Shame on Us: Phase Is Not Polarity!

Presenter:
Cesar Lamschtein, Kaps Audio Production Services - Montevideo, Uruguay; Mixymaster - Montevideo, Uruguay

Being disappointed with the industry regarding how messy the concepts of PHASE and POLARITY get to students, general amateur audio enthusiasts and even seasoned professionals. I think that AES is to the only one that can and SHOULD do something to encourage the stopping of the practice of freely exchanging these terms.
E.g, • major console brands, either analog and digital in either plain word or the ø symbol; • Daw software (nuendo, reaper, etc.); • outboard equipment (including such classics as 1073 neve eq); • videos (Allan Parsons MTCS DVD); • books.
During this presentation I will: • Acknowledge the situation: I´ll show the results of a survey done on the 2 past NY conventions, where 100% of the polarity switches in the exhibition floor was reviewed and photographed, showing inconsistency in the naming of the switch even in different products from the same manufacturer; • Teach terms: I´ll state actual definitions and clarify the concepts of phase and polarity with audio examples of each; • Encourage the discussion: I want to gather people together to nourish this venture, discussing possible abbreviation and symbol (ICON) to represent polarity in order to gather information that may lead to an AES TD; • I´ll invite fellow audio men and women to speak properly about those important concepts (and THEN be able to think properly about this quite basic concepts, albeit misunderstood).