Solid State Logic

which is handy, leaving you to concentrate on
setting the Amount and Threshold. If you want
to start from scratch or simply want to hear
what’s going on, there’s a ilter sidechain listen
option. This also works alongside Auto Listen,
which if selected will activate the listen mode
whenever you change the ilter settings. You’ll
ind the compressor also has a listen function
for monitoring just the compressed audio. This
also works with the Auto Listen for both
Threshold and Amount parameters.
So how does it perform in practice? We tried
DeEss on a number of diferent vocal
performances, and have to say it coped very
well. The relative threshold is pretty easy to set,
which means we spent more time focusing on
the sidechain ilter settings and using the Blend
control to decide how much of the signal to
compress. In fact, these two aspects are so
lexible that you actually feel like you’re in
control of the essing and can choose how you
want to process it rather than just try to
minimise it the best you can. For example,
sometimes broadband de-essing, even of
vocals, simply works better in context than split
processing. With DeEss you have that option,
but can also gradually back away from fully
broadband to inesse the outcome. Couple that
with independent low and high-pass ilters and
you really are spoilt for choice.
Understandably, this bodes well for treating
program material or stereo blends, and the
more we used DeEss the more we appreciated it
as a frequency speciic dynamics processor and
not just a de-esser. That said, using the Mid and
Side modes does require some care, particularly
on program material, as both options can
inluence the stereo image.
Verdict
For Low and high-pass ilters with
smooth Butterworth proile
Efect listening for both compression
and ilters, with automatic listen option
Stereo, mid and side processing
Relative threshold for easy setup
Against Not much
Ease of use and excellent visuals make
this feature packed de-esser one of the
best we’ve tried
1 0 / 1 0
Alternatively
FabFilter Pro-DS
187 » 10/10 » £134
A powerful plugin with excellent
visual feedback, loads of features
and vocal and full program modes
Brainworx SPL De-Essers
$149
Go authentic with these classic
single band and dual band SPL
emulating de-esser designs
Most de-essers are straightforward
frequency speciic dynamics
processors that use a ixed level
threshold. This is simple to understand
but also means they don’t handle
variations in level very well, and it’s
quite easy to end up overprocessing
loud sibilance and underprocessing
quiet sibilance. To resolve this issue,
DeEss uses a relative threshold. This
helps to retain consistent de-esser
behaviour across the whole
performance no matter how loud or
quiet it is. It also means that if you make
changes in level prior to the DeEss
plugin, it won’t completely undermine
your settings, so DeEss should de-ess
by the same amount as before. As
there’s no absolute threshold value, it’s
not possible to plot a straight line
threshold on the compression history
graph. Nevertheless, the graph does
include two tone shading and although
this doesn’t display precisely when the
threshold is reached, it does give an
idea of the gain reduction applied.
Relative threshold
DeEss’s interface provides excellent visual feedback, including ilter and compression history graphs
You actually feel like
you’re in control of the
essing and can choose
how you want to
process it
All told this is a very decent de-esser. It’s easy
to use, with great features and excellent visuals,
and is well up there with the market leaders.
Web solidstatelogic.com
Info Perpetual licence included in monthly
subscription plan
DeEss’s relative threshold gives you consistent de-essing across the whole performance
October 2022 / COMPUTER MUSIC / 65
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