so ive been on HF for about two years now and i feel like my SSB audio is always getting comments. not terrible comments but like 'you sound a little bassy' or 'your audio is kinda hollow' and it bugs me. im running an IC-7300 into a Heil PR-40 with the stock settings basically. i did mess with the TX equalizer in the menu a couple times but honestly i dont fully understand what im doing in there and i feel like i made it worse at one point and had to reset it.

what i really want to know is what the experienced guys actually do for SSB audio. like is there a standard approach people use for mic gain, compression, the EQ stuff — or is it all just trial and error with someone on the other end giving you reports. i feel like ive read a hundred different forum posts about this and everyone says something different. some people say max out the compression, some people say never use it, i have no idea who to believe at this point.

also wondering if the PR-40 is even a good match for the 7300 or if im fighting the mic characteristics. it does seem like a pretty bass-heavy mic from what i can tell.

yeah the PR-40 is a pretty warm mic, great for broadcast type stuff but it can work against you on SSB if you dont account for it. the 7300's TX EQ is actually pretty capable once you wrap your head around it — what i'd suggest is cutting some of the low end, like below 200hz, and boosting slightly around 2-3khz where voice intelligibility lives. you want the audio to cut through, not sound full and rich like a podcast.

on the compression thing — the guys saying never use it are probably reacting to people who slam it way too hard and end up sounding like a AM broadcast station from 1943. a little ALC limiting and maybe 4-6db of compression on voice peaks is fine and actually helps you average out louder on the band. the key is your mic gain should be set so you're hitting the ALC on the loudest syllables, not pegging it constantly. if the ALC is pinned the whole time you're overdriving it and that's what causes that hollow processed sound you're probably hearing.

get a friend on a known good receiver and just talk while you adjust. thats still the only reliable way to know what you actually sound like on the air.

the hollow sound is almost always too much compression or the mic too close. i had the exact same issue and turns out i was just talking into the PR-40 like it was a stage mic, like right up on the grille. backing off like 4-6 inches made a noticeable difference. these side-address condenser type mics dont behave the same as the little dynamic desk mics that come in the box with radios.

also dont sleep on the bass rolloff switch if your mic has one, some heil mics have a presence boost setting too that can help with that hollow thing. might be worth checkin the manual just to make sure you havent overlooked something physical on the mic itself before going deep into the radio menus.