The vectorscope visualizes the phase relationship of the left and right audio channels. The vectorscope shows how your stereo mix will behave if it’s folded down to mono. To interact with the display, you simply drag a finger (or mouse) around the circle. You can use the keyboard for precise control, even without pointing device.
To begin, press Enter or click the Charge the beam button. This will draw a trace across the screen and activate audio signal. Each channel is represented with one of the axes; the left channel horizontally, the right vertically. If the channels is in phase, you’ll see a diagonal line from bottom left to top right. Otherwise it will be a circle, which means there is a ninety degree phase shift.
How to Use the Vectorscope
You can also change the phase and balance by dragging within the scope. Left-right adjusts the phase offset from zero to one hundred eighty degrees. Up-Down changes the right channel trim. This lets you adjust a level mismatch or simulate panning in real time. You’ll see that the trace update immediately so you can observe the reaction of shape.
You can select from three different types of tone, which is where the calibration signal comes into play. Fifth knot: This plays left and right frequencies that create a Lissajous knot. A polarity trap uses equal but opposite frequencies that are half a cycle apart. Coherent A3: A single frequency played with matched phase.
Source resets both balance and phase to their default starting places. Fine tune adjustments using the sliders on the right. Phase offset adjust the time delay between channels. Right channel trim boosts or weakens the right side. Trace persistence show more history as it increases and clears the screen faster as it lowers.
As the dot moves from minus one to plus one on the correlation rail, this indicates that the signal is either totally cancelling or in perfect mono correlation (plus one). When it slides back towards the orange area, then some energy might be lost on a mono system. By pressing the monitor fold down button you can also listen to how the mix sum.
Trace matching bay are an observation practice game. To create a dashed line, click an XY target card. Drag controls and adjust till solid trace matches dashed target. Click “stamp this trace” against the target to get a percentage score. Small snippets of recent scores will appear below buttons.
For quicker experimenting, there are keyboard shortcuts: Switch between sources by pressing 1, 2, or 3 on your keypad. Nudge up and down in small steps of phase or balance using arrow keys. To jump a bigger step, hold the Shift key while pressing an arrow. For automatic movement across the phase horizon from zero to one hundred eighty degrees, press V.
A second button labeled “traverse” animates the phase shift, from out of phase to in phase. You see the trace begin as a diagonal line, morphing first into a circle and then a reverse diagonal. That shows you where phase issue arise.
Hit D to discharge the beam and stop the sound. Snap it all back to a safe mono diagonal by hitting zero. The signal is run through a mono fold down monitor that can be toggled on or off using the press of the M key, so you can hear any change in correlation occur.
A new matching game target is issued when G key is pressed. When the current trace has been matched the J key are used to both stamp it and register the score. The help button opens up a reference panel that contains all this information.
Set the raw trace, reduce the persistence so that you can see through it. Increase the persistence and watch how all those moves add up. Use the traverse function on the polarity trap source to observe total cancellation. See the line flip as the correlation rail drop to minus one. Switch to coherent and note it climbs back up to one.
It is audible and visualizes abstract phase relationships. The interface is immediate and tactile. Explore the physics of stereo sound, or test a mix. Discover interesting shapes by dragging with your finger on the screen, or by typing them in with keyboard. Notice how much level you lose when the trace gets vertical.
Pressing the Enter key or button charges up the beam. Choose your signal source, then adjust phase by sliding bar. Observe the ellipse stretching and compressing as you go. Match it to a target trace to train your eye. Settings is remembered in the widget till refreshed.
It is a place for peace and solitude to learn about stereo imaging. Click the fullscreen button to enlarge it, and it adjusts for fullscreen mode. The trace is sharp. Labels and grid lines are also still present. Works very nicely on mobile as well as desktop screens. Mouse or touch users can drag with equal ease.
There is no undo button, but you can always reset by pressing the snap to mono safe diagonal button. All the offsets are cleared. Balance set to zero, phase set to zero. Straight diagonal trace. A good starting point after dialing in extreme numbers.
The live data is shown in the lower vitality boxes. Shape diagnosis reads the geometry and names it. Helps to explain what the shape means in audio terms. A mono change is the decibel shift that occurs when signals are summed. Correlation is the numerical value of the phase relationship.
Leave it charged up for as long as you’d like. Trace will continue until the time set by the decay setting. When you’re done, discharge the beam and start over with a clean slate. You don’t need to reload the page. Click charge and away you go.
It bridges the gap between seeing and hearing phase. It goes from abstract wave interference to concrete shape. Diagnose mix problems with it. Learn with it. Controls are intuitive, feedback is instant. Try it and see what patterns appear.