I designed the processing parameters of the Omnia ONE AM broadcast processor, and have spent almost a half century adjusting broadcast audio. My suggestion is to apply a "sensible" amount of compression and limiting to increase the perceived loudness level to the maximum amount the equipment is capable of and STOP THERE! Adding more just muddies up the sound. We should aim for a balance between ultimate "loudness", as well as sensible EQ to enhance intelligibility, and depth of processing.
Specifically, for speech processing on the ham bands, you MUST start with a good microphone. I have found that using about 7 - 10 db compression with a 3:1 compression curve, followed by 3 - 6 db of hard limiting, maximizes the perceived loudness, without reducing intelligibility. In broadcast, 1 or 2 db of clipping will add a little bit more "punch", but cranking the clipping up more than that passes the point of usefulness quickly. Additionally, the transmitter should faithfully reproduce the audio sent to it. Any additional distortion or EQ applied AFTER processing usually results in a significant deterioration of the desired audio. We hear a LOT of that on the air these days. To my ear, a well controlled but not overblown audio signal is both the easiest to listen to for long QSO's, but also has the punch to get through in crowded and/or weas signal conditions. 73 Ted W8IXY ______________________________________________________________ Elecraft mailing list Home: http://mailman.qth.net/mailman/listinfo/elecraft Help: http://mailman.qth.net/mmfaq.htm Post: mailto:Elecraft@mailman.qth.net This list hosted by: http://www.qsl.net Please help support this email list: http://www.qsl.net/donate.html
