Eventide Precision Time Align

What Precision Time Align Is For

Precision Time Align is a sub-sample delay plug-in designed to align audio tracks in time with extreme precision. It is aimed at situations where a few samples (or less) can degrade a mix: drums recorded with multiple mics, double-tracking guitars and vocals, stereo or multi-source takes, re-amping, or layering virtual and audio instruments. By finely adjusting the offset, you achieve a clearer image, stronger transients, and better clarity, while limiting phase issues that reduce impact and depth.

Main Features

Sub-sample delay: precision beyond the sample

Where a simple region shift in your DAW often stops at the sample level, Precision Time Align goes further with an alignment 64 times finer: up to 1/64th of a sample. This level of detail is particularly useful on transient-rich sources (snare, kick, pick attacks, vocal consonants), where the slightest desynchronization can create a "blurred" or "hollow" sound.

Correction of phase anomalies on multi-mic takes

On a multi-mic drum kit, a guitar amp captured by several capsules, or doubled vocals, each mic "hears" the source with a slight delay. Combined, these differences can cause typical anomalies: comb filtering, phase sensation, loss of low-end foundation, or harshness in the upper midrange. Precision Time Align helps restore a more coherent, punchier, and more spatially stable sum.

Coarse and Fine controls for immediate adjustment

The plug-in offers Coarse and Fine controls to quickly adjust a large offset, then "lock" the exact sub-sample position. This approach avoids back-and-forth editing, speeds up decision-making, and makes alignment reproducible from session to session.

Negative delays: moving a track forward in time

Beyond classic delay (pushing a track back), Precision Time Align allows negative delays to move a track forward relative to others. This is ideal for realigning a spot mic, re-phasing an internal/external kick mic, or synchronizing audio segments during a tracking-oriented session without destructive editing.

Calibration and signal matching

To achieve clean alignment, Precision Time Align offers four calibration methods to target optimal signal matching. Depending on the sources, this step facilitates precise and consistent alignment, even when waveforms do not visually overlap clearly on screen.

Phase Invert and DAW compatibility

A Phase Invert button allows quick correction of polarity inversion (mirror acoustic phasing) when two captures conflict. The software also includes Precision Time Delay, a variant designed for digital audio workstations lacking delay compensation, to maintain timing coherence in more configurations.

Technical specifications