Jump to content

TrooperTalk ... how to eliminate feedback and make it work well!


Recommended Posts

Hi All! I’ve been getting a lot of offline requests to share how I got TrooperTalk to work really well lately, so I figured it makes sense to create a topic with all my info in one place.

 

I just want to say, I absolutely love TrooperTalk. It took quite a bit to get it to the place where it’s useable for me, but it was well worth it! Now, it’s just not useable, I personally think it’s amazing. Here are the details.

 

FYI, I got an iPhone 5 just for using this (a white one no less). When I troop and am using the background chatter, I have a USB battery plugged into it to extend the use for the entire troop. 
 
My settings:

  • I’m using the mic that came with my Aker 1505 (it's better than the more expensive after-market one I bought). I’m sure there’s better out there, but it works really well.
  • Voice volume (in app setting): -20
  • I have "voice volume threshold" at 0.05. I found that higher than that, as soon as my mic wasn't perfectly positioned my voice wasn't always coming through.
  • I went with a slightly higher static burst volume (-25), especially for louder environments.
  • Lowpass: 1540
  • Highpass: 2070
  • Radio Distortion: OFF
  • Compression: 0
  • Don't play with voice pitch either. Just creates unnecessary distortion and latency (lag): 1.00
  • Echo Delay: 0
  • Voice Static: Unchecked

So, with these basic settings I think it still sounds really really cool, and more importantly, it's way more usable to me. Easier to understand me, etc. etc. Very importantly, there is no feedback and not even any tinny feedback tones in the voice, when used with proper dampening and mic position.
 
A really nice by-product of having these settings off is that your phone battery will last way longer, and the voice lag is very close to gone.

 

On dampening:
 
In early days, once my helmet was on, it loved to feed back. When I had my mic plugged straight into the Aker, with no helmet on, this wasn't an issue, as those high distortion-y sounding frequencies weren't being pinged so harshly. The sound of the app, mixed with the smooth parabolic surfaces of the helmet's interior are a recipe for feedback disaster. I was able to completely solve the feedback only with a 3-pronged approach of app settings, sound dampening inside the helmet and mic position.
 
The dampening setup:


Instead of hanging the Aker amp around my neck, I velcro'd it to the chest, at the speaker side. So, the velcro is directly over the speaker. 

 

I put a bit of foam inside the chest plate, just below the neckline, blocking sound from coming up through the neck and into the helmet.

 

I bought 1/4" x 3/4" x 10' insulating foam tape, and I covered all the surfaces of the inside of my helmet, from about the temples down. Even the foam surface will be uneven with lines going different ways for extra dampening. Remember to cover ALL of the surface in the front of the helmet around the vocoder…even the rounded ones, cavities etc. The only place I didn’t dampen, was the top, rounded crown of the helmet. I found it wasn’t necessary, and I didn’t want any insulation up there to hinder the fans keeping my helmet cool.

 

One more tiny but very important bit of feedback…even with total helmet dampening, when I have it loud, there will be a little tiny bit of tinny feedback in the voice when my mic is put directly in front of my mouth. However, when I have the mic a little bit off to the side of my mouth there's absolutely none. Solid as a rock.
 
With voice static and/or radio distortion on, there's still more tinny feedback tone than I'm comfortable with. However, I find that it still has pretty close to the same quality of distortion through the app and the tone of the voice that I'm looking for, without them. I don't hear a lot of "stormtrooper quality" voice gained by either of those two features to even think about justifying the noise that comes with them. I'm very happy with the sound of the voice!

 

Trooped with this, outdoor, in a very loud setting with kids, with my Aker cranked yesterday. No issues. Everyone understood me. Used 10% iPhone battery in 1.5 hours.

 

Thanks again to Andrew for such an amazing app, and for those who’ve also helped by testing the settings and got back to me with their feedback!

Edited by menschie
  • Like 4
Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/21/2018 at 1:49 PM, menschie said:

bought 1/4" x 3/4" x 10' insulating foam tape,

Hey Menschie,

 

Good post; I am already experimenting with your settings. To confirm, I found this tape at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-3-4-in-x-10-ft-Black-Sponge-Rubber-Foam-Weatherstrip-Tape-06593/100355591

 

Is this what you got or atleast viable for your dampening setup? Thanks!

 

~Eric

 

Edit: Also, did you change the resonance values from default for highpass and lowpass settings?

Edited by Erice3339
Link to comment
Share on other sites

1 hour ago, Erice3339 said:

Hey Menschie,

 

Good post; I am already experimenting with your settings. To confirm, I found this tape at Home Depot: https://www.homedepot.com/p/M-D-Building-Products-3-4-in-x-10-ft-Black-Sponge-Rubber-Foam-Weatherstrip-Tape-06593/100355591

 

Is this what you got or atleast viable for your dampening setup? Thanks!

 

~Eric

 

Edit: Also, did you change the resonance values from default for highpass and lowpass settings?

Looks like the exact foam tape I bought is only in Canadian stores. That looks good though. I don't think there's a right or wrong answer.  :)

 

Also, I left the resonance values at default.

 

Trooped again today ... I think I'm going to bump up my voice volume threshold for the next troop. That's not crucial one and doesn't effect sound quality, though...just an FYI.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Thanks Colin. If it's not too much trouble, can you post or direct me to a picture of the inside of your helmet for reference when I install the foam? It'd be helpful to see your setup. If not, no worries. I appreciate the help you've already given me. 

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 6/24/2018 at 7:09 PM, Erice3339 said:

Thanks Colin. If it's not too much trouble, can you post or direct me to a picture of the inside of your helmet for reference when I install the foam? It'd be helpful to see your setup. If not, no worries. I appreciate the help you've already given me. 

IMG_1011.thumb.JPG.c62d1827e93c30e43ba2acabdd65456c.JPG

Link to comment
Share on other sites

On 7/8/2018 at 6:49 PM, Commander Gree said:

Do you have any pics of your amp/speaker setup?

Hey man, between business and some family vacation I've not been home more than a few hours the last while. I'll be back home next week with some free time and I'll put something together then for you. Thanks for your patience!

  • Like 1
Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...
  • 7 months later...
On 6/21/2018 at 10:49 AM, menschie said:


My settings:

  • I’m using the mic that came with my Aker 1505 (it's better than the more expensive after-market one I bought). I’m sure there’s better out there, but it works really well.
  • Voice volume (in app setting): -20
  • I have "voice volume threshold" at 0.05. I found that higher than that, as soon as my mic wasn't perfectly positioned my voice wasn't always coming through.
  • I went with a slightly higher static burst volume (-25), especially for louder environments.
  • Lowpass: 1540
  • Highpass: 2070
  • Radio Distortion: OFF
  • Compression: 0
  • Don't play with voice pitch either. Just creates unnecessary distortion and latency (lag): 1.00
  • Echo Delay: 0
  • Voice Static: Unchecked

S

1

Hi there, i tried the above setting and did not have much luck. Just want to conirm the High Pass setting is 2070. which is a large margin higher than default of 500.

Edited by AngelTroop
Link to comment
Share on other sites

3 hours ago, AngelTroop said:

Hi there, i tried the above setting and did not have much luck. Just want to conirm the High Pass setting is 2070. which is a large margin higher than default of 500.

Ron, I have really good luck with these settings (I’m using v2.4.4):

Phone volume at max, adjust volume on voice amp

voice volume: 20

voice cutoff delay: 0.20 sec

voice volume threshold: 0.005

static burst volume: -30

static burst delay: 0.74

voice static volume: 0

low pass: 1668 hz 

resonance: 1.00

high pass: 5277 hz

resonance: 3.00

radio distortion: off

compression 0.0

Voice pitch: 1.00

echo delay: off

static burst: on

voice static: off

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
×
×
  • Create New...