Audacity Forum

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2011 2:07 am**

Hi guys.

Would anyone with more experience kindly tell me what to do to reduce the S on my recordings? They're too sharp, or to loud, I don't know the exact term but they're clearly annoying to the listener.

"In order to maxssssmize the ssssound quality... "

I've attached a sample of my reading. I'm using a condenser mic with a pop filter, and I'm about 10min away from the microphone.

Best,

Leo

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:05 am**

To remove this sss (sibilance) is called de-essing. There are de-esser plug-ins, (including Spitfish which is free).

However de-essing can be crudely done using equalization: by putting broad notches around 4KHz and 8Kz (approx) ...

: Equalization curve used to de-ess 'in order to maximize the sound'.png (20.27 KiB) Viewed 2568 times

'in order to maximize the sound' before then after de-ess equalization.mp3: (183.67 KiB) Downloaded 271 times

Have a look at the frequency analysis of the sss on its own, note any big peaks 4KHz and above, then use the equalizer to reduce these peaks, (they are the shssh sound).

BTW if you are going to install Spitfish or any other VST plug-ins, use the latest version of Audacity: 1.3 (not 1.2).

BTW2 you are too close to the mic which is causing some distortion.

Posted: **Tue Jan 18, 2011 5:54 am**

Spitfish does a better job than equalization: it only applies the filter when sibilance is detected ...

Posted: **Wed Jan 19, 2011 8:18 am**

Wow problem solved, thank you so much guys! I wasn't expecting the solution to be that easy.

Best,

Leo

Audacity Forum

Problem with my Ssss (sample recording included)

Problem with my Ssss (sample recording included)

Re: Problem with my Ssss (sample recording included)

Re: Problem with my Ssss (sample recording included)

Re: Problem with my Ssss (sample recording included)