset, it can be deployed and modified in the field using distance measurements. If you’d like to send me the speaker measurements you took along the way, I’ll add them to the SubAligner app.

How to practice at home without a PA

You can download lots of high quality data from Tracebook to practice with.

Have you tried any of these softwares? What method do you use to optimize phase alignment between main and sub?

6 Most Popular Training Videos on Sound System Tuning

By Nathan Lively

my-most-popular-youtube-videos-of-all-time-featured

With over 537,200 minutes of video views over the last 18 months across YouTube and Facebook, these are my six most popular videos on sound system tuning.

#1 – 3 Simple Ways to Phase Align Main+Sub with SATlive

  1. Make the pictures match.
  2. Math (just a little!)
  3. Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)

Make the pictures match.
This is the method I used for years and is the most common, but it has two problems: 1) It’s slow and 2) It’s not easy to tell if a polarity inversion is required.

Math
This makes the process faster.

Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)
This makes the process faster and can detect polarity inversion.

Download the Aiming Triangles Business Card.

#2 – Expectations: How do you measure an EQ in Smaart?

Wait till you see the shape that a graphic EQ makes!

Watch the entire Get Started with Sound System Tuning series here.

#3 – Where do I phase align a center sub?

My comments on Merlijn van Veen’s original article.

#4 – What does a full-range speaker look like in Smaart?

After you have practiced measuring an EQ, the next step is to measure a speaker in Smaart. Finally!

Download Meyer Sound Speaker traces

#5 – How loud does the test signal need to be in the room for Smaart?

How loud is loud enough? Program level? Speaking level?

You’ll be surprised to learn how quiet it can be to get actionable data in the high end and how loud it might need to be to get usable data in the low end.

#6 – Connecting Wavelength to Frequency

This is a method I learned from Dave Swallow to easily connect frequency and wavelength. If we know the speed of sound, then we also know any wavelength that is a multiple of 10, simply by moving the decimal place. Fun!

How to build your own audio analyzer (like Smaart®) for FREE

By Nathan Lively

how-to-build-your-own-2-ch-audio-analyzer-for-free-ggwsst1

You don’t need to spend $4K+ to run your own audio analyzer like Smaart, SATlive, SysTune, or RiTA. You can do it for free or cheap with components you already own. The most important thing is to start practicing as soon as possible, not to build the best rig in the world.

Watch the entire video series: Get Started with Sound System Tuning

3 Simple Ways to Phase Align Main+Sub with SATlive

By Nathan Lively

  1. Make the pictures match.
  2. Math (just a little!)
  3. Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)

#1 – Make the pictures match.

This is the method I used for years and is the most common, but it has two problems: 1) It’s slow and 2) It’s not easy to tell if a polarity inversion is required.

#2 – Math

This makes the process faster.

#3 – Automatic (Delay Suggestion Tool)

This makes the process faster and can detect polarity inversion.

Notes

  • Aiming Triangles Business Card
  • SATlive

SATlive + Thomas Neumann: Sound system tuning with a single measurement microphone

By Nathan Lively

sound-design-live-podcast-thomas-neumann-sound-system-tuning-single-measurement-microphone-featured

Subscribe on iTunes, SoundCloud, or Stitcher.

Support Sound Design Live on Patreon.

sound-design-live-podcast-thomas-neumann-sound-system-tuning-single-measurement-microphone-headshotIn this episode of the Sound Design Live podcast, I talk with Thomas Neumann, the creator of SATLive and Level Check. We discuss sound system tuning with some of the really cool features in SATLive, including the Low-Frequency Delay Finder, Delay Suggestion Tool, and Speech Transmission Index measurement. We also talk about:

  • Why Neumann only uses one measurement microphone in the field;
  • How to see the amplitude and phase interactions of saved traces;
  • What new features you can expect to see in future SATLive updates;
  • The fancy adapter Neumann carries to interface with old Behringer processors; and
  • Software Audio Console.

Show notes:

  1. All music in this episode by Johan Sveide.
  2. The most common mistakes Neumann sees other engineers making.
    1. They don’t understand dual channel FFT and end up measuring crazy things.
    2. They focus on the amplitude, but not the time. EQ is the last step.
  3. Delay Suggestion Tool
    1. Neumann normally uses the maximum power option. The flat option will sometimes try to remove energy from the sub.
    2. If you get a negative value while measuring the sub, you need to delay the main.
  4. What’s in Neumann’s work bag?
    1. Roland Quad Capture
    2. iSEMcon EMX-7150 measurement microphone
    3. Neutrik line isolator
    4. RS232 to XLR adapter
    5. Microphone calibrator
    6. Bible
    7. Handkerchief
  5. Software: SATLive, LevelCheck, Software Audio Console
  6. Poor Man’s Galileo
  7. Quotes
    1. Be yourself. Don’t try to imitate somebody. Look at yourself and see what you like. What’s your unique selling point? What makes you special? Invest in that. The other way to get jobs is by knowing people and being cheaper, and those aren’t good ways to move forward.
    2. Now you can change everything, which will give you more possibilities, but demands more knowledge.

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Copyright © 2022 Nathan Lively

 

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