Recommended Desser

[silvermaples]

So I've been keeping an eye on the Waves sale and I noticed they have a couple of dessers so that got me thinking, which Dessers do you guys prefer and how important are they to your mixing?

I'm not looking for settings or anything, just curious as to how everyone applies them, is it strickly vocals? or maybe on guitars to calm the highs a little?


Cheers
-Cory

 

[006]

I actually tend to use the DeEsser in PODfarm a lot \_()_/ That said, I have a couple of others, I think one or two from Waves as well. De-essers can be used on really anything man. Hats, OHs, guitars, vocals (of course), keyboards...

 

[Fbarre]

If the esses are too loud I reduce the volume of the esses only. Might be a bit more work but the results are soo much cleaner. Deessers tend to take away information in the high end even if they don't process esses.

 

[GeertSamuel]

Waves has got it's one on sale for 18$

 

[Ermz]

I use the RDeEsser from Waves.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

I liked Pro Tools included de-esser, but I'm using Massey's De:Esser more these days. The Renaissance Deesser from Waves is very good too, Sony Oxford Suppressor is great as well. Each one is great for different things, and one might work better for a particular case so it's always good to have a few options.

There is a new "tutorials" website made by two french guys, called Puremix.net
In one of the free videos, Fab explains and compares most of those. Check the video it's free, very detailed (21 minutes), very funny and instructive, here:
http://www.puremix.net/index.php?option=com_hpjvideo&id=106&Itemid=53&lang=en

 

[dale_a_smith]

Eiosis is great. Bit pricey but well worth it.

 

[Mutant]

Spitfish

 

[bryan_kilco]

I've only tried one or 2, but wasn't really satisfied with either. Just seems like a bit of low pass filter or something that takes away some of the extreme highs.

 

[crillemannen]

Renaissance desser for me

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Most de-essers can be set to full bandwidth to prevent that "lisp sound". Basically what they will do is lower the level as a whole when an S is detected, as opposed to removing the annoying frequencies only. This can sometimes be more transparent. Sometimes it is not.

 

[silvermaples]

Awesome video, very informative and very good at helping you really hear the differences. I'm thinking about grabbing the RDesser while its on sale. I already have the massey and the waves desser but another tool in the box is always good I think.

-Cory

 

[MindMunch]

My favourite is Spitfish, and it´s free. Really effective and easy to use.

I actually tend to use the DeEsser in PODfarm a lot _()_/

Seriously? I love Line6 effects, but IMO their deessers are 100% crap. Never got anything even remotely usable from that thing. It colors the entire signal!

 

[C_F_H_13]

If the esses are too loud I reduce the volume of the esses only. Might be a bit more work but the results are soo much cleaner. Deessers tend to take away information in the high end even if they don't process esses.

Yeah one producer I work with makes me cut all the "s" and put them on another track and share a voice in PT. That way he can lower or raise all the s sounds at once.

But I hate him for that so I just use Sonnox Supresser on my own stuff.

 

[Brett - K A L I S I A]

Next time duplicate your track, put the Massey De:esser on both, one of them cutting all the "s" and the other in "solo" mode (where you only hear the "s")

 

[Ermz]

Nice link, Brett.

At the end of it all I found myself liking the DBX, Waves and Eiosis. The DBX has that dark analogue thing going on, the Waves is fairly smooth, albeit a little dull and the Eiosis seems like it can be transparent and clinical as hell if you dial it right. I just never had the patience to learn the UI. I like to just tweak it up in a few seconds and go! If it's too dull after the Waves, I'll just make it up on the Millennia with more high shelf.

Great video!

 

[Lasse Lammert]

I use whatever I have...mostly the one in Pro Tools (so does Andy btw)...
I've recently seen a session of J.Hansen, and he also is using LOADS of PT's own plugins (EQ etc)...so does Andy (Delay, reverb, pitch, deesser.....).
I think many people here are thinking too much about what plugins to use, instead of just using them...
all those plugins will work, if you limit the amount of plugins you're using you'll automatically learn to know them better= better results...
most pros only use a handful of plugins on everything, and not always the most expensive and fancy ones...just whatever comes with Pro Tools...and then perhaps one or two of their special plugs (that might be stuff like MH channelstrip, phoenix, Waves SSL....but they use it sparingly and the same for most of the tracks, but they know HOW to use it).

It's just a deesser.....if your track needs deessing just put a deesser on there and get to mixing....way too much thinking here

 

[LeSedna]

Yeah that link is awesome. I found the Oxford one very interesting, it would be nice if it could be less expensive and limited to deessing, without all the extra features, I never like too complicated plugins. The less the better, sometimes. That's why I like RVox, or sometimes the SSL channelstrip compressor that prevents me to tweak the attack/release times too much by its simplicity.

Too bad the site is commercial, I won't pay 10$ a video even if the videos are good.

Is there a difference between the waves Deesser and Rdeesser in their engine and algorithms, is it just about the UI that makes RDeesser more tweakable, or does it sound more efficient too ? I liked the possibilty to limit its range.

Anyway, +1 for spitfish. Works well here.

 

[LeSedna]

I use whatever I have...mostly the one in Pro Tools (so does Andy btw)...
I've recently seen a session of J.Hansen, and he also is using LOADS of PT's own plugins (EQ etc)...so does Andy (Delay, reverb, pitch, deesser.....).
I think many people here are thinking too much about what plugins to use, instead of just using them...
all those plugins will work, if you limit the amount of plugins you're using you'll automatically learn to know them better= better results...
most pros only use a handful of plugins on everything, and not always the most expensive and fancy ones...just whatever comes with Pro Tools...and then perhaps one or two of their special plugs (that might be stuff like MH channelstrip, phoenix, Waves SSL....but they use it sparingly and the same for most of the tracks, but they know HOW to use it).

It's just a deesser.....if your track needs deessing just put a deesser on there and get to mixing....way too much thinking here

I'm no pro, but I totally relate to that. I've started years ago by "trying" (read : cracking) thousands of plugs, though I realize I sort of had to do it in order to have an overall picture of what is available everywhere and to understand the big names people use, until I dropped to starting buying only the right stuff I needed.

The more I learnt, the more I understood that eventhough some plugs have that last little % of "better", my ears are not always able to notice it, and also, it doesn't help my mixes. In the end, the most important thing to me is the psychological effect the GUI has on my workflow and pleasure of using them.

Also I discovered that because of the fact I learn so many things from so many places (including my trainings/job) that I can't spend too much time learning a plug, so I like having one good goto plug for each task. Also I'm paying attention to the fact my plugs work on PC and Mac cause I wanna be able to open them at any case.

The more I read myself, the more I feel like I may be a PT guy in my heart

 

[Ermz]

While I think it's definitely more about workflow/knowledge rather than the toolkit, I do have to respectfully disagree with you about people here 'overthinking' it, Lasse. If they want to go in depth, and do comparisons between the tonal qualities of different de-essers that's their right. I definitely learned something from the video (that my RDeEsser is pretty damn good and I'm gonna keep using it) and that's ultimately something (I hope) we're all here to do.

I mean there are constant amp/cab/mic shoot-outs here, yet it's somehow not ok to shoot out De-Essers? At the end of the day it doesn't matter how golden-eared you are... if you master using a good tool rather than a bad one, you'll still be putting out better work. It's the difference between someone using Waves SSL 4k inside-out, and someone else using an actual 4k E-series desk inside-out.