Speech EQ?

[Tav]

I was wondering if someone can tell me some quick EQ tips for spoken word? I have to make a presentation for univeristy which contains students speaking. I was wondering if there were any general tips and tricks for EQ etc. that I could apply to make it sound a wee bit better?

Any quick fix for popping P's and sssssssssssssssssssss S's

[Alex]

if you boost a (parametric for preference) eq to highlight ssibilant sounds then chuck it through the sidechain of a compressor it forms a de-esser. Filter out any low frequency nonsense. I sometimes boost around 600-1.2khz slightly. If there's popping sounds you could always do a cheeky bit of gain editing. Nearly all the interviews i've done in odd situations have involved a bit of cutting and pasting. Plus, you can mix up the sounds and make them say rude things!!!

(assuming it's recorded already. If not, get the mic slightly off the line of fire)

[Tav]

I just recorded using cheap-o PC mic as it is all I had to hand. If time was on my side I would have waited to get my condensor mic + pop sheild and then some know how. I've been going through taking off about 3-6dB where there are louder pops and other noises. This seems to be working quite well.

The audio is getting MEGA compressed in flash down to a really low size so it isn't too important to sound spiffing! 7mb wave file is now embedded in a movie that is only 96kb.

[Hog]

Whack it through Adobe Auditions hiss removal, its pretty good although Im sure there are many programs that do similar stuff. Audition also has a filter for pops and clicks:up:

[HairyScaryMark]

I have experience with much spoken word in a church as a sound engineer. What we did is, cut the bass greatly. The bass bins will otherwise make the speech sound muffled.

You may also find cutting somewhere in the upper mid band is a good idea.

To an extent it depends what equipment you have available, what mic is being used, who is using it and what system it is being played though.