De-Esser III

For more information, see the following topics:

De-Esser III Level Meters

De-Esser III Gain Reduction Meter

De-Esser III Frequency Control

De-Esser III Range Control

De-Esser III HF Only Control

De-Esser III Listen Control

De-Esser III Frequency Graph Display

The De-Esser reduces sibilants and other high frequency noises that can occur in vocals, voice-overs, and wind instruments such as flutes. These sounds can cause peaks in an audio signal and lead to distortion.

The De-Esser reduces these unwanted sounds using fast-acting compression. The Threshold control sets the level above which compression starts, and the Frequency (Freq) control sets the frequency band in which the De-Esser operates.

 

De-Esser III

Using De-Essing Effectively

To use de-essing most effectively, insert the De-Esser after compressor or limiter plug-ins.

The Frequency control should be set to remove sibilants (typically the 4–10 kHz range) and not other parts of the signal. This helps prevent de-essing from changing the original character of the audio material in an undesired manner.

Similarly, the Range control should be set to a level low enough so that de-essing is triggered only by sibilants. If the Range is set too high, a loud, non-sibilant section of audio material could cause unwanted gain reduction or cause sibilants to be over-attenuated.

To improve de-essing of material that has both very loud and very soft passages, automate the Range control so that it is lower on soft sections.

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The De-Esser has no control to directly adjust the threshold level (the level that an input signal must exceed to trigger de-essing). The amount of de-essing will vary with the input signal.