D-104 gain level preference

[FPR1981]

Where do you all like to run the gain level on your D-104's on radios with mic gain? Nothing is worse than listening to someone who doesn't know how to adjust gain levels and is distorted and overmodulated.

Likewise, where do you like your D-104 gain level on a radio that does NOT have a mic gain control?

 

[KB4MSZ]

Nothing is worse than listening to someone who doesn't know how to adjust gain levels and is distorted and overmodulated.

In that case I would avoid the area between 26.965 MHz to 27.405 MHz

 

[DaveJacobsen]

It depends... On your voice, how far you are away from the mic, ambient noise, the radio...
Find someone to talk with and adjust, asking for feedback.

 

[doctordialtone]

It depends upon the room you're in, how far you are from the mic and the acoustics of the room.

I agree with Dave.

 

[jonwienke]

It should be set to whatever gets you close to 100% modulation without clipping or going over 100%.

 

[prcguy]

Impossible question to answer, way too many variables. Some radios need lot more audio drive and what's good for radio A might grossly overmodulate radio B. Otherwise a preamp D-104 has almost enough output level to drive a speaker. Actually it will drive a high impedance speaker to a surprisingly loud level.

Where do you all like to run the gain level on your D-104's on radios with mic gain? Nothing is worse than listening to someone who doesn't know how to adjust gain levels and is distorted and overmodulated.

Likewise, where do you like your D-104 gain level on a radio that does NOT have a mic gain control?

 

[FPR1981]

Former radio newscaster and talk show host here. I have pipes and project very well. I need to find a trained listening ear on the other end to critique me into good tonality.

 

[prcguy]

100% agree, you need someone to listen and give you feedback on how you sound so you can adjust your mic settings properly. I have a couple of friends that know my voice very well and live within a mile or two. They have very critical ears and know what my goals are, to sound like me but louder with no distortion or artifacts, like a late night FM DJ but with a little bull horn punch.

It sometimes takes awhile but we get all of my radios sounding fantastic and my friends sometimes use different radios with various filter BWs so the end result sounds great on an old HF rig with a 2.4KHz IF filter or a newer radio listening at 4KHz wide. You have to test this way or else you might make one group happy and you might not sound so great to a different group of radios.

For CBs its not as complicated but with some modern HF amateur rigs that have 8 band equalizers, different TX BWs and various mic gain and compression settings it takes awhile to get everything playing nice. You can't do that by yourself, you need friends to assist.

Former radio newscaster and talk show host here. I have pipes and project very well. I need to find a trained listening ear on the other end to critique me into good tonality.

 

[prcguy]

To add more, ever heard of Art Bell and his Coast to Coast radio show? Art was a ham and had a fantastic sounding station that complemented his broadcast voice. Art was also very good at letting you know how your station sounds as that was just his thing. I had been chatting with Art one day and had a friend over using several receivers while I did the long drawn out mic gain, eq, compression, you name it on a new radio. After we finished tweaking I tracked down Art again and without soliciting any audio criticism he heard what had been done and announced, "Sir, you have arrived, don't touch anything!" I thought that was quite a complement considering who it came from.

It also helped that the friend who was "talking me in" on the settings was an audio engineer with some well known award winning products including mic compressors, etc, and knows how to adjust them.

Former radio newscaster and talk show host here. I have pipes and project very well. I need to find a trained listening ear on the other end to critique me into good tonality.

 

[FPR1981]

To add more, ever heard of Art Bell and his Coast to Coast radio show? Art was a ham and had a fantastic sounding station that complemented his broadcast voice. Art was also very good at letting you know how your station sounds as that was just his thing. I had been chatting with Art one day and had a friend over using several receivers while I did the long drawn out mic gain, eq, compression, you name it on a new radio. After we finished tweaking I tracked down Art again and without soliciting any audio criticism he heard what had been done and announced, "Sir, you have arrived, don't touch anything!" I thought that was quite a complement considering who it came from.

It also helped that the friend who was "talking me in" on the settings was an audio engineer with some well known award winning products including mic compressors, etc, and knows how to adjust them.

I listened many times to Art on the way home from band gigs in the weee hours of the morning.

 

[highwayman1224]

To add more, ever heard of Art Bell and his Coast to Coast radio show? Art was a ham and had a fantastic sounding station that complemented his broadcast voice. Art was also very good at letting you know how your station sounds as that was just his thing. I had been chatting with Art one day and had a friend over using several receivers while I did the long drawn out mic gain, eq, compression, you name it on a new radio. After we finished tweaking I tracked down Art again and without soliciting any audio criticism he heard what had been done and announced, "Sir, you have arrived, don't touch anything!" I thought that was quite a complement considering who it came from.

It also helped that the friend who was "talking me in" on the settings was an audio engineer with some well known award winning products including mic compressors, etc, and knows how to adjust them.

Art Bell kept me awake many long nights in the 90's when I was a long haul trucker.

 

[doctordialtone]

Art Bell kept me awake many long nights in the 90's when I was a long haul trucker.

They air shows from the 90's on this station in Albany, NY

News Radio 810 & 103.1 WGY

Listen to News Radio 810 & 103.1 WGY live

radiostationusa.fm

Saturday nights starting at 10PM EST

WGY (AM) - Wikipedia

en.wikipedia.org

 

[Retroradio]

With or without a radio with mic gain the setting for gain on a D-104 takes time to setup. As indicated above revolves around your environment, the radio and the timbre of your voice. (Including how far from it is from your mouth when you talk)
There is no template for this.
Love my D-104s