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Mic Settings

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john@kk9a.com

Mic Settings

I adjusted the TX equalizer per K9YC's recommendations and listened to
myself and I thought that I had this resolved. Today I received unsoiled
complaints that my audio was clipping at the top. One person even sent me a
video. I tried changing the high EQ settings and the mic and compression
settings and the issue exists. I tried the back mic jack and was told that
it may have made an improvement but the clipping still exists. Reducing the
power had no effect. For those that asked, FLTX SB is FL1 (2.80)

John KK9A - P40A

-----Original Message-----
From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]]
Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 15:52
To: '[hidden email]'
Subject: Mic Settings

I know this subject has come up many times. I brought my new K3S to Aruba
and it's my first time using it on SSB. Before my trip I listened to myself
on another radio and thought that I had the settings figured out, but now I
have some doubts. Yesterday on 15m I received a comment that I was hard to
zero beat on SSB. Thinking it could be RFI, I switched from the small
Powerwerx power supply to an old Astron and added some ferrites to the mic.
Today I was on 10m a little and asked a couple of people how my audio was,
one said basey and one said high. I am using a Heil HC-4 element with no
equalizer settings, mic 30 compression 18. I wonder what setting other
contestors are using with this element.

John KK9A - P40A

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Don Wilhelm-4

Re: Mic Settings

John,

Have you set the mic gain properly? If so, it should not clip.
You can do it in TX TEST mode so you do not bother your ham neighbors.

First set the Compression to zero (important).
Then set the MIC GAIN to produce 6 to 7 bars on the ALC meter - that is
also important.
After that, set the compression as you desire. You *can* do that by
listening to the MONitor if you are using a headset.

Do it all in the order specified, and you should have good audio. Just
playing around with the gain and compression settings may not produce
the results you want.

My guess is that you are running with too much compression (and perhaps
too little mic gain), and that could sound like 'clipping' on the far
end of the QSO.

73,
Don W3FPR

On 10/22/2015 6:34 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
> I adjusted the TX equalizer per K9YC's recommendations and listened to
> myself and I thought that I had this resolved. Today I received unsoiled
> complaints that my audio was clipping at the top. One person even sent me a
> video. I tried changing the high EQ settings and the mic and compression
> settings and the issue exists. I tried the back mic jack and was told that
> it may have made an improvement but the clipping still exists. Reducing the
> power had no effect. For those that asked, FLTX SB is FL1 (2.80)
>
>

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Guy Olinger K2AV

Re: Mic Settings

In reply to this post by john@kk9a.com

Hi John,

The proper settings of MIC gain, CMP, and TX equalizer settings vary
ENORMOUSLY from person to person. This is due to the enormous variation in
people's voices, including variation in inflection across international
settings. Using someone else's MIC/CMP/TXEQ settings is like borrowing
their shoes and hoping they fit.

If one has the KDVR3 installed, the easiest way to adjust audio settings
for quality is to record a message at a settings combination, and then play
it back over MON with TX set to TEST. You will be hearing what they hear,
IF the physical transmit circuitry does not have some problem needing
repair. Twiddle until it sounds clear and full.

Over the years I was constantly told my voice was "unclear" or "muddied".

After the K3 it took a while with the KDVR3 to figure out that the highs in
my voice were so soft, that anything on the band would cover them up. Using
the TX EQ to push the lows way down and the highs way up got my sibilant
energy up even with the rest of my voice. It was very easy to hear when
there was too much CMP. There is rather a difference between me in person
and me over the air after KDVR3. One friend said that didn't sound like me
over the radio, but whoever really was on the mic sounded very clear and
was easy to understand.

A spectrum display of the resultant voice shows that the energy is spread
fairly evenly from low to high, and the level is kept high.

Outside of the K3 I don't do any munging of the voice at all other than
keeping a relatively consistent volume, and managing pauses in sound files
for N1MM. I let the KDVR3 handle the audio shaping, compression and
equalization. That way I get the same thing from N1MM as from the hand
mike, as from the M1 through M4 message buttons.

I'll not be telling you my settings, because they are different for
everyone. Almost for certain you can't wear my shoes either. :>)

73, Guy K2AV

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 6:34 PM, <[hidden email]> wrote:

> I adjusted the TX equalizer per K9YC's recommendations and listened to
> myself and I thought that I had this resolved. Today I received unsoiled
> complaints that my audio was clipping at the top. One person even sent me
> a
> video. I tried changing the high EQ settings and the mic and compression
> settings and the issue exists. I tried the back mic jack and was told that
> it may have made an improvement but the clipping still exists. Reducing
> the
> power had no effect. For those that asked, FLTX SB is FL1 (2.80)
>
> John KK9A - P40A
>
>
> -----Original Message-----
> From: [hidden email] [mailto:[hidden email]]
> Sent: Tuesday, October 20, 2015 15:52
> To: '[hidden email]'
> Subject: Mic Settings
>
> I know this subject has come up many times. I brought my new K3S to Aruba
> and it's my first time using it on SSB. Before my trip I listened to
> myself
> on another radio and thought that I had the settings figured out, but now I
> have some doubts. Yesterday on 15m I received a comment that I was hard to
> zero beat on SSB. Thinking it could be RFI, I switched from the small
> Powerwerx power supply to an old Astron and added some ferrites to the mic.
> Today I was on 10m a little and asked a couple of people how my audio was,
> one said basey and one said high. I am using a Heil HC-4 element with no
> equalizer settings, mic 30 compression 18. I wonder what setting other
> contestors are using with this element.
>
> John KK9A - P40A
>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

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Bob McGraw - K4TAX

Re: Mic Settings

In reply to this post by Don Wilhelm-4

My experience is exactly as Don suggests. Proper order in doing this is
very important. My experience is the CMP value as displayed should not
exceed 10 on the meter scale. I normally run about 2 to 3 bars. And
yes listening to ones signal in TEST mode and using headphones does work
for this evaluation.

If, on the air, one gets comments about distortion or clipping or what
ever, and if reducing power by 50% or more does clear it up, then I
would strongly suspect RF getting back into the TX audio. That's a
different issue to resolve.

73
Bob, K4TAX
K3S s/n 10163

On 10/22/2015 6:35 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:

> John,
>
> Have you set the mic gain properly? If so, it should not clip.
> You can do it in TX TEST mode so you do not bother your ham neighbors.
>
> First set the Compression to zero (important).
> Then set the MIC GAIN to produce 6 to 7 bars on the ALC meter - that
> is also important.
> After that, set the compression as you desire. You *can* do that by
> listening to the MONitor if you are using a headset.
>
> Do it all in the order specified, and you should have good audio. Just
> playing around with the gain and compression settings may not produce
> the results you want.
>
> My guess is that you are running with too much compression (and
> perhaps too little mic gain), and that could sound like 'clipping' on
> the far end of the QSO.
>
> 73,
> Don W3FPR

Michael Walker

Re: Mic Settings

Just to reinforce one very key part.

ALC settings are key. Talk in a normal voice and then ensure that the ALC
is just kicking around 5 bars. If it moves just once in a while, that is
OK and the proper setting. ALC stands for automatic level control. Once
it starts to move, the radio is already starting to adjust (down) the audio
level (sort of like a governor in a car/truck). In effect, it is reducing
the mic gain dynamically.

From there, you can play with the other settings.

Do NOT watch your watt meter even though that is what we all want to do. :)

I hope that helps,

Mike va3mw

p.s. Also on Elecraft's web page: http://www.elecraft.com/K3/K3FAQ.htm#SSB
Power control and ALC metering

MIC GAIN SETTING: Adjust MIC gain for an ALC meter peak at around 5 to 7
bars during normal speech (rev. D owner's manual, page 28). This applies
even to TX TEST mode, meaning you can set it off-air. This indication does
not mean that you're "hitting the ALC really hard." When you get to around
5 bars, you'll be "tickling" the DSP's ALC. More on this below.

ALC METERING: The K3's ALC meter is a bar graph, not an analog meter, and
we felt that 5 bars would provide the right granularity at the target ALC
level. The 5th bar of the ALC scale is heavier than the others, serving as
a reminder of the this level.

ALC DESIGN GOAL: The K3 was designed to minimize transmit splatter and
other effects that plague some rigs. To achieve this, we apply all ALC
*before* the crystal filter, and minimize the application of ALC in
general. The levels have been carefully calibrated to that 5-to-7-bar level
mentioned above. The result is that the crystal and DSP filters remove the
types of artifacts that in many other rigs end up as transmitted wideband
noise or clicks. I believe this is why we continue to hear excellent
reports from K3 users regarding their on-the-air SSB signals. (We've also
heard, from some experts in the subject, that the K3's compression is among
the most effective they've ever measured.)

On Thu, Oct 22, 2015 at 8:43 PM, Bob McGraw - K4TAX <[hidden email]>
wrote:

> My experience is exactly as Don suggests. Proper order in doing this is
> very important. My experience is the CMP value as displayed should not
> exceed 10 on the meter scale. I normally run about 2 to 3 bars. And
> yes listening to ones signal in TEST mode and using headphones does work
> for this evaluation.
>
> If, on the air, one gets comments about distortion or clipping or what
> ever, and if reducing power by 50% or more does clear it up, then I would
> strongly suspect RF getting back into the TX audio. That's a different
> issue to resolve.
>
> 73
> Bob, K4TAX
> K3S s/n 10163
>
>
> On 10/22/2015 6:35 PM, Don Wilhelm wrote:
>
>> John,
>>
>> Have you set the mic gain properly? If so, it should not clip.
>> You can do it in TX TEST mode so you do not bother your ham neighbors.
>>
>> First set the Compression to zero (important).
>> Then set the MIC GAIN to produce 6 to 7 bars on the ALC meter - that is
>> also important.
>> After that, set the compression as you desire. You *can* do that by
>> listening to the MONitor if you are using a headset.
>>
>> Do it all in the order specified, and you should have good audio. Just
>> playing around with the gain and compression settings may not produce the
>> results you want.
>>
>> My guess is that you are running with too much compression (and perhaps
>> too little mic gain), and that could sound like 'clipping' on the far end
>> of the QSO.
>>
>> 73,
>> Don W3FPR
>>
>
> ______________________________________________________________
> Elecraft mailing list
> Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft
> Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm
> Post: mailto:[hidden email]
>
> This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net
> Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
> Message delivered to [hidden email]
>

Jim Brown-10

Re: Mic Settings

In reply to this post by john@kk9a.com

On Thu,10/22/2015 3:34 PM, [hidden email] wrote:
> Today I received unsoiled
> complaints that my audio was clipping at the top.

Your audio was very clean here and you were solid copy except for
occasional QRM, but the path was not great, so not good enough for me to
hear clip or splatter. EQ sounds very good for contesting.

Don has given you excellent advice about setting levels. Audio can be
"clipping at the top" if a power amp is overdriven or not properly
tuned. Some general things I've learned over the years, mostly from
K6XX. One reason he made sure I learned it is that we're neighbors, and
could make life miserable for each other if we goof. :)

1) NEVER depend on ALC between an amp and the rig to set drive level --
it's a recipe for clipping and splatter. Always reduce output from the
transceiver using the power setting control.

2) ALL power amps need to be matched to their load. A poorly matched amp
will splatter or click. Tube amps can be matched to reasonably
well-matched antennas by the output networks within the amps.

3) Be sure you understand the difference between "auto-tune" which
correctly finds the right match, and "auto-recall" which simply recalls
the last settings you used on that band, and are only as good as that
last tuning you did. Study the manual to figure out which kind of amp
you have. :) I don't know the ACOM 2000. As I understand it, the Alpha
87A is in the auto-recall category.

4) Solid state "no-tune" amps NEED an antenna tuner to match them to
antennas that are not 1:1. Without that tuner, their distortion will
increase and they will splatter or click.

73, Jim K9YC
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