Feedback Destroyer

Garage acoustics aren’t the best, to put it mildy!

In garage rehearsals with my band the Drop Daddies– it can get loud, and we’ve been struggling with the mics feeding back.

So, a few weeks ago, I ordered an inexpensive Behringer Feedback Destroyer FBQ2496– it was used on Guitar Center for only $50. GC has a good return policy so I figured it’s worth a shot.

We’re running a mono mix, so we’re only using one of the two FBQ2496 channels.  It’s connected between the main output of our Mackie 808s mixer and a powered speaker. I’ve configured the it to automatically hunt and destroy feedback.  In this mode, the FBQ2496 will deploy up to 20 notch filters as necessary to stop feedback.

We’ve used it at a few rehearsals now, and it seems to work quite well in preventing feedback.  We sometimes hear the beginning of a squeal, but it’s quickly clamped down as the feedback destroyer does its thing. By the end of practice, it’s typical to see that every filter has been deployed. I’m not sure how much it’s affecting the sound quality- I’d be hesitant to use it for the front of house mains, but it certainly suffices for feedback in the monitors.

The FBQ2496 user interface is impossible to remember, so I wrote down the setup to configure this automatic mode here:

• Press the learn button briefly
• Turn the jog wheel until that the display reads S0
• Press the learn button briefly
• Press the PEQ button for two seconds and bring up the parametric filter assignments.
• Turn the job wheel until the display reads P0
• Press the PEQ button briefly to put you back in run mode