DI causing feedback problems

[marcusbites]

Hi guys, I'm currently running a L.R. Baggs rts2 equipped guitar into a PADI. I'm wondering if I'm running too hot a signal into the board, causing uncontrollable feedback at times. The feedback issue is completely gone when I go direct into the mixer. I've been keeping my gain on the PADI real low, at around 9 o' clock, essentially 1/4 the way up. Should I keep it at unity volume with a direct signal? Should a DI signal be substantially louder than a direct signal in the first place?

Thanks in advance

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by marcusbites

Hi guys, I'm currently running a L.R. Baggs rts2 equipped guitar into a PADI. I'm wondering if I'm running too hot a signal into the board, causing uncontrollable feedback at times. The feedback issue is completely gone when I go direct into the mixer. I've been keeping my gain on the PADI real low, at around 9 o' clock, essentially 1/4 the way up. Should I keep it at unity volume with a direct signal? Should a DI signal be substantially louder than a direct signal in the first place?

Thanks in advance

Hi Marcus...

Welcome to the forum (I don't think we've met yet)…

How were you sending the signal from the guitar to the board before? What is feeding back? Mains, or monitors (or both)? What kind of setting are you testing this out in? Home, garage, church, coffee house?

The primary reason for adding a preamp with a DI in it is to improve tone, and add output options (such as simultaneously running a stage amp and sending a low impedance signal to the PA board).

The Baggs ParaDI is a preamp first and foremost, which also serves as a direct box as well. If you don't need additional sound shaping or volume controls, a passive Direct Box to convert impedance should be adequate.

As soon as you add a preamp to your rig, you need to readjust volumes and gain controls on the PA board (and the monitors) to accommodate and incorporate it.

When adding a new instrument with preamp to our board, I start by turning all volumes off, and then when I know the guitar-->preamp is working, I raise the volume on the guitar in the house, and last the monitors.

If you leave the settings the same as they were before (without the preamp), you are inviting trouble. The input gain controls on your PA channel need to be adjusted to the level of the new preamp. The PA board should be able to handle your ParaDI gain (front edge) at around 9-11 o'clock, and your volume (top) at about mid-way.

I am assuming you are sending the signal from the ParaDI to the PA board via XLR (either directly or by plugging into a snake).

Gain is how much signal from another source you let into the preamp or other device, and volume is how much volume from the preamp/device you let out to go to the board/amp.

Hope this helps you begin trouble shooting...

[old6strng]

Welcome to the forum!

I would also check the phase switch (invert), the red button...in the past I have accidentally hit it and well some not so pretty sounds happened. It depends on your system, how loud you have your volume, how close to the monitor you are, your eq settings...where the gain is set in conjunction with the volume. Does your guitar have a volume on it and/or a preamp? I have found that having too many volume buttons can be annoying. On one of my guitars, I run a Baggs Duel Source that has a preamp in the guitar with a gain, a volume in the sound hole. With that guitar I used my ParaDI and there was another set of gains and volumes. After some experimentation with different settings, I finally got to the point that there was no feedback.

The PareDI is a great box and has come in very handy...it may take some experimentation on your part, just don't give up and give yourself some time to dial it in.

Best of luck!

[sdelsolray]

Originally Posted by marcusbites

Hi guys, I'm currently running a L.R. Baggs rts2 equipped guitar into a PADI. I'm wondering if I'm running too hot a signal into the board, causing uncontrollable feedback at times. The feedback issue is completely gone when I go direct into the mixer. I've been keeping my gain on the PADI real low, at around 9 o' clock, essentially 1/4 the way up. Should I keep it at unity volume with a direct signal? Should a DI signal be substantially louder than a direct signal in the first place?

Thanks in advance

The Baggs PADI has a minimum gain of +3dB, so it can't be run at unity.

[Herb Hunter]

My hunch is that when running through the L.R. Baggs Para DI preamp, you are boosting frequencies that are not boosted when running straight into the mixer. If I'm right, setting the Para DI equalization controls to the flat position will ameliorate the problem.

[marcusbites]

Thanks guys for the quick responses, and hi Larry! Nice to meet you. (:

I'm facing feedback problems from my wedges in a bar setting; pretty small stage, wedges right at my feet pointing towards my mic and guitar. It's definitely the guitar feeding back instead of the mic, and it rumbles at a low frequency (usually the open A). The rts2 has a vol control, which is usually halfway up. The PADI gain is kept at 9 o' clock, and the volume at 12 o' clock. It's a really hot signal though, and I'm wondering if that's the reason for my feedback problems, cus those problems go away when I run my guitar straight into the mixer (no feedback from the wedges).

This problem occurs ESPECIALLY when I set the EQ on the PADI flat. I usually have to lower the lows significantly and notch the filter at around the 'A' freq, with my mids scooped at around 900khz.

Without the PADI, I get a much smaller (in volume) signal, and my sound has less 'body', which i suspect translates to less feedback issues. But I do like the sound of my guitar with the PADI, and I'm trying to (bad pun alert) notch out any bad practices I might be having with it.

[ljguitar]

Originally Posted by marcusbites

Thanks guys for the quick responses, and hi Larry! Nice to meet you. (:

I'm facing feedback problems from my wedges in a bar setting; pretty small stage, wedges right at my feet pointing towards my mic and guitar. It's definitely the guitar feeding back instead of the mic, and it rumbles at a low frequency (usually the open A). The rts2 has a vol control, which is usually halfway up. The PADI gain is kept at 9 o' clock, and the volume at 12 o' clock. It's a really hot signal though, and I'm wondering if that's the reason for my feedback problems, cus those problems go away when I run my guitar straight into the mixer (no feedback from the wedges).

This problem occurs ESPECIALLY when I set the EQ on the PADI flat. I usually have to lower the lows significantly and notch the filter at around the 'A' freq, with my mids scooped at around 900khz.

Without the PADI, I get a much smaller (in volume) signal, and my sound has less 'body', which i suspect translates to less feedback issues. But I do like the sound of my guitar with the PADI, and I'm trying to (bad pun alert) notch out any bad practices I might be having with it.

Hi marcus...
I have a meeting all morning, and will respond in more detail later. But please check out my response to your monitor thread.

Personally, I play in everything from very quiet stages in acoustic duo, to very aggressive rock band stages, and I never allow my guitar to be put into the wedges in my vicinity. I use a stage amp behind me and about 24-30'' off the ground, and my body shields it from feedback.

I rarely have to use feedback busters (black rubber plug), and never have to resort to radical EQ adjustment or notch filters to keep up with the band.

In ear monitors take away the possibility of stage feedback and bring their own set of issues with them (which is why you see so many artists with one earplug dangling).

Anyway - gotta run and we can chat later!

[marcusbites]

Hi guys, thanks for the advice. I'm playing a couple of sets later at a coffeehouse again, and I'm gonna try playing with the EQs a little bit more. I'm gonna have to see what I can do with the wedges pointing straight at me as well..

[pieterh]

A couple of quick thoughts from me:

Are you using a low cut on either the ParaDI or the mixer, or even both? If not you should - the guitar doesn't need anything below 80 hz, and if you're in a venue with standing waves at low frequencies you can even cut at 200hz without affecting the tone too much.

Do the wedges have eq on them? Can you scoop or notch out the frequency where there's most risk? I've previously mentioned this on another thread not long ago but if a room's acoustics are such that certain frequencies are being exaggerated (standing waves) then using eq on monitors and FOH to smoothen out those frequencies will make the whole thing sound more balanced and natural, even if your eq (if it's a graphic) has a couple of sliders way down compared to the ones either side. The monitor mix should ideally have the frequencies you need and not others - sometimes it will mean that it won't sound ideal or natural to you, but it will lessen the risk for feedback. If you don't need to hear a bass guitar or low synths in your monitor for example then why have a full range all the way down to 40hz?

[marcusbites]

I have no way to do a low cut except through the 'low' knob of my PADI, which, according to the manual, is kept at 85khz. Do you mean lowering that significantly? Because I do trim it a little, but any more would be at the cost of low end that I need for my guitar to sound bodied.

[pieterh]

Your low control on the Padi will probably control a band of frequencies either side of the centre frequency of 85 which is why it affects the "body" of your sound. A low cut centred on 85 hz but starting higher and rolling off is what I'm
talking about - a guitar's lowest E has a fundamental frequency of around 82hz so anything below that isn't helping your guitar tone it'll just be a risk area for feedback.

What mixer are you using? Is there no low cut/high pass option on the channels?