so ive been on HF for about two years now, mostly FT8 and some CW, but ive been trying to get into actual voice operation on 40 and 20m SSB and honestly the feedback i keep getting is that my audio sounds either too bassy or kind of muffled or just generally bad. i know my signal is getting out because people are hearing me, they just keep asking me to speak up or saying i sound like im in a tunnel or something

my setup is a TS-590SG and im using a Heil PR-40 through a preamp because i read that was supposed to be a great combo. processor is off, i havent messed with the TX equalizer in the menu much. i did read somewhere that you need to set the mic gain pretty carefully on these radios but i honestly dont know where to start. been running it around 50-60% which felt right but maybe thats the problem

also not sure if the speech processor is worth turning on or if that just makes things worse. anyone running a similar setup or have tips for dialing in SSB audio properly

the mic gain thing is definitely where to start. on the 590 you really want to watch the ALC meter while you're talking — you want it barely kissing the bottom of the ALC range on voice peaks, not slamming it. if the ALC is working hard the whole time youre talking that usually means mic gain is too high and you're compressing the heck out of everything before it even gets to the processor stage, which gives you that squashed muffled sound people complain about

the PR-40 is a large diaphragm condenser-style mic (well dynamic but same idea in terms of proximity) so you really dont want to be right on top of it either. work it from like 6-8 inches and slightly off axis if you have a resonant voice. the low end buildup from close-miking that thing can absolutely bury your highs and make you sound like youre underwater on the receiving end

as for the speech processor — personally i leave mine off for casual rag chewing and only turn it on if conditions are rough or im trying to bust through a pileup. when its on keep the level conservative, like barely noticeable. guys who crank the processor sound terrible and dont realize it because they cant hear themselves.

yeah the equalizer menus on kenwood radios are actually pretty useful once you dig into them, there's tx bass and tx treble adjustments and most people just leave them at flat which isnt always ideal depending on your voice. i bumped the high mids up a tiny bit on mine and got a couple unsolicited compliments on audio so something was working lol

also are you monitoring yourself? like with the sidetone or a second receiver? cause its really hard to know what youre actually putting out without that. i use a cheap rtl-sdr on a dummy load sometimes just to get a rough idea, not scientific but you can hear obvious problems