Live vocal question

[dbhiker@mac.com]

I sing and play synth in a worship band at our church. My vocal rack consists of a sennheiser ew100 g2 wireless and a dbx vocal processer an a lexicon mx200 effects processer. Because we have volunteers running the sound system, I can't trust them with the effects so my question is should i run the feed to the compressor first and then the effects or to the effects first and then the compressor and then to the board?? Thanks and keep on rockin!

[JMS 2]

I assume your board has no dedicated compressor for the vocal channels, hence there's no perfect solution :

- Compressor in front will make the FX sound better (more consistent) but who can predict what level spikes the board will see ?

- Compressor after the FX will make your volume be more consistent/even and the system will be safer (provided you never overload the input of the FX processor, thus keep the input gain low). FX might not work so well though and the S/N ratio might be bad due to the low input ...

 

I'd try the second one and see what happens

[agedhorse]

Excessive use of compression will increase the potential for feedback. This can be a big problem in poorly designed or implimented systems. This is often a deal killer.

[karlw]

IMO compression before FX. But as agedhorse sez, go easy. You just need a bit to help control the dynamic swings. But too much will be a problem. Work more on mic technique and rely on the compressor for "polish" rather than to do all the work.