Automatic Phase Correction

Automatic Phase Correction in Audition 3.0 alone is worth the price of upgrading.  Great stuff!

Now all we need is automatic wow and flutter correction.

Automatic Phase Correction in Audition 3.0 alone is worth the price of upgrading.  Great stuff!

What does it do and what's it for?  Radio or recording? 

I think it's mainly useful for transcribing cassettes to CD or whatever - cassette recorders tend to have head alignment errors leading to phase errors.

As could any analogue tape recording with more than one track. Could also be used for correcting phase anomalies due to misaligned pickup on LPs or 78s. And time delays between mics in a studio recording.

And time delays between mics in a studio recording.

Ah, now you're talking! 

I seem to remember something about a three to one rule to avoid that in the first place.  I think I'll get the textbook out again...

And time delays between mics in a studio recording.

I think that it would only achieve that under a very restricted set of circumstances...

I seem to remember something about a three to one rule to avoid that in the first place.

That's only appropriate for omni mics, and their relationship to a specific sound source.

A colleague of mine had great - if subtle - results on a solo classical piano recording he'd made with a stereo pair and a couple of strategically placed spot mics - he described everything just snapping into greater focus when this was used. Likewise I used it on a restoration of some solo piano and felt a similar clarity emerge when it was employed. Something to play with, and as it's free it's a mere $3800 or so less than the equivalent (and, some have suggested, lesser) Cedar plug-in.

Now all we need is automatic wow and flutter correction.

I have a couple of piano tape masters that could really benefit from this.  Of course, only something like piano or oboe could really benefit...  voice, violin, etc. would never be in a steady enough state for a "lock-in."

AA3's Auto Phase Correction is an amazing proof that there's still a genius behind the software.

A colleague of mine had great - if subtle - results on a solo classical piano recording he'd made with a stereo pair and a couple of strategically placed spot mics - he described everything just snapping into greater focus when this was used. Likewise I used it on a restoration of some solo piano and felt a similar clarity emerge when it was employed. Something to play with, and as it's free it's a mere $3800 or so less than the equivalent (and, some have suggested, lesser) Cedar plug-in.

Mmm...think this through for me.  And the phase correction tool comes in handy when you're using multiple mics on a single source, is that it?

A colleague of mine had great - if subtle - results on a solo classical piano recording he'd made with a stereo pair and a couple of strategically placed spot mics - he described everything just snapping into greater focus when this was used. Likewise I used it on a restoration of some solo piano and felt a similar clarity emerge when it was employed. Something to play with, and as it's free it's a mere $3800 or so less than the equivalent (and, some have suggested, lesser) Cedar plug-in.

Mmm...think this through for me.  And the phase correction tool comes in handy when you're using multiple mics on a single source, is that it?

That would be one application, yes.  Tape azimuth correction could be another.  It's useful to think of what an effect
actually does apart from the advertized application in order to come up with new applications. 

The Automatic Phase Correction effect takes a two-channel audio file, and shifts one or both channels dynamically so
that frequency components common to each, and presumed to be close in time, line up.   
I use it as an anti-centrifuge for frozen margaritas.

A similar effect, not implemented in Audition, is to remove flutter from a single-channel source, such as old movie
soundtracks.  That may have to wait for Audition 4.0. 

The APC effect, as implemented in Audition 3.0 cannot handle audio that is misaligned beyond a certain point,
therefore it is advertized for applications where there is an implied closeness in the source, such as microphone
placement or azimuth correction.  Like noise reduction, it is not a certain, one-button solution to every misalignment
problem.  It can fail on some audio.  This uncertainty could have made the decision to market it harder, so I
congratulate the Audition team for achieving it technically in the first place, and for deciding to include this capability.

Now where did I save my salt?