5.1 DigiRack Plug-Ins Guide - Digidesign Support Archives

De-esser
De-esser plug-in
The De-esser reduces sibilants (“s,” “sh,” and “t”
sounds) 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. A Threshold control
sets the level above which compression
starts, and a Frequency control sets the frequency
band in which the De-esser operates.
The De-esser is a monophonic-only plug-in.
Using De-essing Effectively
To use de-essing most effectively, the De-esser
should be used before any compressor or limiter
plug-ins.
Because too much de-essing can make audio material
sound lifeless, it is best used on individual
tracks rather than entire mixes.
The Frequency slider should be set to remove
sibilants (typically the 4–10 kHz range) and not
other parts of the signal. This helps prevent deessing
from changing the original character of
the audio material.
Similarly, Threshold should be set high enough
that de-essing is triggered only by sibilants. If
the Threshold is set too low, 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
Threshold control so that it is lower on soft sections.
De-esser Parameters:
Input Meter Indicates the level of the unprocessed
input signal to the De-esser.
Output Meter Indicates the output level of the
De-esser.
Reduction Indicates the amount of gain reduction
in dB. It remains at 0 dB level when the input
signal is below the threshold.
Threshold Sets the threshold level. Signals that
exceed this level will be compressed. Signals
that are below it will be unaffected. A setting of
0 dB is equivalent to no de-essing.
Frequency Sets the frequency band in which the
De-esser operates. Frequencies in the specified
range will be gain reduced. To find the optimum
Frequency setting, sweep this control back and
forth during audio playback.
Key Listen Monitors the sibilant peaks used by
the De-esser as a key input to trigger compression.
This is useful for listening only to the sibilance
and fine tuning settings to remove them.
Chapter 4: DigiRack Real-Time TDM and RTAS Plug-Ins 33