[K3] TX Gate Feature request

[Lu Romero - W4LT]

Hello all:

I am now using a Yamaha CM-500 headset in my station,
replacing a Heil ProSet DX4.  The Heil was a very close
talking mic, where the Yamaha likes to be operated at some
distance from my mouth for good response (it has a
pronounced bass enhancing proximity effect and "breath pops"
easily).

Unfortunately, I have a very noisy shack environment, being
in the garage with a rather loud window air conditioner
about four feet from my operating position.  

While this was not an issue with the Heil, it is with the
Yamaha.  It has a very pronounced bass proximity effect and
I have to place it farther away from my mouth to not sound
muddy.  Therefore, I have to run the mic gain higher for the
same levels.  The A/C makes a white noise like sound which
is noticeable when the PTT is engaged and since the mic has
a very omnidirectional pattern, it picks up a lot of
extaneous noise from the A/C fan.  

To "fix" things like this in the past, I used a Behringer
audio compressor/limiter (MDX-2600) and set its downward
expander to gate the audio between spaces in my speech.  I
have also used a RDL GCA2 AGC which also features a gate.
Both of these units "soft cut" the gate in.  The audio chain
in the K3 is so good, I have found that I dont need the
external gear, and have dismantled the rack that contained
these devices and gained some room.

I had to replace the A/C unit, and the new one is much
stronger than the old one, but its louder too.  So, in order
to mitigate this, I tried to employ the TX Gate feature.

As it is currently implemented, The TX Gate has some issues
that need to be addressed.  I find it almost unuseable
because of the following two issues.

First, there is a noticeable "leakage crackle" right at the
mute threshold.  Its really annoying, sounds like a bad
cable!  Turning the threshold up simply clips more of my
voice, so that is not a solution (I run TX Gate at 15 to 18
now).  Second, the Gate's muting takes effect *immediately*,
harshly clipping the audio out in silent spaces.  It sounds
rather unnatural and harsh, again, especially with the white
noise generated by the A/C.

Would it be possible to include an adjustable "soft mute"
decay curve in the gate?  What I mean is, have a control
that ramps the muting in at an adjustable rate, fading the
muting effect in instead of cutting it on and off.  This
would be for the "decay" part of the gate only... The Attack
part is just fine!

The adjustability would allow for different sound
environments, such as background noise in a Mult Multi, wall
reberberations and things like fan noise.  A "soft mute"
effect would also probably mitigate the crackle at the same
time (or hide it).  

TX Gate is a great built in feature... Adding this
adjustment would go far in enhancing the capabilities of the
already excellent audio chain inside the K3 (now that I
figured out how not to punch audio holes in the processor!).

Thanks for the consideration of my suggestion.  If anybody
has figured out how to deal with my issue in the existing
software implementation, I would love to hear your
technique.  If you want to hear my problem youself, I can
send you a MP3 sample.

Lu Romero - W4LT
K3 # 3192

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[Jim Brown-10]

Lu,

Try three things. First, use the Low setting for Mic Gain on the Menu,
and then set the Mic Gain pot on the front panel to a fairly low
number. Second, set TXEQ for the three lowest bands to their lowest
setting (-16). Third, position the mic so that it is below your mouth a
bit, so that you're hitting it at close to 90 degrees off axis. There
is no proximity effect at 90 degrees to a cardioid mic. Now, tweak the
Mic Gain and Compression as described in the manual. I find 10 dB of
compression on peaks (as indicated on the meter) is about right for
contest operating. For casual operating, you can use less. Compression
increases the background noise.

I suspect that the combination of these things will pull your noise
down to an acceptable level.

73, Jim Brown K9YC

On Mon, 23 Aug 2010 16:31:33 -0400, Lu Romero wrote:

>Yamaha likes to be operated at some distance from my mouth
>for good response





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