Tools / Time & Phase Alignment

Time / Phase Alignment

Calculations for tuning and aligning a PA, plus guides that run alongside measurement tools like Smaart on-site. Tap a tool to open its own page.

Axial standing-wave frequencies from a room's dimensions.

Voltage to logarithmic decibels, for gain staging.

Peak amplifier wattage required to avoid clipping dynamic signals.

Estimate SPL at a new distance from a known reading.

Distance where a line array's wavefront degrades from cylindrical to spherical.

Destructive/constructive frequencies when combining a signal with a delayed copy.

Minimum safe distance for a secondary open mic to avoid comb filtering.

Physical spacing and electronic delay for a front-back cardioid sub array.

Room decay time — switches between Sabine and Eyring based on absorption.

3rd-order IMD products between wireless mic frequencies, and a conflict checker.

Time-of-flight for sound over a given distance, at ~343 m/s (20°C).

My own field guide for calibrating and tuning a PA system with Smaart, step by step.

Step-by-step procedures for aiming a solo speaker, L/R mains, and finding unity splay angle.

Symmetric coupled point source splay/quantity math, plus unity spacing and limit depth for an uncoupled array.

Per-element delay for an end-fire array, plus delay and polarity for a 2-element gradient in-line pair.

The priority rules for deciding which subsystem to combine first on a multi-element array.