Primary Source Expander

Reduce mic bleed in live shows—instantly

Say Goodbye to Live Mic Bleed

Mixing live shows is a rollercoaster ride, where things constantly change. Mic bleed could be causing feedback that prevents you from turning up the PA. Or you may constantly need to mute background noise when a singer isn’t singing. Or maybe you need excellent isolation with a live multitrack recording.

PSE is the answer to these and other live sound challenges. It’s an easy-to-use, optimized expander that solves most issues instantly—and allows you to handle even the toughest bleed problems.

Obtain higher mic levels before feedback
Eliminate mic bleed quickly: in most cases just set-and-forget
Reduce phase issues in live recordings
Achieve a more focused stage sound by eliminating mic crosstalk
Improve monitoring for musicians on stage
Not just for live music—ideal for lavaliers and panel discussions
Internal and external sidechain with HP/LP filters
Ducking mode for added precision in complex live scenarios
Release time presets to speed up your process

Watch It in Action

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What Top Pros Are Saying

[{"itemID":2067,"itemGUID":"aaa8bed7-f7dc-4b1d-94a6-48d3df8d16ec","artistName":"Sean \u0022Sully\u0022 Sullivan","artistTitle":"FOH Engineer","credits":"Beck, Rihanna, Beastie Boys, Red Hot Chili Peppers","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/sean-sully-sullivan.png","quote":"I always insert PSE on live vocals to control the bleed from the PA and other instruments. It also works as a great vocal expander, keeping the mics clean without the hard opening and closing of gates.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":1},{"itemID":2069,"itemGUID":"0e1192ab-695e-466b-b07a-8e8b45c46e5c","artistName":"Dave McMullin","artistTitle":"Monitor Engineer","credits":"OneRepublic, Needtobreathe, Dustin Lynch","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/dave-mcmullin.png","quote":"Even with a quiet stage, there will always be a certain amount of bleed. PSE helps me keep in-ear mixes nice and clean, especially when used on backing vocals who aren\u2019t singing all the time.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":2},{"itemID":2036,"itemGUID":"170c84c8-8f36-4c75-a54e-f449d37b5bd7","artistName":"Jon Schumann","artistTitle":"FOH Engineer, Producer","credits":"M\u00D8, Kent, The Raveonettes, Mew","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/jon-schumann.png","quote":"My new best friend is the Waves PSE. Karen (M\u00D8) is always running all over the place, and she spends a fair share of the shows in front of the PA. The PSE saves me a lot of headaches, as it cleans up her vocal mic without too much difficulty or dialing.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":3},{"itemID":1659,"itemGUID":"afce12d2-097c-4b16-9910-bb45ae277781","artistName":"Stephen Bailey","artistTitle":"FOH Engineer","credits":"Matt Redman, Rend Collective, Passion, Martin Smith ","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/stephen-bailey.png","quote":"PSE instantly cleans up mic bleed in musical inputs. With this plugin plus the X-FDBK plug, having vocals 50 feet in front of a PA at full volume is no longer an issue.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":4},{"itemID":1669,"itemGUID":"3bcbc80b-517d-4055-b89b-adb854bbb9b6","artistName":"Yamil Mart\u00EDnez","artistTitle":"FOH, Studio Engineer, Producer","credits":"Alex Campos, Ana Gabriel, Ricky Martin, Tommy Torres","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/yamil-martinez.png","quote":"Primary Source Expander is my new addiction. PSE makes anything and everything tight by curing bleed.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":5},{"itemID":2477,"itemGUID":"f65ba088-b8d0-4b6d-8a72-79d79c2f3fcb","artistName":"Titus Woodham","artistTitle":"FOH Engineer, Audio Systems Engineer","credits":"Future, Snoop Dogg, Nas","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/titus-woodham.png","quote":"PSE magically and transparently cleans up my mixes, simultaneously pushing \u2018the source\u2019 musically to the top with appropriate emphasis.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":6},{"itemID":3015,"itemGUID":"fab0e0d1-7766-43ee-b343-62d5940fa0e8","artistName":"Adrian Odle","artistTitle":"FOH/Monitor Engineer, Production/Tour Manager","credits":"Beres Hammond, Third World, Maxi Priest, The Nicholas Brancker Band","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/adrian-odle.png","quote":"Waves\u2019 Primary Source Expander is my go-to for minimizing excessive stage bleed in vocal mics and other instruments; the way it cleans up is super smooth.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":7},{"itemID":3562,"itemGUID":"c3a8025c-55dc-4d0a-b281-c522e541db86","artistName":"Travon Snipes","artistTitle":"Monitor/FOH Engineer","credits":"Post Malone, Blackbear, Fantasia, Jaden Smith","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/travon-snipes.jpg","quote":"PSE allows me to get rid of unwanted bleed in a very smooth and subtle way. With my last few tours, we have had to work around the artist being out in front of the PA, so this plugin has been invaluable.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":9999},{"itemID":3632,"itemGUID":"10fe2f03-04a5-4780-a4f6-df42faabcdc5","artistName":"Cooper Davis","artistTitle":"FOH Engineer, Monitor Engineer, Studio Engineer","credits":"The Happy Fits, The Regrettes, Gus Dapperton, No Vacation","artistImage":"/images/artists/1280/cooper-davis.jpg","quote":"PSE is on every vocal I mix. It enables me to manage stage bleed and achieve a cleaner mix. It\u2019s also essential to control feedback when a vocalist gets in front of the PA.","isMainQuote":false,"sortID":9999}]

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The Tried-and-Tested Solution for Mic Bleed Problems

End Live Sound Mixing Nightmares
Which vocal mic has bleed from the drums?! Why is feedback kicking in? Where’s all that hum coming from? Why do I have to keep turning mics down?!? Run your audio through PSE, so you can stop running around solving problems—and concentrate on creative mixing.
Precision Sound Matters
PSE keeps the music’s integrity, by sending unwanted sounds smoothly into silence when a performer pauses. With precision expansion optimized for melodic sources like vocals, guitars, strings and more, you can forget about troublesome noise gates. Just set Threshold and Range: PSE will smoothly attenuate anything below that threshold, by the range level you’ve set.
Pump Up the Volume
Mic bleed is a breeding ground for feedback, so you need to keep turning mics down due to squeals, or to spend your time manually muting channels. Not with PSE: stop the bleeding automatically, and you’ve dramatically improved gain-before-feedback.
A Side Order of Sidechain
To solve really stubborn bleed problems or inconsistent stage volumes, sidechaining with external inputs, filtering, and ducking increase PSE’s effectiveness even further—while still retaining ease of use.