How to EQ & Compress a LIVE Headset Microphone
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- Опубліковано 8 лют 2025
- Do you struggle with your headset mic and wonder how to EQ and compress it? Does your pastor's microphone never quite sound as good as you want it to? In this video I will show you the process I've used for over 10 years to get the best results with the most simple process.
I use a Digico SD12 most of the time, however this process can be done with basically any live console.
Examples:
Consoles: Behringer X32/M32, Allen & Heath SQ5, Yamaha CL5/Rivage, AVID S6L, SSL, Digico, etc.
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How do you guys deal with your headset mics? Any tips or tricks you've learned that have helped?
You got me with that intro 👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻
We’ve loved the dpa 6066 for our pastor headset. Agreed it’s a super important input to work on. 👍🏻
DPA sure does make some of the best headset mics. I don't think I've ever gotten to use the 66 capsule though. Definitely something I'd like to try out at some point!
hey man, love the video ! not sure if you will see this reply but three questions.
1. what recieve and headset were you running? secondly was the reciever's audio gain level at 0db or did you boost it ?
2. do you aim for -18db on the meter and ride your fader lower ? i saw in the comments, you mentioned trim - im guessing that is similar to digital gain on the yamaha consoles?
3. do you eq the pa first and then do headset sound checks and processing ?
thanks in advance
Thank you for this! Good job with the video.
Is it worth also using a feedback destroyer like the Klark Teknik DF1000 ?
Rule #1 in making a video on proper voice capture and playback : Have your presentation itself be intelligible and easy on the ears. At the very start of the video you were speaking over an audio track of someone speaking. There was not enough separation in tone, timbre, volume or even left/right mix. It was hard to understand what you were saying, and I didnt get a good sample of the clean track of the work sample either.
The information itself was excellent though. Personally, I find two compressors and a normalizer staged right after each other works best. One short compression and one longer. This helps keep those popping consonants under control and helps even out some of the dynamics from bad mic usage on their end and justy overly dynamic vocal projection on their end as well.
^ This.
I love you 💞.. im really getting great value from your videos... 🎉
In Australia, I typically recommend JAG headsets.
At around $400 Australian bucks, you get a mic very close to a DPA
Way too overpriced for what's offered. Something like a pair of Philips SHP9600s, with even a boom pro mic, or a lavalier mic and using Equalizer APO, will sound as good, if not better, for less than $100 US.
How do you add a new headset?
I also run my headset very similar. However, recently I have been wanting to try to reset it. I had watched a video a while back that basically was explaining that if you do EQ cuts across the entire Hz spectrum then you're essentially just turning down the input. I have been wanting to try resetting my gain in a way that I'd typically not recommend. My thought is, set the fader to unity or +5 and then roll the gain in until I'm at the volume I want in the room. Then set EQ/Compression. My thought it that maybe doing it this way will decrease the amount of gain I'm using and therefore make the Mic itself less sensitive and allow me to do less huge cuts from the EQ. However, given that my mic setup is working the way it is I don't have much motivation to change it.
It's not traditionally "correct", but I actually like to set my headset mic gain lower than normal, and then use trim to makeup the difference. I've found that it makes the headset less sensitive and therefore noticeably less likely to feedback.
@@andrewlepard can you explain what you are doing with the trim ?
@@Rebel-Robymaybe he’s taking about makeup gain on the compression
Thanks sir😊
what software were you using?
how do you start off the gain ?
and do you have your amps for the headset set at +0 or a different gain level or preference ?
All my pres on the console are set by default at 30dB.
Ive found that to be a happy medium so that your level indicator light on the channel will light up when someone talks into a microphone.
From there, I get the person to talk (if they are a speaker) or sing (if they are a singer), as loud as they are going to sing.
I then adjust the gain until i reach as-close-to unity (0db indicated) as I can using the PFL or solo.
Only then do I unmute the channel and work my way through HPF, EQ and compression.
Sometimes ill run my headset through a group, and apply a GEQ to that to give me finer control of bad frequencies.
I'd disagree with your assertion that feedback is frquencies resonating too much.
Feedback occurs, when the level of from the speakers /PA, into the mic, exceeds that of the level the original source.
2 thumbs up!
Do you have the ability to adjust the knee? What was the knee in this video?
The console I'm using does have the ability to adjust the knee, but I was just using a hard knee. I typically find that as long as I'm not using an aggressive ratio I prefer a hard knee, but if I'm above like 10:1 I start using the knee function.
I hate the headset mic. It's so hard to work with. Setting the gain is tough in our room.
I know this sound weird, but in some difficult circumstances I've actually had decent success setting the actual gain a bit lower than I normally would and then use trim to makeup the difference. It seems to make the mic less sensitive and therefore less feedback happy.
That sounds like Pastor Bill Markham!
Nothing about gating…
I would almost never gate a headset mic for speaking. Maybe if the room was really reflective, but I find it's often much more natural to leave that alone.
@@andrewlepard Wouldn't you want a gate to control breathing sounds a little? Not wind noise from breathing, the actual sound of air resonating through the mouth/nasal cavities.
Use and expander with around 10db of max reduction. So not a full, hard mute.