Can You Over Do Sibilance cutting?

Special Interest Groups Audio Processing
1

Can you over do it on reducing Sibilance? I just recorded and Audiobook and am about to deliver it to the author. I speak with a lot of Sibilance. So I used the Sibilance Live Plugin several times when needed in each instance and even cut down the sibilance manually to shorten it. When I applied my Macro Chain (Loudness Normalization, -20, EQ, Limiter -3.2 DB) it sounds a bit thinned out, yet still overly sibilant. Is there and EQ setting that I can use to fix this? I have attached an audio sample of how it sounds.

Also, I am not sure if the EQ was used properly in my Macros. When I select the EQ manually, in the GEQ Modern Plugin, it defaults to a Flat EQ. A better trained ear would know.

Thanks

2

The sample sounds pretty good to me. Sibilant errors sound like an ice-pick in the ear.

If you overdo sibilance filtering, the work becomes dull and muffled, not thin.

People as a rule don’t speak in sharp, “essy” tones. Your microphone has a lot to do with that. Also, your playback system can create problems, too.

I have to be careful because my favorite headphones boost bass tones. This works wonders for music, but is less useful for quality control.

Koz

3

Yes: too much de-essing can make the person sound like they have a lisp.

Unusually your sibilance goes as low as 2kHz, your de-esser may not have touched that part.

before-after desibilator plugin before-after desibilator plugin
suggested settings

4

thank you for your reply. Would You consider this sample acceptable for audiobook quality? Would any other processing need to be done to clean it up?

5

Is there a way to improve that through EQ, etc?

6

Re-essing is possible … Updated De-Clicker and new De-esser for speech - #323 by Trebor
but that’s a last resort, only if you don’t have a version before over-de-essing.

Re: “EQ”. Your EQ sounds good to me, but if you want a free second opinion there’s a free AutoEQ plugin called Focusrite balancer .
It has a male vocal (“Vocals-M”) preset.