Taming PA Feedback

[TannisRoot]

I'm blowing my voice out at practice due to not being able to hear myself over the band. The PA is only at 10 o'clock in volume but any louder and we get atrocious untameable feedback. There is a 5 band EQ and the feedback is coming from the higher frequencies, but those are the frequencies I need to be heard over the other instruments.

Would a new PA help at all? Different monitors?

We tried different mics (ev 767, sm57), but the problem persists.

Any ideas?

[nyarlathotep]

My recommendation would be to get an in-ear monitoring solution going, at least for yourself - this is the best way to hear yourself in a practice environment, IMO.

1. Make sure that your PA speaker isn't projecting right into your mic - set things up so that the PA reaches everyone else, or reaches you but in a way that provides as little feedback as possible.
2. Get a small mixer and either a set of headphones with a nice long cord or a set that lets you plug an 1/8-inch into the headset.
3. Use the mixer to split the output coming from your vocal setup so that one channel goes to the PA and the other goes into your headphones.

You can probably get this going for less than $100 - I can dig up the Amazon links for what I'm using if you're interested.


Alternatively, try putting your PA speaker higher up or lower down and see if that helps. You could also try and put it right in front of you so that there's as little pickup from the mic as possible.

[VOLVO)))]

Put the PA speakers at ear level.

Crank the master volume, and use the channel gain as your volume. Tune out some highs. Check mic placement.

[RAGER]

Sounds like maybe your system is a bit under powered and make sure your mains are in front of your mics, not behind them meaning don't have the cones pointing at the capsules.

[RacerX]

Try one of these. Super-hyper-cardoid—very feedback-resistant:

http://www.amazon.com/Audix-OM2-Dynamic-Vocal-Microphone/dp/B0002O7L2O

SANDIA MAN had super-loud stage volume, and that fucker never fed back, even with us all crammed into our tiny practice room. 

[Submarine]

The 31 band graphic EQ is the most common tool for eliminating feedback.  You can attenuate the frequency bands most likely to feedback but do less damage to the surrounding bands.  Let say you have high pitched squeal at 5k.  Bring that band down but leave 4k and 6.3k (which are on either side of 5k)alone.

The Audix mics are pretty good at feedback rejection  but so is a SM58 in good condition.

[Mr. Foxen]

Awareness of speaker frequency dispersion and mic pickup pattern is key. Also untreated smooth blank walls are brutal as they bounce high frequencies with minimal attenuation, so maybe look into treating the room if it isn't already.

[liquidsmoke]

All this stuff. I have that mic and an in ear unit too.