SPL DeS - Dual-Band De-Esser

On/Bypass

With On/Bypass you switch the module on or off (bypass).

Signal LED

The Sig LED (Sig) indicates whether an audio signal is present at the input and exceeds a level of -20 dB. This LED indicator serves as an aid to quickly recognize whether a signal is arriving at the DeS in a complex studio cabling system.

Hi-S

The Hi-S control adjusts the intensity of the S sound reduction in the upper frequency band. The center frequency for sibilance detection is 11.2 kHz with a bandwidth of 3 kHz.

Lo-S

The Lo-S control adjusts the intensity of the S sound reduction in the lower frequency band.

Male/Female Voicing

The Voice switch is used to adjust the low-band de-esser to the voice characteristics. The switch changes the center frequency for the sibilance identification: Female: 7.6 kHz, Male: 6.4 kHz. The processing bandwidth in the low band is 1.44 kHz.

De-Esser Tech Talk

De-Essing by Phase Cancellation

SPL has developed a circuit technology that combines efficient de-essing with maximum ease of use. De-essing already during recording spares a lot of time in comparison to the subsequent search for the S-sounds in post production.

The DeS automatically adjusts itself to the relevant frequencies and hones in on them so that only the range of the S-sound is processed and neighbouring frequencies remain untouched.

This range is phase-inverted and mixed back into the original signal, which acoustically deletes the S-sound. The DeS therefore works unobstrusively and sound-neutral.

Auto-Threshold

The DeS features our Auto-Threshold which automatically adjusts the threshold if the input level fluctuates due to varying distance to the microphone which leads to fluctuating input levels. With Auto-Threshold engaged, the de-essing intensity remains constant at the value you set – a great help not only for untrained speakers/singers in the studio and live.

With conventional de-essers using compressor technology, the processing intensity decreases as the distance to the microphone increases to which compressors or limiters then react by letting the S sounds reappear. The disadvantage of weaker de-essing – bad enough in itself – therefore also leads to undesired effects in the subsequent processing. Auto-Threshold prevents these disadvantages from occurring in the first place.