OK. To repeat.
Attached is the Steckler clip mastered according to this…
https://wiki.audacityteam.org/wiki/Audiobook_Mastering
…but otherwise clean. It passes ACX Check just fine but has very serious Essing.
Apply DeEsser, Attached.
DeEsser.ny (55.6 KB)
Effect > DeEsser…
At these settings…
Seems to work well.
If you watch the timeline blue waves as the tool works, you can see tiny blobs of wave here and there vanish. Those are the harsh SS sounds in the clip. If you don’t see it, you can Edit > UNDO and then Edit ReDo to see it again and again.
I did a frequency run before and after.
That haystack bump between 5000 and 10000 is Essing.
After DeEssing, it’s gone.
You might think you could just use an Equalization curve to do that, but that doesn’t work. I tried it. That just makes everything dull, muffled and muddy. DeEsser senses when the SS sounds are in excess and otherwise leaves everything alone. So it can turn acoustic ice picks into normal conversation.
Koz