Regarding absolute phase/polarity, for further discussion see this current thread. I would emphasize two things:
1)When the setting of the phase switch on a preamp is changed, not only is the polarity of the recording being inverted, but the preamp's circuit configuration is being changed. Which in turn may affect the preamp's sonics to some degree, depending on the specific design. In some cases, involving components having unbalanced internal signal paths, an active stage might even be inserted or removed from the signal path when the setting of that switch is changed.
I suspect that point is not applicable to most or all DACs that provide a phase switch, however, such as the Berkeley which was mentioned above. In those cases the inversion may be performed in the digital domain, without any circuit changes that are in the signal path.
2)Polarity differences are most likely to be perceivable on recordings that have been recorded with a minimal number of microphones (e.g., two or three), and that have been subjected to minimal electronic processing during mastering. Most recordings in most genres do not meet those criteria.
Regards,
-- Al
1)When the setting of the phase switch on a preamp is changed, not only is the polarity of the recording being inverted, but the preamp's circuit configuration is being changed. Which in turn may affect the preamp's sonics to some degree, depending on the specific design. In some cases, involving components having unbalanced internal signal paths, an active stage might even be inserted or removed from the signal path when the setting of that switch is changed.
I suspect that point is not applicable to most or all DACs that provide a phase switch, however, such as the Berkeley which was mentioned above. In those cases the inversion may be performed in the digital domain, without any circuit changes that are in the signal path.
2)Polarity differences are most likely to be perceivable on recordings that have been recorded with a minimal number of microphones (e.g., two or three), and that have been subjected to minimal electronic processing during mastering. Most recordings in most genres do not meet those criteria.
Regards,
-- Al