Audio Path Delay Alignment Calculator
Compare two propagation paths and entered electronic latency, then find the delay needed to align arrivals.
YOUR CALCULATION
Result
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Calculation steps
Work through one step at a time or reveal the complete calculation. The steps use your current inputs.
How to calculate
Calculate propagation time plus electronic latency for each path. Delay the earlier arrival by their absolute difference; convert that delay to samples.
arrival=distance/speed+electronic latency; added delay=|arrival A−arrival B|
Worked example
At 343 m/s, paths 3.43 m and 6.86 m arrive at 10 ms and 20 ms. Add 10 ms to path A: 480 samples at 48 kHz.
Assumptions and input details
Simultaneous emissions, common propagation speed and one observation point. No room reflections, frequency-dependent speaker phase, filters or device latency measurement. A wrapped phase difference is ambiguous by whole cycles. Nearest sample rounding is reported separately from exact alignment.
References: QSC: delayed loudspeakers and arrival alignment
Unit definitions
Unit selection is independent of language. Each selector contains only units for its physical quantity. Calculations use defined base units internally.
Choose from 23 length definitions, including explicitly labelled regional measures. Area conversions square the length factor; geometric volumes cube it.
Regional measures are not interchangeable merely because their names look similar. This is a documented selection, not a claim to include every historical unit.
SI prefixes are explicit: for example, milli means one thousandth, micro one millionth and kilo one thousand. Changing a unit changes the interpretation of the entered number.
NIST measurement tables · Japanese traditional units · Mainland China and Hong Kong unit distinctions
Using this calculator
Can I enter my own problem?
Yes. Replace the example values with your own inputs. The result, calculation steps, tables and applicable diagrams update from those inputs. Blank or invalid values clear the result; example values are never silently substituted for missing inputs.
Are the results exact?
Results use floating-point arithmetic and displayed rounding. Read the formula, assumptions and any stated data precision before interpreting the result.
Is my input uploaded?
The calculation runs in your browser. No account, file upload or external AI service is required. Inputs are not saved between page reloads.
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