I’ve got a simple PA setup with a wireless lapel mic, a couple corded mics, and a pair of powered speakers. This morning while only the wireless lapel was in use (by me), there was suddenly loud feedback. It happened twice, with no warning and nobody touching the sound board, the mic not moving at all, much less moving to in front of a speaker, nor particularly loud, nor a change in the talker’s volume.
I’ve run sound systems like this for years, and it’s always been clear to me what caused feedback. This time it felt like a hardware bug to me. Like the mic suddenly switched from mic to line level or the board suddenly shorted the channel to full volume or something. I don’t have any idea how to really figure it out. Am I crazy to think it could be hardware? The equipment has been in use in this room in this configuration for weeks without a problem.
Does anybody have any suggestion for how to troubleshoot this? It only happened briefly twice in 45 minutes of talking, so I don’t even know how to try to test anything.
Thanks in advance, and if I’m asking in the wrong place (or even the wrong forum) could you please direct me to a better place? I’m not familiar with audio forums.
I’ve run sound systems like this for years, and it’s always been clear to me what caused feedback. This time it felt like a hardware bug to me. Like the mic suddenly switched from mic to line level or the board suddenly shorted the channel to full volume or something. I don’t have any idea how to really figure it out. Am I crazy to think it could be hardware? The equipment has been in use in this room in this configuration for weeks without a problem.
Does anybody have any suggestion for how to troubleshoot this? It only happened briefly twice in 45 minutes of talking, so I don’t even know how to try to test anything.
Thanks in advance, and if I’m asking in the wrong place (or even the wrong forum) could you please direct me to a better place? I’m not familiar with audio forums.
Is the Lapel an omnidirectional mic? Those things are known to more feedback prone. Anybody been monkeying around with the settings on the beltpack? Was the feedback low or high frequency?
It is omnidirectional, which certainly sometimes is prone to ringing (ie being on the verge of feedback) if the EQ on that channel gets a bit off.
Once in the past the switch got flipped on the beltpack, and it took me forever to figure out why the volume was so far off. I didn’t think to check the switch today, but it couldn’t have been switched or the volume would have been way off. Perhaps halfway switched and occasionally touching. I’ll have to check that out.
The feedback was about the frequency of a hair clipper (not high, but not super low).
Once in the past the switch got flipped on the beltpack, and it took me forever to figure out why the volume was so far off. I didn’t think to check the switch today, but it couldn’t have been switched or the volume would have been way off. Perhaps halfway switched and occasionally touching. I’ll have to check that out.
The feedback was about the frequency of a hair clipper (not high, but not super low).