[TenTec] Good Mike Technique

[Jim Brown]

On 2/25/2014 10:29 AM, Bob McGraw - K4TAX wrote:
> Also, I've mentioned many times that good audio has a lot to do with 
> good mike technique. 

It certainly does. I don't have the patience to sit through a half hour 
of Bob Heil, but I will offer these general comments based on my own pro 
audio background. This advice is generic, and not limited to any rig.

1) Use a mic that does not have proximity effect. That generally means 
an omnidirectional mic, but also includes Electro-Voice models RE10, 
RE11, RE15, RE16, RE20, RE27, Shure SM53 and SM54, and AKG D202 and 
D224. (I think all but the RE16, RE20, and RE27 are long out of 
production, but mics like this don't wear out or degrade with age, so 
it's safe to buy a used one from a trusted source.)

2) Try to keep the mic at a constant distance.

3) If the mic DOES have proximity effect (all directional mics except 
those EV models), take care not to crowd it, don't talk straight into 
it. I position the boom mic of my Yamaha headset about 2 inches above 
and 2 inches to the left of my mouth.

4) Roll off the low end (below about 500 Hz) to minimize the low 
frequency components of your voice. This part of speech contains no 
speech intelligibility, but it can waste a lot of TX power. This simple 
technique is typically good for 3dB (double the TX power), and is even 
more critical with a directional mic.

5) Carefully adjust mic gain so that you're not overloading the rig, and 
set compression so that the compression indicator shows no more than 10 
dB on peaks.

Some rigs have an equalizer to accomplish #4 built in -- there is at 
least one such fixed EQ setting in the FT1000 rigs, and the Elecraft K3 
and KX3 have built-in graphic equalizers for both RX and TX. If you 
don't have this sort of equalizer, you can form a high pass filter with 
a series cap and shunt resistor at the mic input. I did this years ago 
to use pro mics with an Omni V, TS850, and MP. I also modified the audio 
stages of my K2 to limit the LF response.

73, Jim K9YC