I read everywhere that the speed of sound is approx. independant of frequency.
Unlike, stuff like optics where, depending on the medium, some frequencies travel faster than others.

But the other day I was talking to a guy involved in a company that outfits hi end audio gear for theatres, they were adding overhanging near field speakers to their range and
he was saying he had to get this DSP dude from france over to add special filters to correct the audio dispersion.

Anyway this got me experimenting, I found that spectrally delaying the lower frequencies could make a sound "bigger", especially base-drums, gives it a big "woosh" sound. Like the sound came from a large source some distance away. Also gives it a nice "compressor" sound which makes me wonder if tube compressors also exhibit some spectral delay.

So asking mixer freaks, what do you think of this?

I think proper audio frequency dispersion just may be the last .000001% that will make your mix sound "professional"

the fact is, attention to almost any other process involved in mixing will make a greater contribution to the quality of your product than concerning yourself with this.

The only other people I've ever heard worry aloud about this is BBE. If you like the way their process sounds, then I guess you have your answer.

[Edited: 11-May-04  |  10:30 AM]

and i'm curious... time-alignment that I've heard of usually resorts to delaying the upper frequencies I thought? Have you tried that?

they are opposites, the spectral delay is inducing that to make a sound effect of space, and the time-aligning in venues is trying to reduce that effect to get a tighter sound  

Wicked so this makes sense.

I'm not using to make my mix sound better, more as an effect, when needed.

Another thing I'm finding, adding mild spectral delay to a feedback loop gives a nicer delay sound, almost like analog delay, and tends to not peak out as easily.