A receiver for a hard disk drive system includes an analog front end module configured to receive a read-back signal and to output a digital read-back signal. An equalizer module is configured to generate a data vector based on the digital read-back signal. A detector module is configured to generate a decision vector based on the data vector. A gain module is configured to generate a scalar gain vector and to generate a revised data vector based on the data vector, the decision vector and the scalar gain vector. A back end module is configured to receive the revised data vector.