Radial Engineering Phazer Active Class-A Analogue Phase Controller

The Radial Phazer is a +4dB line level phase alignment tool that lets bring two sound sources into phase alignment to guarantee that the fundamental frequencies play in sync. On electric guitar, for example, can use the Radial Phaser to combine the direct feed from an amp with the signal of a room mic to create incredibly fat, rich tones. On a kick drum can combine the attack from a close mic'd bass drum batter head with the boom picked up by an ambient shell mic. Combining top and bottom snare mic signals nets a big in--face sound. For acoustic instruments, combining a spot mic with a room mic captures textures like 've never heard before. Unlike Class-AB devices that suffer from zero-cross distortion, the Radial Phazer is designed from the ground up for optimum sound quality and features 100% discreet Class-A circuitry. This results in smooth and natural sounding phase curves that are particularly important in the lower frequency spectrum. 0 to 180 degree phase adjustment is performed with a single knob, making it easy to zone in on the sweet spot. For the more adventurous, a 180-degree polarity reverse switch accesses the 181 to 360 degree range and lets create weird to absurd 'Phazed' tonal textures. This is augmented with a variable low-pass filter that lets focus the effect in the lower frequency spectrum where phasing is most audible. Built Radial-tough for the road, the Phazer is equipped with an innovative bookend design that creates a protective zone around the knobs and switches. Construction is 14-gauge steel with a welded internal I-beam frame that protects the sensitive electronics in even the harshest touring environments. A bottom no-slip pad provides electrical insulation to eliminate electrical bonding, and mechanical isolation to reduce mishap. The Radial Phazer is a creative tool for the studio designed to expand tonal palette. Live, it delivers great sound fast and may well turn into best audio soul mate. Development Messing around with 'time travel' is not new¦ In the dark ages of the 1970s, MXR, with their groundbreaking Phase 90 and Phase 100, ignited interest in phasing by way of modulating the phase effect for electric guitar. This inspired Radial's chief engineer Denis Rozon to start messing with phase circuits in the early 1980s. Fast-forward 20 years, MXR is re-launched by Dunlop and these 'vintage' remakes are once again available to the masses. Radial has taken a different route, targeting not guitar pedals, but audio signal paths. What few realize is that beyond the sweeping phase effect, minute phase adjustments can lead to actually creating more natural sounds. It has to do with physics or more precisely, the physical location of the desired sound source and the various devices used to capture the sound. Sound travels at roughly 1100 feet per second (340 meters per second) while electricity is estimated to travel at 650,000 feet per second (200,000 meters per second) or roughly 600 times faster. This means that if were to combine the direct feed from a guitar amplifier with a microphone, by the time the amplifier pushes the speaker outwards and the sound travels through air before it enters the mic, it will be minutely delayed with respect to the direct (hard wired) signal. This 'phase mismatch' is even more pronounced when two microphones are used on the same instrument. Imagine, for instance, an acoustic guitar with one microphone positioned directly adjacent to the sound hole and a second mic elevated and 10 feet (3 meters) away from the instrument in an effort to capture a sense of natural space and ambiance. Some sound engineers often spend hours moving microphones around the room in an effort to find the sweet spot or the position where phase anomalies will be less pronounced. These phase anomalies create an effect known as comb filtering. This occurs when a sound is combined with a delayed version of itself in a given acoustic space