Setting up a session
PhaseLock compares tracks that recorded the same performance. A few minutes of setup decides how meaningful that comparison is.
Which tracks should receive PhaseLock?
Insert PhaseLock on tracks that recorded the same performance and need to be compared. If six microphones recorded one drum kit, place an instance on all six. If a percussion overdub happened later, do not put it in the same group merely because it is another drum track.
PhaseLock can analyze a lane only when its instance is receiving audio from the DAW. Inactive, frozen, or otherwise suspended tracks may not be analyzed.
Put PhaseLock consistently in the signal chain
For the cleanest comparison, place PhaseLock at the same relative insert position on every related track. Avoid putting a latency-producing plugin before PhaseLock on only one of the tracks, unless that difference is intentional and compensated by the DAW.
PhaseLock analyzes the signal that reaches each instance. Editing, processing, and routing before the plugin become part of the measurement.
Working with groups
Groups keep unrelated microphone setups separate. Each group has its own Phase Reference and analysis relationships.
- Group 1: drum microphones
- Group 2: two guitar-cabinet microphones
- Group 3: vocal close and room microphones
New instances start in Group 1. Change the Group value in a lane row when a session contains more than one independent setup. A stereo instance’s two lanes always belong to the same group. PhaseLock provides eight groups.
Mono and stereo tracks
A mono PhaseLock instance creates one lane. A stereo instance creates separate left and right lanes. Each lane can have its own measured offset, polarity, and coherence correction.
Set a stereo instance’s MODE to control how its two channels are treated, from the MODE chip in its lane row or the CHANNELS control in the inspector. UNLINKED, the default, corrects each channel as its own lane. LINKED treats the pair as one unit: PhaseLock uses the stronger measurement for the pair and applies the same correction to both sides, which preserves the timing relationship between left and right. Choose it when the two channels form a stereo image that should not be shifted independently. MONO tells PhaseLock the source is mono, so the instance contributes a single lane with no L or R suffix.
Choosing material for analysis
Play a representative section and stop when you are satisfied — about eight seconds is the recommended amount, and thirty seconds is the maximum. Choose a section that represents the sound you are mixing.
For drums, use a passage with several clear hits. A section containing kick, snare, cymbals, and toms gives the analyzer more useful evidence than a silent count-in or a cymbal fade. For a guitar cabinet, use a sustained or repeated part that covers the important register.
Avoid forward transport jumps and sections where a required track is inactive. A loop that wraps mid-analysis is fine: PhaseLock seals the analysis at the loop point and keeps what it received, as long as at least a second played first. Silence inside an otherwise valid passage is allowed, but a track that stops receiving host audio cannot participate.