de-essing tips

[kenzo]

Hi,
I am just an audiophile, no formal training or pro experience as a technician. As I archive my CD collection to .wav I am using DC7 to try and clean up some problem cuts, but I have not had any success de-essing using DC7.

I have tried all the deessing related presets with no significant improvement.

Using a spectral analyzer, I have found the problem frequencies to be between about 6K and 10K.

Can anyone advise things to try beyond the presets?
Thanks!

Ken

[Craig Maier]

What ratio setting are you using and what attack and release times? Those play into the performance of the de-esser.

Alternatively - - -

You might want to try using the Punch and Crunch in compression mode with only the third band being active. Set the crossover frequency between the surrounding bands at 6 KHz and 10 KHz and then adjust the threshold value accordingly until the desired de-essing is achieved. Note - - - use a high compression ratio.

[kenzo]

Hi Craig,

I did experiment with changing the attack and release times throughout their complete range. I could obtain some de-essing, but only when the settings were so extreme as to cause unacceptable distortion in other frequencies.

I will try the punch and crunch and let you know the results.

Thanks!

Ken

[DougMac]

Just Curious

Hi,
As I archive my CD collection to .wav I am using DC7 to try and clean up some problem cuts, but I have not had any success de-essing using DC7.

Ken,
Did you mean LP instead of CD? If so and you're having sibilance problems with almost all or at least a great deal of your LPs, you may want to make some setup changes to your turntable/cart.

Doug

[Craig Maier]

It just occurred to me to say the following about de-essing. If you have a very high noise floor on your file, the de-esser will not work. High frequency noise (or hiss) must first be reduced to reasonable levels else the de-esser will interpret the hiss as a "good" signal and not attenuate it.