Audacity Forum

Hello!

I have been using Audacity for many years! Many! It is my comfort zone! And, I have tried them all!

I use the Low-Pass Filter plug-in to De-Ess. Lately, I have read a lot of hype and good reviews of Waves new Simbulance plug-in (Nov 2018). However, from what I have been able to find out it does not run on Audacity. I could buy it and run it through GarageBand, but I would rather not use multiple editors for post-processing my audio.

First Question: Is it a fact that Wave Plug-Ins do not work on Audacity or is there a workaround?

I have also looked for a de-ess plugin for Audacity, but what I have found is either no longer supported or just plain doesn't work.

Second Question: Is there a free alternative for de-essing in Audacity?

Looking forward to any help!

-Ron

BTW: Running version 2.3.0 of Audacity on MacOS 10.14.3 with no issues.

Paul L wrote some plugins.

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=79278

You may not like most De-Essers. They try to take the sound apart and only compress or reduce the "essy" bits.

I think the Low Pass filters sound the best. They can gracefully push down the harsh, crisp, gritty sound to match what would happen had you been shooting with a Dynamic (moving coil) microphone all along.

The latest postings from ACX actually recommends dynamic microphones instead of condenser types.

I posted a "wool blanket" filter (throw a wool blanket over your microphone), and any minute now I'm going to find it......

Koz

Here's DeCrisper1 and DeCrisper2.

They are plugins for Effect > Equalization. They dip musical tones about the place that Home Condenser Microphones try to boost them. You might find that it helps with mouth ticking and tongue smacking—all products of a harsh microphone.

A common complaint of this kind of fix is it makes the sound a little muffled. That's why there is a version 1 and 2. 2 is more aggressive. I've made several custom versions of this curve and this one design seems the most generic.

Or if you want to mess with DeEsser, there is that, too. The first control "Threshold" sets the volume that the tool grabs the sound. The quieter (higher negative number) the more show it grabs.

Good luck.

Koz

Rontro809 wrote: ↑

Fri Feb 22, 2019 5:36 pm

I have also looked for a de-ess plugin for Audacity, but what I have found is either no longer supported or just plain doesn't work.

This Audacity de-esser plugin does work, and is capable of surgical precision, but it's complicated to operate, (the default settings are wrong IMO)

This Audacity de-esser plugin is simpler & faster, but less precise ... viewtopic.php?p=344804#p344804

I will try a few of these plug-ins. I had no idea there were some many.

Thank you,

-Ron

I tested all of these and found that the Low Pass Filter option is still the best for me. What I did was if I run it through LP/Normalize and then compress/normalize I get what I want and without any additional costs.

One problem I ran into was I had to test the plug-ins on my windows box. For some reason, I could not install any of these plugins on my Mac set-up. Which is Mojave 10.14.3 and Audacity 2.3.0. In fact, there wasn't even plugin directory. I have just reinstalled Audacity after a clean install of Mojave and this was the time I had a need for anything, but the pre-installed effects. Not sure what is happening there.

Best Regards and Thanks!

-Ron

found that the Low Pass Filter option is still the best for me.

At what settings?

In fact, there wasn't even plugin directory.

It's hidden.

From a clean desktop, Go (top of screen) > Go To Folder.





Don't leave out any part of that address. The squiggly line at the front is important.

Koz

kozikowski wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 07, 2019 1:22 am

found that the Low Pass Filter option is still the best for me.

At what settings?

In fact, there wasn't even plugin directory.

It's hidden.

From a clean desktop, Go (top of screen) > Go To Folder.

Koz

Low Pass Filter Effect - Freq = 6300.0 Hz with a roll-off of 24 dB - Subtle, but it SSSSSSeems to work

Also, There's that peaky plug-in Directory! Thank you for that. I had not installed a plug-in since I went MAC a few years ago.

Thank you,

-Ron

Thanks.

This is DeCrisper1.
The object was to find the little high-pitched "haystack" that these microphones cause and gently squash it back to where's it's supposed to be.

This is a Before. That's 5KHz to 10KHz haystack or harsh presence boost.



So your filter crashes anything over 6300Hz. That means at 12600, most tones are gone. I need to try that.

Koz

Number One is Audiobook Mastering and no EQ. One has "SS" sounds that will drill wood and fog glass.



Two is the same clip with DeEsser carefully applied and tuned. Someone posted the DeEsser defaults could use work. They're right.



Three is the same clip with 6300Hz-24dB applied.



Two has a pleasant balance between the SS sounds and the rest of the voice tones.

Three has the same problem DeCrisper1 has. It muffles everything down but leaves the haystack and slightly piercing SS sounds.

Koz