I have only heard horror stories of Wave plugins. And they are expensive too. I am glad I never went down that road.
Indeed @dhj,
And since they launched SuperRack Performer (even the name is suspiciously close to GP), they have even fewer incentives to accommodate you. Perhaps if they run into the same issues, they might solve them, but chances are that they’ll then simply work around them in their own host to concentrate the work in one product, rather than all.
Waves PSE does the trick for me. I retains the original source very good.
To set a plus to the dbx hardware unit:
It has fixed AND dynamic filters! So you can ring out your system killing the big problem frequencies fixed and set (maybe 4 of 10) bands to dynamic behaviour. This will help to catch feedbacks when something is changing while life performing (volume change, crowd gets bigger, YOU MOVE AROUND).
The dynamic filters search constantly for such signals and will reset semselves after a preset time (i.e. 30sec).
As far as I know, the Waves plugin can’t do that.
Regarding the little dbx GoRack device and the included feedback destroyer… the device itself isn’t built anymore, but the same thing is integrated into JBL’s actual EON700 active speakers series. Not really the same thing, but might be a good choice for musicians who are used to bringing their own gear to the venues.
We have a small rehearsal studio organised as a real stage, but where we face the speakers. We have sometimes feedback issues specifically on a Rammstein song where I added a bit of overdrive and harmonizer fx on the voice. To solve the issue I used the wave feedback eliminator. It works, but ended up, on this specific song with a lot of frequencies removed, which has an impact on the quality of the sound. In real stage, it is very rare to be faced to feedback, so I bypass the wave feedback eliminator. And if all situations are not always completely feedback safe, I think there are always other solutions to avoid feedback before using any kind of feedback eliminator which removes frequencies from the mix (and in my rehearsal studio, not only very high unused frequencies).
I would agree with that.
First of all I think turning down volume is always a good start ![]()
I think you have to compromise:
Getting a thin or muddy sound through frequency eliminating is always a little dissapointing, but to welcome your audience with a big feedback “whuieeehh!!” is even worse!
This seems like an obvious opportunity. A lot of feedback eliminators focus on the speakers and room, but ignore the sound source.
A source oriented plugin would analyze the signal to determine, “is this a human voice?” There might be ways to do this with dynamic EQ and sidechains to a certain degree, but an integrated solution would be ideal. Let’s look at the conditions:
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Vowels - I might sing A, E, I, O, or U with a limited number of variations, but as a baritone, I’m never singing a 1 kHz fundamental. And harmonics will always be lower in amplitude than the fundamental. A standalone squeal should be crushed!
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Plosives - B, P, T and other consonants are brief. Feedback is not. Seems like that’s an easy differentiator.
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Sibilants - Th and S sounds are like filtered noise, which is very different than frequency spikes. Again, not like feedback.
One consideration is frequency. In a small practice room, we are near the speakers, so the feedback levels can be high, but so are the fundamentals, so we get high pitched squeals. Kill that stuff!
On a bigger stage, the feedback tone is lower, but so are the levels from the speakers. No need to be as aggressive here.
Rather than learning the room, the plugin could learn the voice. Train it once with speakers off. In theory, it could work in any room.
I want this product!
I like how you’re thinking. It’s ideas like this that drive me to want to learn to write my own plugins, but sadly I’m not there yet. ![]()
Hi @Solomon,
You promised a more thorough review a year and a half ago. We’re you able to put X-FBCK through its paces? Were you satisfied with the results?
SplashChoke -
Yes, I did make good use of it for a few months (while I was performing in that venue in which I had to stand in front of one of the main speakers). I’d say it works great. It was quick to set up, learned the resonances quickly, and functioned very well.
Eventually I stopped using it because I don’t need it where I’ve been performing, and since the last time I reinstalled my OS I haven’t bothered re-installing X-FDBK, largely because I dislike the WAVES licensing model.
At some point when I learn to be a plugin developer I’d like to write my own feedback suppressor. But until then, if I need one again, I’ll probably re-install X-FDBK.
Solomon
I use both xfeedback and and feedback hunter both weekly on a Windows system in gp and it works without issue. Use feedback hunter to ring out the whole system first. Then put xfeedback on your live vocal mic paths and push your gain untill it makes its notches and you are good. If your mic placement is the problem it will notch too much so just try it out to see.