Technical information

McDSP plug-ins
The DE555 de-esser uses a look-ahead design to analyze the incoming audio
and automatically adjusts the compressor’s threshold to provide consistent,
transparent, natural-sounding de-essing at any signal level. For example, if a
portion of dialog is at −24 dB (a whisper), and later at −2 dB (a shout), the DE555
would still de-ess by the amount speci ed using its Range and Ratio controls.
With rival de-essers that do not have this feature, you will inevitably spend more
time adjusting (or automating) the manual threshold controls found on these.
The DE555 also has a high-frequency HF-only mode that will only reduce the
signal levels of the sibilant frequencies and not those of the main vocal or
speech frequencies (which can help to produce a more natural-sounding result).
Operation and Controls
In order to reduce sibilance, the sibilant frequencies must  rst be identi ed
and isolated from the rest of the audio. The Key Filter section lets you select
what portion of the audio spectrum will be treated as sibilant events using a
combination of the Filter type, Frequency, and Focus controls to adjust the
 lter characteristics.
The high-pass  lter removes audio below the selected frequency and passes
audio above the selected frequency while the band-pass  lter only passes
audio within a specified band of frequencies. The Focus control lets you
adjust the resonance of the high-pass filter or the width of the band-pass
Figure A12.5
The DE555 de-esser.