kevzep
Its all about the Music
Sometimes I wonder if "phase coherence" is all its cracked up to be. Consider this: If I'm at a symphony, I don't hold my head perfectly still, while staring at the center of the stage. I move my head around looking around at the performers and such. So, the "live" phase is constantly changing. It doesn't detract from the performance.
Now consider a recording: The mics won't be placed where my ears would be, and my speakers won't be placed where the mics were. The chances of my stereo reproducing an original phase coherence is slim-to-none. Yet, it will still sound good, with a good sound stage. (Assuming a reasonably good system.)
I don't think that placing a quality EQ is going to do any more damage than is already done by the recording/playback process to begin with.
IMHO. :scratch2:
Firstly, introducing an eq filter into the audio chain will cause phase shift, this is fact not opinion.
Also I might add some of the best orchestral recordings use very very few mic's because this is an age old problem with the phase anomalies which arise when too many mic's are used.
A pipe organ for instance is usually recorded with a coincidental stereo pair of mics.
Secondly, phase is an issue with recording, because there are many mic's placed that hear everything within a certain radius, which means multiple mic's are hearing the same source from different postitions/distances.
That means say mic A which is concentrating on the first violins will pick up the first violins and some of the second violins, mic B which is concentrating on second violins also can pick up some of the first violins.
That means two mic's have the same source, but being picked up from different postitions, different postions means different distances, which will cause a phase issue when the mics are mixed into the same mix buss and heard through the same speakers.
When you hear an orchestra live, you have one pair of ears hearing the individual instruments with perfect separation, you hear each instrument from the source, which is the actual instrument. Thats why when you walk around to achieve you prefered orchestra balance, you dont hear any phase. A live orchestra has no phase anomalies, apart from the relections on the room which add ambience, which is an effect, which is why different concert halls have different characters of sound.
Thats some of the reason close micing or zone micing was introduced, to bring better separation to recordings not only to enable more control in the mix, but to help with phase.
So in short, phase is not "cracked up" to be anything, its is a physical situation that has plauged recording and live sound reinforcement since the begining.
I use the best possible speakers, I have studio monitors in the lounge because they have a very linear phase which can reveal things you may not have heard in the music you listen to before, because phase anomalies will mask some of the intriquette details, reverbs, and image which make a track enjoyable.