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Why we should care about phase

The sonic anomalies and performance of audio systems can be, and are, attributed to a variety of different processes yet the matter
of phase is frequently overlooked. TONY WALDRON of CADAC Electronics says that getting phase correct is an essential for any
piece of equipment that alludes to true quality.

W
HAT A FINE INDUSTRY to work in! Just equivalent to the best tube equipment of the day. The the results of the phase relationship of a sound source
when we had developed a good more obvious reasons being very much reduced allows us to locate its direction and position with
understanding of how to design equipment headroom, limited bandwidth and poor transient extraordinary precision — even if the sound comes
using thermionic tubes, some bright spark decided to response. Nevertheless, by the early 1970s semi- from behind us. Think of the situation where someone
throw it all away and change to transistors. As soon conductor electronics had been tamed and the search calls your name — in a room or in the street. The sound
as we had found out how to make transistors work to for high performance audio was well and truly in top- reaches first one ear and then the other ear. The brain
our advantage, the semiconductor industry developed gear once more (overdrive still being sought today). calculates the angle represented by the difference in the
cost-effective methods to package hundreds of Into this heady mixture of science and art came arrival times of the sound at each ear, and we know
transistors into a single chip, so we had to start over improvements in loudspeaker design, and a better precisely in which direction to turn to find the sound
again. Now we are told to forget all about analogue understanding of room acoustics. This led the artistic source. In fact, most of us are able to work out how far
electronics because it is more convenient to do our branch (balance engineers and producers) to demand away to look for the sound source based on our
signal processing in the digital domain. This means higher definition electronics in the mixer/processing experience of the natural loudness of the various
that since I started designing systems with valve departments. Luckily, most of us involved in sounds that we know about or regularly work with.
electronics, I have been involved with re-inventing the designing audio equipment in those far off days had Now, the ability to respond to changes in phase
wheel four times now. But I’m not really complaining, learned much of our trade on-the-job, so we were evolved mainly for the preservation of life (in the days
because going back over the basic principles for the pretty much used to juggling the various parameters when humans roamed the earth as hunters and
fourth time reminds you that electronics must obey the that affected the performance qualities of our circuits gatherers). Since then, many of us have adapted the
laws of physics. to obtain the engineering compromises necessary to same mechanism to help us appreciate the
As one would expect, there have been a large solve the problems. We found that higher definition at complexities of music and drama. A small number of
number of changes in the pro audio industry during the low frequencies was possible by improving the audio professionals have become even more
last 40 years. Back in the 1960s almost all professional transient response and phase response of the circuits. specialised in ear resolution, by training their auditory
audio equipment relied on circuits that used thermionic Better high frequency definition was obtained by system to recognise extremely small phase changes at
tubes. One of the less obvious differences from those increasing the bandwidth of the input amplifier, which either end of the audio spectrum. For their efforts, they
days was that much of the equipment used by was itself involved with the phase response are often awarded the accolade of The Golden Ear
members of the audio profession was also designed and characteristics as we will see. Brigade. While this is often used as an insult, it is
built by them. In the UK, that meant that if you decided It turned out that understanding the vagaries of the usually found that the person voicing the phrase in
to set up a recording studio, you needed to be able to phase response of a circuit or system was, and still is, this manner has the hearing acuity of a dead slug.
design and build your own mixer. The well known essential for evaluating how good the design really is. As can be seen from Figure 1, the rate-of-change of
recording companies built their own: EMI, Decca, Pye, Unfortunately, a graphical plot of a system’s phase phase is greatest at low and high frequencies.
etc., as did the BBC. Note that the live sound and response does not look very flattering, as can be seen Listening tests reveal that humans are particularly
commercial radio parts of the industry did not yet exist. from Figure 1, so marketing executives have long sensitive to changes in phase when the rate-of-change
And there was another important difference from today since banned such things from publication (along with of phase is excessive. For instance, we are easily able
— designers of pro equipment spared no expense in the polar plots and power response diagrams for to detect changes in the timbre of low frequency
search for the highest possible audio quality. No audio loudspeakers). sounds if the rate-of-change of phase in the
professional went looking for low cost bits of kit, and The phase response of a system is important, reproduction system is more than about +5 degrees
there was a general expectation that high performance because the human auditory system is extremely per octave. So, what is it that controls the low
electronics would cost more than the equipment you sensitive to changes in phase. Detecting and processing frequency phase response in electronics?
used at home.
By 1963, the expansion of popular music culture
was driving dramatic changes across the industry.
Artists demanded to use the newly available multitrack
tape recorders, which led to the need for increased
recording session time, which in turn created the
requirement for extra studio space. Very soon,
independent recording studios started to appear:
Lansdowne; Advision; De Lane Lee; Olympic. At about
the same time Pirate Radio stations began broadcasting
from boats moored just outside the 3-mile limit, and the
first Rock Musicals appeared on Broadway and the
West End. Recording engineers invented and
developed brand new techniques: multitrack and stereo
recording; chorus, phasing, and flanging.
To cope with all this, a whole new range of audio
engineering manufacturers popped into existence:
Sound Techniques; Neve; CADAC; Helios (in the UK);
Spectrasonics; Quad 8; MCI; Harrison (in the US).
Almost without exception, the newly-formed
independent audio manufacturing industry embraced
the relatively new transistor as the basis for their circuit
designs. Physically smaller, more convenient and much
easier to use, the transistor proved to be difficult to Figure 1. A typical phase response plot.
integrate into the high performance designs that were

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Figure 2. A single-pole high-pass filter

When we consider the frequency domain, it is

immediately obvious that the input circuit for any
electronic device is essentially a high-pass filter (Figure
2). The low frequency response is therefore
determined by the value of Ci, for a given value of
input impedance Zi. For a modern transformerless
microphone amplifier, it is generally agreed that a Figure 3. The amplitude/frequency response of a tambourine.
reasonable value for Zi is around 1kohms. This is
based on engineering experience that tells us that the revealed that everyone in the control room could hear with normal hearing can easily resolve.
input impedance (or load) should be at least 5 times when the bandwidth of the amplifiers on the When we are designing or specifying high
more than the source impedance. So, an input percussion microphones was reduced from 100kHz to performance audio equipment, we need to be aware
impedance of 1k is based on the understanding that 80kHz. Reducing the bandwidth to 60kHz further that a number of different parameters gang together
the source impedance of the microphone is about modified the percussion sounds, but also changed the to effect the overall outcome of the system
200ohms. A simple calculation then tells us that the timbre of the piano. When the bandwidth of all the response. Focussing on a single parameter will not
value for Ci only needs to be about 0.5µF, in order to microphone amplifiers was limited to 40kHz, the be enough to explain what is actually going on,
get a ‘-3dB down’ point at 20Hz. reproduced sound on all three instruments was heavily because all of the different parameters interact with
It is not until we consider the phase response at modified. Of course we had the advantage of being each other, due to the fact that they are inextricably
20Hz that we realise that such a low value for Ci will able to instantly compare the original sound sources linked by basic physics. Note that so far, we have
be a sad mistake. If the frequency response is -3dBu at with the electronic reproduction, by walking between only discussed two!
20Hz, then the phase response at the same frequency the control room and studio. High performance audio engineering requires that
will be more than +30 degrees. The rate-of-change of Back in the lab, looking at the frequency domain on the frequency response of our input stages must have
phase is excessive and a listener who is used to its own did not indicate any sort of electronic anomaly. a bandwidth wide enough to minimise the rate-of-
working with sound sources that develop complex But, when we checked the phase response, it was clear change of phase at the extreme ends of the audio
harmonics, will complain that the reproduced sound is what was happening. As the high frequency turnover spectrum. Unfortunately, checking the phase response
not accurate. A quick look at most allegedly high point was reduced, the rate-of-change in the phase of digital-audio systems is difficult and time
performance microphone or line amplifier circuits will response increased, and the frequency at which the consuming, but that is what we need to do if we are
reveal values for Ci of at least 100µF. phase response turned negative (1/10th of the upper interested in accurate sound reproduction. Don’t be
At high frequencies, the phase response of a circuit band-pass frequency) fell from 10kHz to 4kHz (Figure surprised if you can hear the difference between
or system turns negative, because the combined circuit 4). The increase in the rate-of-change of phase was 48kHz and 96kHz sampling convertors, but be very
elements behave as a series of low-pass filters. The always in the part of the audio spectrum that a human worried if you cannot. ■
rate-of-change of phase begins to increase rather
rapidly above a frequency that is equivalent to 1/10th
of the turnover frequency of the combined filter
network. Thus, the behaviour of the high frequency
phase response changes with the overall bandwidth of
the circuit or system. Our natural ability to detect
changes in phase allows us to resolve quite subtle
changes in the overall bandwidth of a system.
In the early 1970s, I was involved in a series of
tests to try and determine the minimum bandwidth
required for an input amplifier. Using a calibrated
microphone and a spectrum analyser we recorded
the overall harmonic response of a number of
different musical instruments. It was immediately
clear that many acoustic instruments produced
enormous amounts of harmonic energy well beyond
the accepted audio bandwidth of 20Hz to 20kHz.
Figure 3 shows an old Polaroid photograph of the
Spectrum Analyser screen while a percussionist
gently rattled a tambourine.
Six special microphone amplifiers were constructed
to allow the input bandwidth to be switched from
wide-open (100kHz) to 40kHz in 20kHz steps. A
recording session was organised to record a simple jazz
Figure 4. Comparing phase response plots as bandwidth is reduced.
trio — piano, bass and drums. The listening tests

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