Reverb, echo, speech processing etc

I understand I'm possibly opening a can of worms here, but what are your feelings on hearing just a slight hint of echo or reverb on the air?

I know it's very much frowned upon on the ham bands so I would never use it there, although speech-processing is common.

But back in the day I used to use just the smallest amount of echo on all CB modes, and was always complimented on the quality of my audio and my easy readability even if I was barely moving the needle.

I know it can make a horrible mushy mess of things if you overdo it - just as you can with over-deviation or over-processing - but what do people think about it if it's done subtly?

Hi Richard,

Believe you me the proverbial 'can of worms' can be assigned to most things, antennas and 'speech quality' being the biggest culprits!


There's a huge following for ESSB (enhanced single side band) and although I am very much of a one for each-to-their-own it does sound truly awful when they aren't hitting you S9+ and effectively splattering across the limited band space available to Hams. A similar tale can also be true if they're pumping as many watts as they can performing the same splattering effect at S9+++!
(I'll duck back down in my foxhole for the inevitable flack from that comment.)

I've heard many Ham transmissions that definitely have an echo effect added to them and often exclaimed as the room they're in but it often goes beyond the bathroom tile effect sounding completely unnatural. Then again I've personally witnessed 'Hams' sat in front of old Sadelta echo mics hooked to their transceivers too.

There is reason to your thoughts and I know that effective SSB speech power can be improved with 'echo' or 'delay' but usually in the order of significantly small amounts than most commercial devices can provide. (No PT2399 stuff here then.)

Then there's the personal preference aspect and someone might admire your triple five "Hola! Hola!" echo but others definitely won't. Then again someone might exclaim that you don't "have the voice" for SSB (whatever that means?!?!) no matter what you do to it!

I experimented myself with various types of speech processing in the past but much preferred the limited bandwidth (almost vintage telephone voice quality) ideas to help punch through the 'noise' on transmission as well as the effective compression brought about by soft clipping at the RF mixer level improving effective 'vocal power'..........

Nowadays though I have access to DSP (lucky boy) where I can infinitely muck/play about or adjust settings to my hearts desire. Even then I've found lifted mids with suppressed highs & lows more effectively punches my little QRP signal through.

Did I rely on someone else's report of my transmission voice quality? 
Did I 'eckers like and instead picked up my transmissions on the many available web/kiwi SDR's and simply listened for myself. Signal penetration was my key though, not apparent DJ/Hi-Fi/Almost AM 'quality'.


Give it a go Richard, as you say in the CB world such effects are often admired (along with inevitable boops & bleeps of 'roger beeps') but probably won't make you fans on the Ham bands.

Enjoy your radio as you see fit.  


All the best,
Victor




As per usual all of the above 'waffle' are only my own views on such subject material and independent of or not particularly endorsed by the Charlie Tango group as a whole. Some individuals may partially or completely disagree with said views which is wholly their right especially on a forum that admires the independent thought process of members herein. Hopefully that addresses the mention of the can-of-worms scenario because no matter how widely that old can blows open I will be well out of dispersal range and standing up-wind of it all. Your satisfaction and consumer rights are not affected in any way.

No likie not for me but that's me.

Not interested in doing it myself but not bothered if people do it although, like you say, they don't do it to the point you can't understand what they're saying.

Personally as long as it's only a little bit it doesn't bother me, but i installed a non -adjustable compression board in my Ranger 2950 Mirage which helps my audio punch through all the mess.

Victor wrote:

There is reason to your thoughts and I know that effective SSB speech power can be improved with 'echo' or 'delay' but usually in the order of significantly small amounts than most commercial devices can provide. (No PT2399 stuff here then.)

Then there's the personal preference aspect and someone might admire your triple five "Hola! Hola!" echo but others definitely won't. Then again someone might exclaim that you don't "have the voice" for SSB (whatever that means?!?!) no matter what you do to it!

Well, 'back in the day' I made my own reverb with much finer control than a commercial device for that very reason. I just wanted the tiniest edge and I couldn't find one I liked the sound of. 
There were more than a few of the 'Sadelta-Bremi-Zetagi boys' splashing everywhere, and I knew that wasn't who I wanted to be.

I was a good little boy and stayed away from the ham bands until I got my ticket in 2007... there, I started off with an RF speech compressor and a little bit of equalisation - my natural voice is 'very' baritone which means I tend to lose a bit of my bottom end to the filters in the radio so a little mid boost improves my 'perceived diction'.
On AM, I have to trim my bass a bit to avoid boominess that sometimes gets distorted at the receiver end if their speaker can't handle me. 
I've been a pirate-radio DJ before now, if I wanted to scratch the 'hifi sound' itch I'd go do it again 
On SSB, it's all about 'punch' and intelligibility. I want to be readable when I'm barely moving the needle. My prize isn't a 5/9 report, it's a 5/2 when the big boys are trying and failing to make the trip.

Time to reach for the can-opener again by suggesting there's a lot to be learned by listening to the ways of the old-timers on the ham bands... the ones who got DXCC on a 10W AM rig rather than throwing a kilowatt into a beam as some do today.
There's a clear technique involved in breaking pile-ups using flea-power. You listen first in case your quarry is working split frequencies. You respect the split rather than trying to trample all over the original call. You're patient while others are speaking. You wait for the weakest other signal, then ride in on their coat-tails knowing that everybody is listening very keenly to them :-)