mic feedback

[pinballwizard]

My band has sort of a primitive recording setup, we have a few dynamic mics that are all plugged into a PA, which we use as a mixer, and run the out to the fostex with a 1/4" instrument cable to the fostex. We only have cheap mics, so there is sort of a feedback that can be heard, sort of a whirring type sound like on an old vinyl record at the end of the album. Most of the time this isn't much of a problem because there is usually a distorted guitar turned up to 11, but on some parts with just drums, or drums and a bass, you can hear the feedback and its annoying. Is there any way to get rid of it or at least cover it up?

[BentRabbit]

Hmmm... Not sure...

What Fostex deck are you using to record?

Are there any monitors coming from the deck? Is the feedback only on the recording or is there a hint of it in the room when things are not at 11?

[rboyce_boston]

When you say that you can hear some "feedback", are you referring to what you hear in the room when you're playing live or what you hear on the recording, or both?

If the "feedback" that you describe is only heard on the recording, then I would guess it's more of a impedance-matching problem, or a floating ground. First, try properly grounding all your equipment - don't use any of those 3 prong to 2 prong converters. Make sure all equipment is plugged into ground power strips, which then go into grounded outlets. Try plugging the PA mixer and the recording deck into different power strips and/or outlets.

HTH,

-ray

[pinballwizard]

Im using a VF80. I can't remember exactly how I had everything plugged in, but im pretty sure I had the PA and the Fostex plugged into different outlets. I think the problem is just the microphones, they're just really cheap and aren't the greatest quality. The sound is similar to a vinyl record when it reaches the end of the last song, or that of a guitar amp humming when turned on and idle. I just want to know if theres anything I can do to help hide the sound or get rid of it.

[rboyce_boston]

I don't mean to be a d*ck, but I (we) can't help you if you don't answer my original question:

When you say that you can hear some "feedback", are you referring to what you hear in the room when you're playing live or what you hear on the recording? Or both?

Again, from what you describe, it doesn't sound like what I would call "feedback". It sounds like a 60 cycle hum...what you get when you play a Telecaster using the bridge position single-coil pickup (that's why they invented the humbucker). Basically, it's a ground problem.

The kind of feedback you get from cheap dynamic mics failing to reject off-axis sound waves is 1) loud; 2) fast; 3) and extremely annoying - annoying to the point that you have to run over to the mixer and pull down the master volume immediately. This doesn't sound like the problem you are experiencing.

Are you using any XLR -> 1/4" impedance converters? Are you using any unbalanced cables when you should be using balanced cables? Also, it could just be a bad cable or two. Try recording just 1 input at a time, and then add each additional input one at a time - so you can figure out exactly which input is causing the problem.

Another suggestion is to use noise gate(s) on each input - especially the vocal microphones and any guitars that use single-coil pickups. Behringer makes a cheap 4 channel noise gate that can really help cut down on noise.

HTH.

[pinballwizard]

The sound is on the recording. I guess the best way to describe it is 60 Cycle-Hum coming from my microphone...so i guess i need to use some sort of noise gate on it. What particular digital effects on my VF80 should I use for a noise gate, particularly for drums?

[rboyce_boston]

My VF-16 has NO built-in noise gate effect, so I doubt your VF80 has one.

LIKE I SAID in my previous post....Behringer makes a pretty cheap 4 channel noise gate. Buy a couple of those units - I would gate the vocals, guitars and drums (pretty much everything if you are recording live). You should do this BEFORE the signals go into your VF80. Hopefully, this will help cut down on what you are calling "feedback" (which is not what most people would call it).

HTH,

ray

[John Harvey]

I had a similar problem. I was mixing drums through a PA amp and using the RCA outputs to go into one of the jack sockets of the VF80. Result - cyclic hum. Now I take a line from the monitor output of the PA amp (jack socket) to one of the balanced (XLR) inputs of the VF80. Result - no cyclic hum, perfect recording.
I'll admit I don't understand these things - I'm just a drummer - but someone on the forum suggested this solution. It's all thanks to him!
If you have a monitor output from the PA amp, try this method. If you don't then I don't know what else to suggest.

John Harvey