Try the concept
Phase and parallel summing
Why can a merge get louder or disappear?
Branch ABranch BA + B
- Sum Peak
- 2.000×
- Relative to Peak A
- 6.02 dB
- B polarity
- Normal
A merge sums signals. Output level can rise or fall even when each branch level stays unchanged.
Two sine waves at the same frequency. Equal levels with a 180° phase difference cancel. Delaying a complex sound can create comb filtering, rather than just one phase angle.
How to read this experiment
One steady sine wave. A broadband delay or filter is not identical to a single phase angle.