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smooth audio?
- Thread starter Bearcat
- Start date
there is no smooth audio, only smooth operators...
most 858 chassis with a turner +2 or +3.
Cobra or Washington base stations 8719 chassis.
It really is how the radio is aligned and operated.
Most radios will sound good if aligned properly and not tuned for max swing.
Ever hear a properly aligned Siltronix on SSB?
Browning or Tram on AM?
Any of the three above will blow the socks off of a solid state final rig for audio.
Cobra or Washington base stations 8719 chassis.
It really is how the radio is aligned and operated.
Most radios will sound good if aligned properly and not tuned for max swing.
Ever hear a properly aligned Siltronix on SSB?
Browning or Tram on AM?
Any of the three above will blow the socks off of a solid state final rig for audio.
A guy here uses a rci 2980 and a turner +2. I really like the sound of it. I use a Kenwood mc60 on my HF rig for ssb and it sounds good. It might play well with some CB sets too. I prefer to use external gear for AM.
A collector modulated transistor rig can sound how ever you want it to. Plate modulated tubes are cool but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
A collector modulated transistor rig can sound how ever you want it to. Plate modulated tubes are cool but there's more than one way to skin a cat.
Just for the record, whenever I hear good audio coming from US based stations I often hear "Turner" microphone in the working conditions. They sound clear and punchy on the DX (to England)
There are 2 pointers for good audio (assuming you have a 1/2 decent mic in the beginning) and I learnt the hard way, till a more experienced operator set me straight. (26CT331)
1) Don't eat the mic, keep 6 inches away. If you get too close you get a popp-y, blowy, crackle-y sound.
2) Don't over drive your linear. (Whatever you are feeding it halve it)
No. 2 took time cause more Watts is better right? Wrong. More Watts in does not mean more Watts out once you have saturated your linear. All you get is distortion and clipping which robs your audio of clarity and potentially produces RF feedback and hot finals in your transceiver. (And potentially causes unwanted RF interference to other users)
Here is a picture of where I run my Alinco into my RM KL-505 (which never sees switch setting 6) The red dot is where I peak my audio for drive into the amplifier. I now get R5 reports across the world. The red line on the RF output level knob represents the position for peaks at 5-7 on the meter. (meter red lines)
It is worth remembering to obtain 3dB power gain on an RX S-meter you need to go from 200 Watts to 400 Watts. That is a lot of energy for a small signal increase. So to drop from 200 Watts PEP down to 150-160 Watts PEP is almost no difference at all. But all your radio equipment will be working clean and punchy like it should be and this is a very good place to be for audio quality and intelligibility.
I have a $180.00 (£130.00) rig with a stock mic, no Yaesu's, Icom's or Kenwoods here, just cheap Chinese radio with stock mic and still get R5 reports from everywhere now.
I was told (and have now learnt) it is not always the loudest voice that is heard it is often the clearest. If your words are being heard clearly and intelligible over a distorted mess you will get the call back to go ahead and complete your call.
It works.
There are 2 pointers for good audio (assuming you have a 1/2 decent mic in the beginning) and I learnt the hard way, till a more experienced operator set me straight. (26CT331)
1) Don't eat the mic, keep 6 inches away. If you get too close you get a popp-y, blowy, crackle-y sound.
2) Don't over drive your linear. (Whatever you are feeding it halve it)
No. 2 took time cause more Watts is better right? Wrong. More Watts in does not mean more Watts out once you have saturated your linear. All you get is distortion and clipping which robs your audio of clarity and potentially produces RF feedback and hot finals in your transceiver. (And potentially causes unwanted RF interference to other users)
Here is a picture of where I run my Alinco into my RM KL-505 (which never sees switch setting 6) The red dot is where I peak my audio for drive into the amplifier. I now get R5 reports across the world. The red line on the RF output level knob represents the position for peaks at 5-7 on the meter. (meter red lines)
It is worth remembering to obtain 3dB power gain on an RX S-meter you need to go from 200 Watts to 400 Watts. That is a lot of energy for a small signal increase. So to drop from 200 Watts PEP down to 150-160 Watts PEP is almost no difference at all. But all your radio equipment will be working clean and punchy like it should be and this is a very good place to be for audio quality and intelligibility.
I have a $180.00 (£130.00) rig with a stock mic, no Yaesu's, Icom's or Kenwoods here, just cheap Chinese radio with stock mic and still get R5 reports from everywhere now.
I was told (and have now learnt) it is not always the loudest voice that is heard it is often the clearest. If your words are being heard clearly and intelligible over a distorted mess you will get the call back to go ahead and complete your call.
It works.
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Voices are all different, so what what work for Bob, might not work for Jim. The same radio with 2 different operators may sound different. I sounded terrible with the stock kenwood mic on my ts140s. Let my local pal use it and he sounded awesome. His voice is deeper than mine and has more bass to it. The best thing to do is to try a few different mics and setting to find what works for you. My stock Icom hm12 mic works well for me with my Icom 746. I get grest audio reports. My other local pal runs an Icom 746 with the hm36 mic and he sounds great. It's in the voice to some extent, then from there compression, eq's, pre amp, mic gain, and several other factors can come into play. A good mic is one you sound good on and like to use!! JMHO.
i use a turner super sidekick i keep my 1st generation president washington mike gain at half way the top mike gain on mike at half way and the bottom gain on mike is turned almost all the way down and every one says it sounds like me.....its not blasting and as some say easy to understand,,,,
RatsoW8
Supporting Member, W9WDX ARC Member - WD8T
I remember the guys running Siltronix and Browning Golden Eagles had the nicest, crispiest audio. That was decades before people started trying to use expensive rack gear pretending to have hi-fi audio. Nothing sounds better TO MY EARS on the CB and amateur bands than well adjusted communications audio. Audio that actually fits within the bandwidth of the transmitted signal. 
A ham buddy of mine who lived about 10 miles away from me in the early 90's used to run a Yaesu FT-101XX (can't remember the exact model) and a D-104. Great audio there. The Kenwood TS-140S also sounds really nice with a D-104. I need to re-wire one for my 140 and get it back on the air.
A ham buddy of mine who lived about 10 miles away from me in the early 90's used to run a Yaesu FT-101XX (can't remember the exact model) and a D-104. Great audio there. The Kenwood TS-140S also sounds really nice with a D-104. I need to re-wire one for my 140 and get it back on the air.
I remember the guys running Siltronix and Browning Golden Eagles had the nicest, crispiest audio. That was decades before people started trying to use expensive rack gear pretending to have hi-fi audio. Nothing sounds better TO MY EARS on the CB and amateur bands than well adjusted communications audio. Audio that actually fits within the bandwidth of the transmitted signal.
A ham buddy of mine who lived about 10 miles away from me in the early 90's used to run a Yaesu FT-101XX (can't remember the exact model) and a D-104. Great audio there. The Kenwood TS-140S also sounds really nice with a D-104. I need to re-wire one for my 140 and get it back on the air.
I tried the whole rack gear thing...alot of tinkering and equipment to get a sound that was better but not hi fi
We all sound different for sure, so matching tone might be something nice to tinker with... but with this bandwidth 5kHz I would not eat up too much headroom with bass.
The human ear is most sensitive at 3.5kHz.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the stations with that rich deep bass also has the finest amps and radios and they will not be over driving a cheap linear, that is for certain. They will be putting exactly what the amp needs in and nothing more and let the big amp do it's job properly. Which is to amplify clean RF and modulated audio signal.
And whilst their audio headroom (The space between the audio noise floor and distortion) might be eaten up with plenty of warm bass the chances are they will be operating with serious and clean ERP so they can afford to eat some headroom up in nice warm tone. The amp gets that warm sound to your antenna via the atmosphere.
I think for those who don't have a $10,000.00 + set up, and a radio with a nice sounding audio compressor built in keep your output clean and you will be heard better than cranking a power mic to it's limits and running 20W PEP into a saturated/unfiltered "linear" amplifier.
The human ear is most sensitive at 3.5kHz.
You can bet your bottom dollar that the stations with that rich deep bass also has the finest amps and radios and they will not be over driving a cheap linear, that is for certain. They will be putting exactly what the amp needs in and nothing more and let the big amp do it's job properly. Which is to amplify clean RF and modulated audio signal.
And whilst their audio headroom (The space between the audio noise floor and distortion) might be eaten up with plenty of warm bass the chances are they will be operating with serious and clean ERP so they can afford to eat some headroom up in nice warm tone. The amp gets that warm sound to your antenna via the atmosphere.
I think for those who don't have a $10,000.00 + set up, and a radio with a nice sounding audio compressor built in keep your output clean and you will be heard better than cranking a power mic to it's limits and running 20W PEP into a saturated/unfiltered "linear" amplifier.
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