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Post subject: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 3:02 am
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Is there any point in using a subwoofer with the 300 Pro or 500 Pro when amplifying a speech (i.e. a presenter at a lectern)? The crossover is set to 120Hz, so only frequencies below that would be sent to the sub.

Does the human voice generally get that low when speaking? I assume the female voice does not, but perhaps some male voices. What say?

Thanks.


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Post subject: Re: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:47 am
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The only thing that a subwoofer will amplify for human speech will be the thumps on the podium when the speaker pounds his fist for emphasis, or the handling noise of a person holding a microphone. Human speech does not include frequencies low enough to need a subwoofer. Most of the sounds a subwoofer plays are the mic noises that you DON'T want muddying or drowning out the spoken words.

These days, I use a mixer with a parametric equalizer built in, and I add a high pass filter that KILLS anything that a subwoofer would amplify for all microphones intended for speech or singing, either hand-held or on a stand. I only use the subwoofer for electric bass, foot percussion, bass drums (like a kick drum or a bodrun) ... and sometimes I do it for piano, though that's really stretching it. An electronic keyboard playing piano rarely comes up with any sound that low, but I figure it doesn't hurt since there is no microphone involved to pick up floor thumps or handling noise.

You feel a subwoofer more than you hear it, and you don't feel a human voice that way. But you do feel stomps on the floor carried up through a mic stand, or every tap on a mic held in someone's hand.


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Post subject: Re: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:53 am
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Added note: For human speech, you often want to boost the treble (high frequencies) in order to clarify the enunciation of consonants. Bass can add character and warmth to speech, but it can also muddy it to the point of being unintelligible.

So, I recommend that you start off with the EQ set "flat" (no boost or cut to the bass or treble) and listen. If it's not clear enough, boost the treble until it gets clearer. If it sounds too thin and metallic, boost the bass and listen to see if that helps, or consider not boosting the treble quite so much. Add "warmth" to taste with the bass, but don't let it muddy the clarity of the consonants.

And if you are getting handling noise from a hand-held mic or thumps conducted from the floor through the mic stand, cut the bass enough to minimize this.


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Post subject: Re: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Mon Oct 12, 2015 7:58 am
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And lastly, keep in mind that on the Passport, you have two EQ knobs: Bass and Treble, but in fact, you have THREE EQ ranges. There's a mid-range of frequencies higher than bass, but lower than treble.

When you turn the volume up and down, you are boosting or cutting all three frequency ranges. So, if you boost both bass and treble, that has the same effect as turning up the volume while cutting back on the midrange. So, set the volume based on what you want the midrange to be, then cut or boost bass or treble for the EQ control you want.

I hope this helps.


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Post subject: Re: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Tue Oct 13, 2015 12:46 am
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Very helpful, thank you.

But I found this on Wikipedia:

"The voiced speech of a typical adult male will have a fundamental frequency from 85 to 180 Hz, and that of a typical adult female from 165 to 255 Hz..."

Link:

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Voice_frequency

I'm not saying I understand it all, but it seems to say that perhaps there IS reason to use a subwoofer with speech, since the crossover frequency is 120Hz, and much of the male voice potentially lies below that.

However, as you pointed out, there are many other reasons NOT to use a subwoofer, and I think I'll follow your advice.


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Post subject: Re: Use Subwoofer for Speech?
Posted: Wed Oct 14, 2015 5:23 am
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There are many sounds that we comfortably listen to that have poorly produced fundamental frequencies, and we don't mind all that much. Any piano smaller than a 10 foot grand has a soundboard too small to accurately play the fundamental tones of the low notes. Our minds read the harmonic series above the fundamental and we create the bass notes in our minds that we can't hear in our ears. Does the loss of fundamental tones in a telephone make a person's voice less understandable? The frequencies for clear speech are all in higher frequencies.

Most people who are functionally deaf can hear low frequencies. Only the "profoundly deaf" can't hear low frequencies. The rest of them are called "deaf" because they have lost the high-mid and high frequencies that are critical for understanding speech. The 8" woofer on the Passport 300 and the 10" woofer on the 500 can handle all the bass you need for the spoken word, and then some.

If you had a vocal ensemble who heavily featured a bass singer with a wonderful, low voice and you wanted the tone quality of his voice to come through, yes, use a subwoofer and isolate the microphone from stage movement and physical handling noise. Otherwise, loss of subwoofer frequencies will in no way damage the clarity of spoken words, and it will save you from the common noises that most microphones do pick up in that range.


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