SPL DeS Dual-Band De-Esser

SPL DeS Dual-Band De-Esser features and functions include:

On/Bypass
The On/Bypass switch activates (On) or deactivates (Bypass) the module. This allows you to quickly switch between processed and unprocessed signal.

Signal LED
The Sig LED (Sig) indicates whether an audio signal is present at the input which has a level higher than -20 dB.

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. The SR LED indicates the S sound reduction.

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

Male/Female Voicing
The Voice switch is used to adjust the low-band de-esser to a voice characteristic.

The center frequency for the sibilance detection can be chosen with this switch.

Female: 7.6 kHz
Male: 6.4 kHz

The processing bandwidth in the low band is 1.44 kHz.

De-Essing by Phase Cancellation
SPL has developed a circuit technology that combines efficient de-essing with maximum ease of use. Using the de-esser while recording can not only improve the quality of the recording, but also saves a lot of time compared to processing it later in post-production.

The SPL 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 SPL DeS therefore works unobstrusively and sound-neutral.

Auto-Threshold
The SPL 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.