PHIXER for House of Worship FOH / multi-mic band and spoken word phase
FOH cans and IEMs can feel rich while the same multi-mic worship band stereo, pastor / spoken-word path, or stereo bed thins on mono PA, foldback, phones, or a mono-ish livestream matrix. Congregants and remote viewers often hear a summed path. Check mono and phone fold before service and before stream go-live. Free phase-repair helps after polarity and timing. It is not a feedback fixer, not a time-aligner, and not a substitute for a true mono listen on a phone or house sum.
Download PHIXER free YouTube tutorial
PHIXER is free stereo phase-repair (VST3/CLAP/AU · Win/Mac/Linux) from Riverflux Audio. Frequency-aware phase rotation for leftover L/R fights on stereo material. It is not a livestream platform, not a time-aligner, not a stereo widener, and not a substitute for polarity, delay matching, or a real mono / phone / house-sum check. Use it after hygiene, when residual spectral cancellation remains on a stereo worship band / FOH path you must keep stereo through PA fold and stream preview.
Three house of worship FOH / band + spoken-word fold modes
- House / mono-PA fold after FOH stereo. Worship band stereo that sounds huge in IEMs can soft-drop kick punch and vocal body when the house matrix sums. Habit: true L+R sum on the FOH / stereo bus before doors. Cousin guide: PHIXER for Live FOH / foldback stream phase mono matrix.
- Multi-mic band vs spoken word on the same Sunday. Dual guitar cabs, keys stereo, drum OH, praise-team stacks, then pastor handheld / lav / podium. Paths that fight on fold kill consonants mid-sermon or thin the band under spoken word. Mute wide FX briefly and re-check fold with band and spoken word up, not only soloed in cans. Cousin: PHIXER for Church Livestream / multi-mic worship stereo that collapses on phone.
- FOH vs foldback vs stream matrix. Separate matrices can hide mono soft-drop until someone sits in the room or watches on a phone mid-service. Habit: mono compatibility checklist.
Fast house of worship FOH / phone mono audition (about 60 seconds)
- Sum L+R on the FOH / stereo worship bus. Listen to spoken-word consonants, vocal body, kick punch, and side beds.
- A/B stereo vs mono. Note what disappears on fold: pastor / reader consonants, low-end warmth, wide pads under the worship track.
- Preview the bounce on a phone speaker or earbud with band and spoken word up. Mute wide FX / Haas / side-heavy verbs. Note which path thins the fold.
- Re-check fold after any bus FX / limiter / stream encode pass, not only before cleanup. Habit: mono compatibility checklist.
Honest order of fixes (before spectral phase rotation)
1. True mono / L+R listen plus phone / house preview
Hard L+R sum on the FOH / stereo worship bus. Then preview on a phone speaker or earbud with band and spoken word. Habit: mono compatibility checklist, Live FOH, and the 60-second audition above.
2. Polarity if a path flips
Dual guitar cabs, drum OH vs close, dual pastor lavs, stacked praise takes. Flip polarity when body returns. Guide: polarity vs phase.
3. Timing / delay-align before spectral tools
Nudge dual mics, cab pairs, and wide beds a few ms. Spectral rotation is not a substitute for timing.
4. Prefer correlated lows and center for spoken word + PA fold
Keep spoken-word body, kick, and critical worship bed body correlated. Put width in sides that survive fold. Related: Live FOH and Church live.
5. Only then audition residual L/R spectral fights
If a stereo worship band / FOH path must stay stereo and fold still hollows a band after the steps above, gentle frequency-aware phase rotation can help. Prove it with mono A/B. Watch the YouTube tutorial and the mono demo.
House of worship FOH / band + spoken-word path types
| Setup | Common mono failure | First fix |
|---|---|---|
| FOH stereo bus into mono PA | Kick and vocal body soft-drop in the room | Hard mono bounce; house / phone check |
| Multi-mic worship band stack | Warmth gone when spots + mains play | Polarity then timing; true L+R with band up |
| Pastor / reader lav vs handheld vs podium | Consonants thin on foldback / stream | Church live cousin; less width in lows |
| Stereo FX / Haas under worship track | Body gone when house / stream folds | Mute wide FX; correlated center |
| FOH vs foldback vs stream | Fine in cans, thin on phone mid-service | Live FOH; re-check after encoder |
| Limiter / livestream encode after mix | Fine in headphones, thin after encode | Re-check fold after limiter / encode / go-live, not only before |
Church live and Live FOH cousins (short version)
- Church livestream / multi-mic worship stereo and Live FOH / foldback stream phase share the same L+R habit as house of worship FOH / multi-mic band and spoken word phase before service and before go-live.
- Polarity and timing still come first. Spectral tools after residual L/R fights only.
- Full write-ups: PHIXER for Church Livestream / multi-mic worship stereo that collapses on phone and PHIXER for Live FOH / foldback stream phase mono matrix.
When not to reach for PHIXER
- Wrong polarity on dual mics or dual cabs (flip polarity first).
- Obvious attack misalignment (nudge first).
- You only need a mono print, not a stereo worship path that must survive PA / phone fold.
- Feedback / gate / room-EQ problems (wrong tool).
- Livestream encoder / bitrate / loudness problems (wrong tool).
- Honesty list: When not to use PHIXER.