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[John Schalk]

First off, QSC never made a CP10...they have CP8's and CP12's.

To the OP, can you confirm the model of powered speaker that you are using?  The K2 series has a number of settings in its Preset menu that might be helpful to you.  For instance, there is an 80Hz high pass filter (removes all of the low frequencies below 80 Hz) that you can turn on if your primary need is for speech reinforcement.  There are also eleven different presents including one named "Head Mic" that you could try using that might help you get a little more gain before feedback with your lav mic.  Finally, the QSC K2 series has a dual angle pole cup that will allow you to get your speakers up as high as possible and then angled down to focus the sound on the audience area.

The solution that I have found to work best with lav mics is to put them on presenters that speak loudly   Try coaching your users that they need to ignore the sound coming back at them from the PA and to speak like they need to reach the 10th row.  If you users can't or won't speak up, and insist on not holding a "stick" mic, then I think you should look into getting a headset mic. 

[Riley Casey]

Always 'dress' your talent or presenters, never just hand them a lav & belt pack and hope for the best. Proper positioning of the lav high on the chest oriented toward the chin is essential. Ensuring the mic stays put in that position and won't flop to the side because the cable gets tugged on or the clothing it's attached to is not stable is equally important.

One potential trap when using a cardioid lavalier is the speaker that likes his/her mic sideways.  Not so much a problem if you can help them put it on.

[Scott Helmke]

I honestly would never even consider contacting the manufacturer of the speakers or mics to be able to offer tech support for this sort of thing.  They are doing what they are supposed to be doing.

Sometimes the manufacturer might point you to a local dealer who'd be willing to help sort things out.

[Dave Pluke]

I have been struggling to get lav systems working for my live sound needs.

Heed the advice you've been given so far.

A tangent tip; IF the Presenter is located off-center on stage, pan that Lav more to the speaker farther away.

If they're wandering the full stage or, heaven forbid, entering the audience (in front of the speakers), all bets are off.

Dave

[Al Craig]

Thanks again for all the suggestions! Truly appreciated!

We had the event this week and all went well. The first day was in the smaller space with my gear previously outlined (QSC CP8s) and I went with all handheld mics. 3 wireless BLX and one wired. No issues. The other two days were at a hotel and we had an events production company with a couple lavs and 6 handhelds. The lavs sounded ok which I believe is attributed to the Soundcraft Expression mixer dialing in the right frequencies and settings and the speakers were also more powerful than my QSC CP10s. I will continue to do more testing and research in this area for future events. Lavs (or possible headset mics) are definitely more helpful for presenters doing demos from their laptop to have both hands free (as was the case here).

[Mike Caldwell]

The solution that I have found to work best with lav mics is to put them on presenters that speak loudly   Try coaching your users that they need to ignore the sound coming back at them from the PA and to speak like they need to reach the 10th row.  If you users can't or won't speak up, and insist on not holding a "stick" mic, then I think you should look into getting a headset mic.

I have found "coaching" is 50 / 50 at best to really helping, handing someone a handheld mic is 50 / 50 that they will hold it somewhere near their mouth and keep it there, headset mics again 50 / 50 if they will use one at all.

[Luke Geis]

I tell my presenters to speak like no one can hear you....Because they can't.

It is said that a good engineer can get +10db of gain before feedback vs that of un-processed audio. I have never really bothered to try and find out how true that is, but I can say that I can usually find a way to get more gain than I need from a lav.

You have to use the NAG and PAG math. If your PAG is not higher than your NAG, you are fighting a losing battle. There are online calcs for this. Run some scenarios through them and see what you can get. And then if you are good, add another +10db to the PAG.

One of the tricks I use if I don't have a Neve 5045, is to use expansion. You set it up more like a gate, but you essentially set it so that it ducks the level down by a fixed amount when the person is not speaking and as soon as they start to make noise it opens back up. Using expansion is a little softer than a gate in how it opens and closes. This can usually let you get away with a few more db of fader level before feedback. It is a slippery slope though. If you are not on the ball, it will sail away on you in a hurry. Between expansion and EQ, I find I can go from just loud enough, to plenty loud. Another helpful trick is dynamic EQ, or multiband compression. A couple channels centered around the problem zone can allow you to have a natural sounding voice, while also ducking out the most problematic frequencies when speaking.

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