Reply To: Vocal mic feedback destroyer channel settings?

[Dick Rees]

The geq centres the cut at 1kHz, but will also affect get 1/6th of the octave either side of the centre freq (for a total of 1/3 of the octive for that geq fader: that’s why it’s called a 1/3rd geq.)

No. GEQ filters affect program material over as much as an octave, 1/2 on either side, depending on the depth of the cut.

It’s called a 1/3 octave EQ because of the spacing of the filter centers at 1/3 octave intervals.

I think I took out about 6 or 8, rolled off the bass and ever so carefully edged up the level during the performance to establish the max loudness possible. It was nearly enough, pushing the level even further, the room became very lively like I had added some sort of reverb and I backed off from that a tad. My first PA job and I nearly wished I had not volunteered! Perhaps it is a good case for the automatic howl suppression kit.

If you are having to use more than 3 or 4 filters to deal with room/system issues, you have other problems such as speaker type and placement, mic type and placement, etc. You’ll learn these things in time. It will be better with PEQ since you will be able to get more “surgical” with the narrower filters.

As to the “automatic howl suppression”…forget that. They are not a cure-all and will not function effectively for you until you understand what they can and cannot do and how to make them do it…hardly “automatic”.

Once you understand SYSTEM DEPLOYMENT and can effectively use the PEQ to deal with pesky room resonances you will have enough knowledge to get a “feedback destroyer” to work for you as an “automatic parametric equalizer”, which is what it really is. There are some good ones such as the Sabine GraphiQ, but not exciting the room with the system in the first place is the way to go. But that’s the basic live sound knowledge you’ll have to get.

You cannot use EQ of any type to compensate for poor speaker/mic choice and placement. Prevention/cure as the old adage reminds us.