Eventide Precision Time Align

Eventide Precision Time Delay / Precision Time Align plugin

This is badass!

Schermata 2019-09-02 alle 19.27.48Having passed the point of no return into D.A.W./I.T.B. mode, it’s been great to discover what this utility tool can do. When in the past I would use a hybrid in-the-box/out-of-the-box approach and adopt my trusted Little Labs I.B.P. for phase alignment, today I’m pretty much all in the box and the Eventide Precision Time/Phase Align is a fantastic step forward. The reason for this personal excitement is that this plugin works as a delay (as I.B.P. would) in its “Time Delay” version and can shift recorded tracks not only back (delay) but also forward (advance!!!) in its “Time Align” version.

This means at least two very important things: I can think about the phase alignment, what I call tuning, after the fact i.e. after the recording of the take. It also means I don’t have to identify in advance (before recording) which source is “late” in phase (=time) at the specific target frequency I am interested in.

Example. Two microphones for a combo guitar amp: one moving coil close to the grill cloth, one condenser three feet away. I’m looking for perfect tuning @ 280 Hz. In the past I’d send the frequency tone to the amp and watch the two mic preamp outputs on my oscilloscope, look at the delay between the two and, if any, apply a combination of polarity reversion (if necessary) + the least amount of phase shifting with my trusty Little Labs I.B.P. to null the delay. Because back in the day I could only apply delay.

Today is different. I don’t need to do the preliminary job, I can get away with the scope: send the tone to the amp and record the two mics/tracks. Instantiate the plug-in on both the tracks and bypass alternatively one of the two while moving the alignment fader on the other to find the setting imparting the least movement from the original position. Keep in mind this could again entail reversing polarity on one of the two tracks… If you followed and practiced a little bit with the matter, as exposed in the two posts dedicated to the I.B.P., everything should be pretty familiar. The polarity reverse button is included in the Eventide P.T.A., top left.

I could be very accurate, as I was in the past, and hook up the oscilloscope to the separate outputs of the two tracks where the frequency tone has been recorded: EITHER slide earlier the late one or slide later the earlier one to tune them perfectly. But the great aspect of using the Eventide Precision Time Align is that I can do it later with the actual musical material and use only my ears. Time saved and more fun!

From the Eventide manual: “If you place two microphones near the same sound source, but at different distances from it, the resulting waveforms in your DAW will be similar, but delayed with respect to one another. This can cause comb filtering whereby some frequency bands cancel each other when the two signals are mixed together. This often makes the combination of the two signals sound worse than either track soloed. This problem can be partially addressed by shifting one of the recorded tracks relative to the other in your DAWs arrange view”.

I’d like to bring the term “partially” to your attention: this is not because the tool is only “partially” able to perform its task. It’s because, as you should know by now, while some frequencies get aligned in phase at the same time other frequencies get misaligned more. It’s up to you to decide which combination of the two mics works best, both in phase and in volume.

The presentation page at Eventide says “[…] completely eliminating timing anomalies and phase issues from your mix […]”… I doubt it.