so ive been running SSB for a few years now mostly on 40m and 20m and I keep getting reports that my audio sounds kind of muffled or bassy, like people say it sounds like im talking into a tin can or that my voice is hard to cut through. im using an IC-7300 with the stock mic which i know isnt ideal but it shouldnt be this bad right

ive messed with the TX EQ a bit but honestly the menu system on that radio is kind of overwhelming and i dont fully understand what im boosting or cutting. someone at my club told me to roll off the low end and boost around 2-3khz but i tried that and it still sounded off according to one guy on a net i check into regularly

also been wondering about compression — i have it turned on but only at like 3-4 on the meter because ive heard over-compression sounds really bad. is that right or should i be pushing it more. and does mic gain interact with the compressor in a way that matters a lot

basically just looking for whatever tips people have found actually make a difference on SSB audio quality, not looking for studio sound just want to be readable without people asking me to repeat myself constantly

yeah the stock hm-219 mic on the 7300 is pretty mediocre honestly, it tends to be kind of boomy especially if youre close to it. the biggest thing i noticed when i switched to a desk mic was just how much easier it was to shape the audio consistently because you're always the same distance from the element.

but even before going that route, the TX eq on that radio can help a lot if you know what youre doing. basically for SSB voice you really dont need anything below about 300hz, its just muddiness that doesnt help readability. i cut pretty hard below 300, leave the mids mostly flat and add a small boost maybe 3-4db around 2.5khz which is where speech intelligibility lives. also make sure your speech processor is set AFTER you get the mic gain right — like set your mic gain so youre hitting about 50-60% on the ALC without the compressor on, then turn compression on and it should only be adding a few db of average power not slamming the peaks.

also worth asking someone to record your audio off the air and play it back to you, way more useful than going by verbal reports in a qso

Compression question is a good one. I went back and forth on this for a long time. My take is that a little goes a long way on SSB — if the compressor meter is bouncing around a lot and your ALC is going nuts you've probably gone too far. Somewhere around 4-6 on the 7300's meter feels about right to me but every voice is different, deep voices usually need less low-end EQ work than higher voices.

One thing nobody told me when I started on SSB — talk ACROSS the mic not directly into it. Reduces plosives and breath noise a ton. Sounds like a small thing but I got way fewer complaints about my audio after I started doing that with my desk mic.