StudioZIO software

StudioZIO De-Esser

A dynamic bell, or a split band.

Two de-essing modes behind one control: Natural for a dynamic bell that targets the sibilance, Control for split-band reduction above 5 kHz, with the gain reduction on its own meter.

Download for macOS Free Notarized build

The De-Esser window

The StudioZIO De-Esser window: the Mode selector offering Natural and Control, a single Amount slider, the Engaged switch, and input, output and gain-reduction meters in dBFS and dB.

Hear it

The same passage, twice

One passage rendered twice and switched instantly, so the playhead never moves. Both takes are matched to −18.0 LUFS integrated: at different levels the louder one always wins and the comparison tells you nothing. The peaks are left alone, because the difference between them is the work.

De-Esser · dry vs de-essed Real render · matched −18 LUFS
Output

One passage rendered twice through De-Esser 1.0.0 at 44.1 kHz, untouched and in Control mode. Below 2 kHz the two are identical; the reduction is centred on 6-8 kHz. Judge the sibilants, not the level.

Modes

Two ways to take the edge off

Both work on the sibilance and leave the body alone. They differ in how narrowly they reach for it.

Natural
A dynamic bell around 7 kHz, narrow enough to leave the rest of the top end where it is.
Control
A split band above 5 kHz, held down as a whole for firmer, steadier reduction.

Surface

Deliberately simple

De-Esser does one job, so its window asks one thing of you at a time.

Mode
Natural or Control.
Amount
How much of the chosen mode you get.
Engaged
Crossfaded bypass, switched without a click.
Metering
Input, output and gain reduction, live.
Latency
0 samples, in either mode.

Official macOS installer

De-Esser 1.0.0

Version 1.0.0 · Audio Unit (AU) · VST3 · AAX · Standalone

Developer ID signedApple notarizedUniversal
Download for macOS
Installer
StudioZIO-De-Esser-1.0.0.pkg
Platform
macOS
Latency
0 samples, in either mode.
SHA-256
698a5c45dc530b97bd4fc3c9f6e401bf4cbb414a435ff1d4235f6afa66e661f2

Help

Support

Bug reports and technical questions reach the person who writes the code, through the contact form.