I’m exploring a parallel processing setup with the Octatrack and wondering how it handles potential phase issues.
If I send the same stereo signal to both input pairs—A/B as the clean signal and C/D as a heavily processed version—how does the OT handle timing between those paths? Is there any built-in delay compensation to prevent phase cancellation?
I’m particularly curious because I’d like to try setups like:
- A/B = signal through Analog Heat
- C/D = same signal through a compressor
The Heat has a dry/wet control and wet level, so I could even end up with three signals in parallel (clean, saturated, compressed).
Does anyone have experience with this kind of setup? Would I need to manually adjust timing in the OT or is there a smarter way to avoid phase issues?
Have you tried it? What were your findings?
I’ve tried it and it sounds good to my ears—no obvious phasing or comb filtering when blending the two paths.
That said, I’m still a bit cautious, since once both signals are combined through the OT, I won’t be able to fix any phase issues later in the DAW (given my setup).
Does anyone know if the OT compensates for potential timing differences between A/B and C/D inputs—or if the “delay compensation” setting has any effect in this case?
Would love to hear if anyone’s tested this more deeply or run into subtle phase problems in a similar parallel setup.
OT doesn’t compensate timing differences between AB and CD.
The OT Delay compensation compensate DIR monitoring and THRU tracks, which are a bit delayed compared to DIR. Fixed delay setting.
Neighbor tracks add delay.
I am not sure if an fx slot set to NONE reduce delay.
Playback can be also delayed with microtiming or swing if you use a recorder and a FLEX.
Full wet Delay can delay too. 
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