In article , Alun
writes:

It has worse S/N performance than SSB

That depends entirely on the type of encoding and modulation used,
doesn't it?
Can you categorically say that digital voice can *never* outperform
SSB?

No. One day it might. But not yet.

Even if the data rate is slowed down?

If there's anything that deserves spectrum space for experimentation,
it's digital modes, not analog voice modes.

73 de Jim, N2EY