so ive been on HF for about two years now mostly doing digital modes and some CW but lately ive been wanting to actually talk to people on 20m SSB and honestly my audio sounds terrible compared to everyone else i hear. like really processed and thin. im running an IC-7300 which i know has a decent built in mic eq but i havent really touched any of that stuff.

the guy i talked to last week said i sounded like i was in a tin can which is not great. im just using the stock HM-219 hand mic that came with the radio. is that the problem or is it more likely a settings thing. ive heard people say you should set the TX bandwidth somewhere around 2.4kHz and keep the bass roll off not too aggressive but im not sure where any of that actually lives in the 7300 menus. also should i even bother with the speech compressor or does that just make things worse

any advice from people who actually sound decent on SSB would be appreciated

the stock mic on the 7300 is honestly fine, people run them and sound decent, so id look at settings first before spending money. go into the SET menu and find the TX audio section — you want to check your mic gain isnt cranked too high because that'll make everything sound crunchy and thin real fast. most people run it around 50-60% and adjust from there based on ALC behavior. you want the ALC just barely moving on voice peaks, not pegged.

the speech compressor is a bit of a religious debate but i use it set pretty conservatively like 4-6dB and it helps with readability without wrecking the audio. if you slam it too hard yeah it sounds like garbage. also make sure your TX bandwidth is set to at least 2.4kHz, some people accidentally narrow it down for some reason and then wonder why they sound weird. the bass roll off setting in the TX filter adjust menu — i have mine set to 100Hz low cut and 2600Hz high cut and people generally say i sound pretty natural.

honestly the best thing you can do is get someone to give you an honest audio report, not just a 59 which means nothing, find a patient elmer who will actually describe what they hear.

yeah i went through the same thing when i got my 7300. one thing nobody told me was that the mic placement matters way more than i thought — like if youre holding it six inches away from your face and off to the side youre gonna sound weak and roomy. get it closer, maybe 2-3 inches, speak across it not directly into it to avoid plosives.

also random thing but check if your power is sagging when you transmit, i had a cheap power supply that was drooping under load and it was doing weird things to my audio apparently. anyway probably not your issue but worth mentioning