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[Rob Mawyer]

Hi everyone,

I am looking to upgrade my system a little and am trying to figure out what will make the biggest impact.  I currently have

Mackie CFX12 mixer (i do not use the effects)
2 Mackie srm450 for mains
1 Mackie 15" active sub
Lexicon 200 processor

I mainly play solo acoustic guitar (taylor 814ce straight into board) and vocal.  I also play recorded music between sets.

My question is what would make the biggest impact on my system, a graphic eq with feedback detection or a compressor?  Or is there something else I am not thinking about?

Thanks in advance for your advice, as always it is very much appreciated!

Rob

[Jake Scudder]

So do you just have money burning a hole in your pocket or is there a current deficiency in your system?  If there are no obvious needs then save your money for a more major upgrade in the future.  If you don't know what your system needs maybe the money should be spent on an operator who does.

[Rob Mawyer]

I am trying to add clarity to my vocals and also eliminate feedback as much as possible.  Vocals don't seem to pop out and cut through the guitar as much as I would like.  I am not looking to spend a lot of unneccessary money, but have seen graphic eq for around $100.  Based on what I have already spent, this does not seem like a big investment if it will make a big difference in sound quality.  I am just not sure it will which is why I posted my question.  

Should probably have added to my original post that I use a Shure beta 58 mic.

Thanks,

Rob

[Evan Kirkendall]

Get a Peavey QF131 EQ. It'll help you out with your feedback issues and wont destroy the sound like a feedback destroyer.




Evan

[Rob Mawyer]

I was looking at the berhinger 1502 eq with feedback detection.  Any thoughts on that model?  Never bought berhinger equipment before and their pricing does make me wary...the old saying.."you get what you pay for"

Thanks,

[Timothy Allan Jones]

Rob,

Is your stage footprint the same each time you set up?

Are you getting adequate SPL for the room(s) you're playing?

What p'up system are you using on your acoustic guitar?

You didn't mention monitoring - are you using the mains for that?

An operator doing some dialing/tweaking/physical arrangement of your existing setup may go a looooong way toward fixing both feedback and vocal clarity.

tj

[Duane Massey]

Forget the comp/limiter, it won't help. IF you buy an EQ, you need to know how to use it. It will not magically make your vocals pop out over your guitar, however. You need to fix that via the channel EQ's. If the mixer has channel inserts, you might consider patching a compressor into the guitar channel to keep the level under your vocals, or you could get a 2-channel compressor and patch 2nd channel into vocals. This will not help you with feedback, but I see you don't use monitors. Where do you have your main speakers set up? What type of feedback are you having?
You could do the same per channel inserts with an EQ, rather than patch it into the main system.

The real key is knowing how to use the gear. How close do you work the mic? An SM58 needs to be worked very closely, or it sounds very thin.

[Alexandre Richer]

One thing you could try is a form of aux fed subs. Guitar and pre-recorded music assigned to groups (sub) 1-2, but not to 3-4. Sub 1-2 into the subwoofer's inputs. The high-passed returns of your subwoofer into the board, to a stereo channel, assigned to 3-4 (and NOT 1-2) Vocal channel to 3-4 also.

Then groups 3-4 into your top speakers, with the high-pass filter on them enabled.

It might be a little complicated, but that way you don't send any of your vocals to your subwoofer, so less mud and no possibility of your subwoofer feeding back with that mic. Another useful technique might be to use EQ on your guitar channel to carve a space for your vocals -- do a search on substractive EQ.

[Tim Padrick]

Many folks don't EQ vocal channels to compensate for the mics' proximity effect (BIG boost in the high bass/low mids), so the vocals are very muddy (with an irritating peak in the upper mids/lower highs) - see http://www.padrick.net/LiveSound/Proximity.jpg.  Get rid of these mic problems, and your vocals will be much more natural and will be audible above your guitar.