W2IHY 8 Band audio equalizer:
A few years ago I purchased the eight band unit from the W2IHY audio products. I had the option of a kit form product, or factory assembled, I chose the kit form since it was about $50.00 less then the assembled product. I have built many a kit during my time and this one was not that much of a challenge.
So, I ordered the unit and waited until it arrived, once the box was open I found a large plastic bag with all the parts. The instructions were clear and off I went to the work shop for a few hours.
Actually, when I assemble kits I do not work on them until my eyes cross, no about two hours at a time is my pace. I finished the kit the second day in about an hour and was ready for the first test. This unit has a head phone jack in the rear for monitoring without putting anything on the air. I plugged in my Kenwood MC 60 mic and tapped it a little, not a sound, not one sound. Yes, I had installed the power cube, or wall wart and yes I plugged it in and had power.
I made a second check and found a small capacitor hiding in the corner of the plastic bag, it had wedged itself in the bottom of the bag and did not fall out with the rest of the components. It was a coupling capacitor and of course no signal was arriving at the headphone jack.
Once that was installed I could hear myself in the headphones, so I began to see if all the bands were working by sliding them up and down. You might want to ask why did I purchase an external equalizer when they are already in the radio in front of me? The answer is my FT 5K Yaesu and FT 2K have adjustments in the menu, but they indicate High, Medium, or low and that is all you have, no fine tuning the audio with eight bands. So what are the eight bands on the W2IHY unit? 50,100,200,400,800,1.600,2.400 and 3.200 hz with sliding controls with as much as a 16db boost, or a minus sixteen db.
The best way to set up your audio bands to me is to just listen to the effect they have on your mic and then leave the setting alone once you have it where you want it. This is exactly what I did with my unit, eventually I wound up with the middle frequencies emphasized slightly more then the rest.
I added enough bass to sound natural, too many ops sound like they are in a barrel with too much bass. After all, we are not VOA, or a professional broadcast service, we are hams and communicate via SSB on voice. SSB has it limitations with audio response, so attempting to add more then the mode is capable of handling is non productive.
Up to 400hz I had the sliders down slightly, but with the middle frequencies from 800 to 2400 hz I raised them just enough to have a nice response. On the last control 3200 this had little effect, I did not want a tinny sound, so left this one slightly down from the 2400 hz.
So now for the big test, let’s see how it sounds on the air, or via my monitor in the rig? I preferred to select my dummy load for this test and did so, with that in place I could talk all I wanted to but would cause no interference to others.
I recited a few lines out of QST and the equalizer sounded pretty good, so the unit does have an effect. I hit the on/off switch and this amounts to by pass, I could hear a pretty good drop in audio quality.
However, what about the noise gate and the adjustments on the panel of the equalizer? These are handy to have and I want to clarify the usage by a little explanation.
The noise gate removes the back ground noise, make this test, with a noise gate, listen to your mic with it open, it will pick up room noise, AC blower noise, if someone has a tv or stereo going in the back ground. Then add the noise gate and you will notice the ambient noise vanishes, you will also notice that the noise gate opens when you speak into the mic.
There are two sliders for the noise gate, one is the sensitivity and the other is delay, this delays the recovery time once you speak and the time the gate closes. These are touchy adjustments, so once you have them where you want, leave it alone and be satisfied.
Yes, you will have to order a cable going from the equalizer to your rig, these are available from the W2IHY web site. You order them based on Kenwood, Icom, Yaesu, or Ten Tec.
The equalizer has provisions for two outputs, they are selectable with a slide switch in the rear of the unit. I have both outputs in use since I have two separate stations, if I want to use the second rig, then I reach around back and move the switch. I placed the equalizer on my desk and this makes easier access.
You may have to readjust your mic level on your rig, or less vox delay, plus the sensitivity on your VOX. Once done, leave alone, just enjoy some good audio quality.
I am more critical on audio then most since I worked in the field of broadcasting over a period of 45 years. I noticed small changes, or noise in the audio, I also notice an enhanced signal, or one with far too much bass. Set the equalizer so that it sounds like your voice and is not distorted. Personally, I have not been disappointed with this item and have it in line all the time. I have received many good audio reports and I think the W2IHY is worth the investment. You can if you wish hear a demonstration of how the unit enhances audio, just google for the web site and browse around. I think you will be impressed and may want one of these for your own.
