Does No Comment = No Problem

Scott N8UMW

They could stand to also add the ability for the end user to calibrate proper power output of a hundred watts rf output like some others do. And I see the poor audio with stock Mic thread was closed with the official response being to look at the manual. LOL. Even with a aftermarket good quality Mic connected, i still had to have +20db boost and the gain at 80+ to get good audio. Same Mic on another rig, including my flex 1500 is loud and crystal clear at a fraction of that setting. Still a great rig overall, but needs improvement.

Ken - NM9P

What you may be forgetting is that on the 1500 (I had one for a couple of years) there was first the "mixer" gain setting that was adjusted before any of the console front panel controls were set up.  Using the standard hand mike, it could be very difficult to set the exact mic level at first, until you realized that there were about five or six different places in the audio chain that needed to be carefully adjusted to assure that there was no overdrive at any stage (mixer, mic level, EQ gain, Leveler gain, ALC setting, compression/DX setting, DEXP) ALL of which needed to be adjusted correctly to get the best sounding SSB or AM signal.

In any case, you are complaining that the 6000 requires the +20 boost to be used for a standard microphone.  That is what the +20 dB boos is for.  The rig was designed to be used with the +20 ON for Microphones and OFF when using line-level inputs to the front or rear panel.  There is no magic to the mic level numbers, as long as we are getting the proper amount of drive to our rigs.  I use a Heil PR-22 and have the +20 boost ON and a mic level of between 65 and 85 depending upon which profile I am using.  It is no big deal.  It is what is done in professional audio mixing equipment.  Each channel can be set for mic level or line level inputs.  Some with a switch, others with a variable control that sets the channel input gain.

Some rigs have such high gain in their initial mic stage, (BEFORE any mic level control, and with NO ability to reduce it) that some mics overdrive the first audio stage and then feed a distorted audio stage to the rest of the rig..... no matter how the mic gain is set after that point, and even when the ALC is reading the proper levels the audio is distorted and sounds like a cheap transistor guitar amp because of all the clipping in the first preamp stage of the audio line.  They are not wide and splattering.  They just sound terrible. I have helped several people reduce their desk mic gain in order to fix this problem.  But they said "I only have the rig's mic gain at 9 O'clock.  How Could I be overdriving the rig?"  Because of excessive pre-fader gain.  It happens all the time with poorly trained sound system operators.  They have the first stage gain way too high for an instrument, and then try to run the slider on that channel very low to keep the level consistent and wonder why the singer is distorted on the loud high notes.  Gain distribution is important.

Comparing mike level settings between different rigs is like saying "You are 20 over S-9 on my Kenwood rig, but only S-9 on my Flex, there must be something wrong with the Flex!" without realizing that the Kenwood measures the strength of the S-Meter with the preamp in line -- meaning that the 20 dB preamp added 20 dB to the S-meter reading, inflating it above the standard measurement for S-9.  (I owned a TS-850SAT for 20 years, also)

The Flex-6000 audio chain is designed to professional audio level standards, not the typical consumer grade inputs that most of the big-4 have used in most of their rigs.
It takes a little getting used to, but ultimately offers much more flexibility and higher performance..

Ken - NM9P

Jim

My update to 1.8.3 went fine with no issue. My 6500 and Maestro appear to operate fine. I also do not notice any fold back issues driving my Elecraft KPA-500. Thanks for the upgrade.

K6OZY

Or you could just wait until Monday to install it... /facepalm

Scott N8UMW

I have purchased a couple different mics to try. On air checks have been described as slightly raspy with two different dynamic mics I've tried that work well on other rigs. not sure if this is a problem related to other 6300 radios that have been sent back for a fix of some sort, but will try an AKG and a new Rode and see e what happens. If that doesn't clean it up, I'll have to start a ticket and maybe send it in. The Rode sounds fantastic on my Anan 200D. Thanks for the info.

VE6KWA

Factual & Concise... and once again the voice of reason. Tnx Ken.

Ken - NM9P

Scott...Not to toot my own horn, but I have recorded three tutorials that address Mic Audio profiles.  They are slightly dated on a couple of details (i.e. how to save the profile)  But as far as audio adjustments and a method of listening to your audio, they are still helpful.  you can find them at:

www.YouTube.com/nm9p

They might be helpful as you try to fine tune your audio profiles with your various microphones.

There are also some good documents available on the flex knowledge base. 

Here is one of them that I found very helpful...

http://kc.flexradio.com/KnowledgebaseArticle50114.aspx

W1AEX has also produced some good stuff about audio optimization.  You can search his call in the flow forums, knowledge base, and YouTube.

Good Luck,

Ken - NM9P

Michael Coslo

And your mic tutorial is tremendous Ken. I've used it to get even the hand mic working pretty well. It started me on the path of making all of my mics sound good.

But which radios have awesome hand mics? Pretty much if the Maestro is going to come with a good mic - it will need to have at least a desk mic.

As for 20 dB boost and needing set at level 80 to get good audio, should Flex maybe allow enough more adjustment range so people can get bad audio maybe at anything over 50?   Oh - I'm bad.  - Mike N3LI - 

Michael Coslo

One thing that Jay's post and K6OZY's retort made me think of is to remind people that their radios don't stop working just because an update was released.

This even follows with older Flexes that don't have new software releases any more - they still work. And every legacy radio I have owned has some unresolved issues that won't ever be fixed. A IC-745 with a death star ROM that bricks the radio if the battery fails. An IC-761 with death star trimmer caps. A Kenwood D-700 that doesn't like really cold mornings and transmits a weird semi siren semi passing gas noise on occasion. Kenwood doesn't even admit that problem exists. Probably my most reliable radio is my TS-480 SAT - oh, and the Flex.

So I would suggest that people with less computer experience or little patience, hold off a few weeks on any update. 

Scott N8UMW

Hey, that's what the processor in the DX mode is for. LOL

Jay Nation

K6OZY

Or, the 2nd Monday after it's released on a Friday!
I slept late and survived, unbricked!
I'm hoping I'll be sleeping late again, real soon.

Nice Fireworks display this year Flexradio! 

73, Jay - NO5J

Norm - W7CK

For what is worth.  I am running Windows 10 on my desktop and have been for over a year now.  I started with the Beta version and never looked back.

I first noticed the 1.8.3 update when it appeared on my Maestro.  I selected it on the Maestro and after it completed, I updated my 6700.  After that was finished, I shutdown the Maestro.

I then went to my shack computer and uninstalled the entire old version of SmartSDR and rebooted the system.  Next I downloaded 1.8.3 to the shack computer, fired up the SmartSDR installer and waited for it to complete.  I then went into SmartSDR, attached to my 6700 and was about to download the profile backup when I noticed all of the profiles were still there.  I was a bit puzzled but started to use the system anyway. I did notice some strange behavior so I performed a factory reset, imported a backup of my profiles and have had no real issues so far.

I don't know if the sequence of events had anything to do with it or not, but I thought I'd post it here, just in case it may be beneficial to the Flex team.....

Norm - W7CK