so ive been on HF for about two years now and i feel like my SSB audio has always been kind of mediocre. not terrible but nobody ever really compliments it either. been doing some reading and theres a LOT of conflicting info out there about what actually matters for good SSB audio quality.

like some guys swear by speech processing and crank it up, other guys say keep it off entirely or barely touch it. ive got a 7300 and the built in processor is decent i think but i honestly dont know where to set it. right now im around 4-5 on the mic gain and maybe 2-3 on the processor, just kind of guessing.

also the mic situation — im using the stock icom hand mic which i know isnt great but ive heard everything from "just get an SM-50" to "any dynamic mic is fine just set it up right" to "you need a condenser or forget it." so which is it. and does ALC matter as much as people say, because mine seems to bounce around a lot on voice peaks and im not sure if thats normal or if i somethings wrong.

just trying to get cleaner audio without spending a ton, any practical tips appreciated

ALC is the thing people overlook the most honestly. on the 7300 you really want that ALC meter barely moving on voice peaks — like just kissing the bottom of the ALC scale. if its bouncing all over thats usually a sign your mic gain is too high and the radio is having to compress the heck out of your signal just to keep it clean. back the mic gain down until the ALC barely moves and then set your processor from there.

on the processor question, the IC-7300 speech processor is actually pretty decent but most guys run it too hot. it helps for pileups and marginal band conditions but on a clear band talking to somebody nearby it can make you sound processed and weird. i usually leave it off unless conditions are rough or i really need to punch through something.

the stock hand mic on icom isnt the worst thing in the world — biggest issue is most people hold it too close or at the wrong angle and get a bunch of plosives and proximity effect. try holding it off to the side a bit rather than dead-on and keep a couple inches away. honestly that alone might help more than any equipment swap. that said a desk mic does make a real difference if youre doing any serious operating just because you dont have to think about mic technique as much.

the ALC thing is real, totally agree with that. also worth checking if you have any RF getting back into the shack because that can cause all kinds of weird audio issues that look like a mic or settings problem but arent. i spent like three weeks tweaking my audio before i figured out i had RF on the feedline shield coming back into the rig through the USB connection. ferrite on the cable fixed it immediately and suddenly everything sounded way cleaner.

anyway condenser vs dynamic for SSB — dynamic is generally preferred, condensers tend to pick up too much room noise and HVAC and whatever else is around you which doesnt help on a noisy band. the SM-50 or an Heil PR-40 if you want to spend more are popular for a reason but honestly theres cheaper options that work fine. just something with a cardioid pattern and decent midrange response, SSB doesnt need a flat studio response, you actually want something that emphasizes the 2-3kHz range a bit where speech intelligibility lives.