[Elecraft] [K3] K3 Audio Response - Version 3.33 Firmware

[Jim Brown]

On Mon, 21 Sep 2009 14:03:02 -0500, Grant Youngman wrote:

>Indeed.  It may cut through better, but if you can't understand what's  
>being said, what good does "cutting through" do.

By "cutting through" I am specifically talking about speech 
intelligibility, and thanks to my background in pro audio and sound 
reinforcement, it is a topic I know quite a bit about. Sound systems 
that must provide speech intelligibility in difficult environments are 
carefully designed to limit the low frequency response. Three reasons. 
First, the lower octave bands make very little contribution to speech 
intelligibility. Second, the lower octave bands are most subject to the 
effects of reverberation. Third, the lower octave bands burn power that 
could be better used on the spectrum that does provide intelligibility. 
The only part of the above that doesn't apply directly to radio 
communications is reverberation. 

Note that no one is recommending excessive modulation or processing, 
which certainly does degrade intelligibility. The K3 can very easily be 
set up to limit the audio bandwidth, shape it to provide pre-emphasis 
for the bandwidth lost due to IF filters, and provide dynamics 
processing (compression). And it sounds VERY good when done properly. 

I'm coming at this from the perspective of an audio professional and a 
radio professional. I'm a Fellow of the Audio Engineering Society, 
passed my First Phone in 1959 and began working in broadcasting soon 
thereafter. For the last 20+ years, I've made my living designing sound 
systems for public spaces. 

73,

Jim Brown K9YC