Guitar feedback, on tap.
Feedback Emulator gives a clean DI guitar the bloom and sustain of a loud rig, in headphones, at bedroom volume. It listens to what you play and synthesises the feedback from scratch. Here's how to set it up and play it.
Where it goes.
It runs on a clean guitar DI and belongs before your amp sim in the effects chain. Mono in, mono out: use it on a mono DI track, and keep all the dirt after it.
First sound in a minute.
- Insert it on your DI guitar track, ahead of the amp sim.
- Pick the Classic Rock Feedbackpreset from your DAW's preset menu.
- Play a note and let it ring. The status light under the big knob goes LISTEN, then SUSTAIN, and the note blooms into feedback.
- Balance it with Feedback (how much is generated) and Mix (wet/dry balance).
- To stop it, do what you would do on stage: mute the strings with your hand.
Played by hand.
The engine is built around the way feedback behaves in front of a real amp: you control it with your hands, not with the mouse.
Leave a note ringing and it blooms
Sustained, confident notes feed the loop. Sensitivity sets how much hands-off time it takes, Attack sets how fast the swell is.
Keep playing and it stays out of the way
While you pick, the feedback ducks under your playing; slides and pick scrapes push it aside too. Leave a note ringing and it floats back in about half a second.
Mute the strings to end it
A palm mute cuts the feedback in about 120 ms instead of the Release tail. A muted string cannot feed a loop; ending notes by hand is the intended gesture.
Bends steer it, new notes take over
The tone follows your pitch, and Stability sets how tightly it tracks. Hold a different note for a moment and a fresh feedback grows on the new pitch.
Low notes sing an octave up
Below roughly 250 Hz there is no self-excitation, so targets are lifted by octaves. The note stays the same, only the register changes.
Single notes work best
The tracker is optimised for monophonic playing. On chords it locks onto a real, dominant played note, but one string and one singing note is the classic use.
Every parameter.
The everyday controls sit in the Feedback, Texture, Envelope and Output sections. The ADV toggle in the header reveals the set-and-forget ones: the Trigger section and Out Gain.
Feedback Amount
The main control: how much feedback is generated. At zero the plugin is silent; at the top the feedback is loud and assertive.
- 0.0
- off
- 0.3–0.5
- light, assistive feedback
- 0.6–0.8
- pronounced, musical
- 0.9–1.0
- aggressive, can sit on top of the dry note
Harmonic Mode
Which frequency the feedback targets, relative to the note you played.
- Natural
- the first four harmonics of the note (fundamental, octave, octave plus fifth, double octave). The most natural sound.
- Fundamental
- feedback on the note's fundamental only. Thick, droning.
- Octave
- one and two octaves up. The classic high, singing feedback.
- Upper Harmonic
- 3rd, 4th, 5th and 6th harmonics. Squealing, piercing.
Growl
The snarl of the feedback. Saturation inside the loop adds even harmonics that grow with level, so the tone thickens as it swells and the overtones start to fight for dominance.
- 0.0
- clean, even tone
- 0.2–0.4
- natural thickening (default 0.35)
- 0.6–1.0
- angry, unstable, audibly hops between overtones
Wander
The drift of the feedback. Slow, bounded wandering of the pitch (a few cents) and a gentle breathing of the level, so a long sustain lives instead of standing on one frozen frequency.
- 0.0
- perfectly stable tone
- 0.2–0.5
- natural life (default 0.35)
- 0.7–1.0
- noticeable floating, expressive to experimental
Attack
secondsHow long the feedback takes to swell to full level once a note is locked.
- 0.05–0.2 s
- fast response, feedback almost immediately
- 0.3–0.6 s
- natural bloom
- 1.0–4.0 s
- slow, cinematic swell
Release
secondsHow long the feedback takes to fade after the note weakens or is muted. The decay is exponential, like a real resonant system, so the full tail rings several times longer than the set value.
- 0.1–0.5 s
- fast decay, tightly controlled
- 1.0–2.0 s
- natural decay
- 3.0–6.0 s
- long tail, feedback lives on its own
Mix
The balance between dry and processed signal.
- 0.0
- dry guitar only (bypass)
- 0.2–0.4
- a touch of feedback, dry stays in front
- 0.5
- equal balance
- 0.7–1.0
- feedback up front, effect-forward
Sensitivity
ADVHow easily a note triggers feedback. It sets how much hands-off time after the last attack is needed before the feedback arms, and how long it holds on as the note decays.
- 0.3–0.4
- reacts only to loud, confident notes
- 0.5–0.6
- balanced
- 0.7–0.9
- triggers easily, holds longer
Stability
ADVHow rigidly the feedback holds its pitch during sustain. Audible in real time while you turn the knob on a ringing note.
- 0.0–0.3
- living tone, follows bends, vibrato and glides
- 0.5
- balanced, neutral responsiveness
- 0.7–1.0
- locked tone, unmoved by vibrato and drift
Output Gain
dB · ADVOutput level. Use it to make up gain after processing.
- −18 … 0 dB
- cut
- 0 dB
- unity
- 0 … +6 dB
- boost
Gate Threshold
dBFS · automationSignal below this level does not trigger feedback. There is no knob in the UI: set it through DAW automation or the generic editor. It is stored in presets, and the −40 dB default fits most setups.
- −60 dB
- very sensitive, reacts to quiet playing
- −40 dB
- the default for most situations
- −25 … −20 dB
- strict, loud notes only
Starting points.
Five factory presets, available from your DAW's preset menu. All of them leave Output Gain at 0 dB. Treat them as starting points, not destinations.
Natural Sustain
Light feedback that extends your notes. Invisible in normal playing, blooms on long held notes.
- Feedback Amount
- 0.35
- Sensitivity
- 0.6
- Attack
- 0.8 s
- Release
- 2.0 s
- Harmonic Mode
- Natural
- Mix
- 0.25
- Stability
- 0.5
- Growl
- 0.15
- Wander
- 0.25
- Gate Threshold
- −40 dB
Classic Rock Feedback
Pronounced, controllable feedback, like playing in front of a loud combo. Pairs well with drive after the plugin.
- Feedback Amount
- 0.6
- Sensitivity
- 0.7
- Attack
- 0.3 s
- Release
- 1.5 s
- Harmonic Mode
- Natural
- Mix
- 0.4
- Stability
- 0.45
- Growl
- 0.35
- Wander
- 0.35
- Gate Threshold
- −40 dB
Octave Squeal
High, piercing feedback an octave up. Like lifting the guitar to the cab and catching the upper harmonic.
- Feedback Amount
- 0.7
- Sensitivity
- 0.75
- Attack
- 0.15 s
- Release
- 1.0 s
- Harmonic Mode
- Octave
- Mix
- 0.45
- Stability
- 0.4
- Growl
- 0.45
- Wander
- 0.3
- Gate Threshold
- −35 dB
Harmonic Chaos
Upper harmonics with heavy Growl and Wander. Unstable, expressive, for experimental music.
- Feedback Amount
- 0.85
- Sensitivity
- 0.8
- Attack
- 0.1 s
- Release
- 2.5 s
- Harmonic Mode
- Upper Harmonic
- Mix
- 0.5
- Stability
- 0.3
- Growl
- 0.7
- Wander
- 0.7
- Gate Threshold
- −45 dB
Ambient Drone
Slow swell, long decay. Feedback as a pad under the main sound.
- Feedback Amount
- 0.5
- Sensitivity
- 0.65
- Attack
- 2.5 s
- Release
- 5.0 s
- Harmonic Mode
- Fundamental
- Mix
- 0.35
- Stability
- 0.6
- Growl
- 0.2
- Wander
- 0.45
- Gate Threshold
- −40 dB
Worth knowing.
Start with a low Mix
Set Mix to 0.2–0.3 and bring it up until it sits right. It's the fastest way to find the balance.
Feed it a clean DI
The plugin reads pitch and dynamics from the raw signal; compression or distortion in front of it confuses the detectors. All the dirt goes after.
Attack trades response for realism
A short attack responds instantly but can sound abrupt. A long attack is smoother, but you have to hold the note longer.
Growl and Wander set the character
At zero the feedback is clean and stable, almost synthetic. The defaults (0.35) give a living, amp-like tone; higher values go expressive and chaotic.
Read the status light
IDLE means silence. LISTEN means a note is detected and the plugin is gaining confidence in the pitch. SUSTAIN means feedback is rising or holding. PEAK means the tail is decaying after release.
If it never starts, or fires too eagerly
No feedback: raise Sensitivity first; if you play very quietly, lower Gate Threshold through automation. Too eager: lower Sensitivity, then Feedback Amount.
Free, no upsell. Take it for a spin.