De-Esser

De-Esser operator properties for Script Engine. Tames harsh sibilance — the sharp "sss" and "shh" sounds in speech and vocals — by listening for it and briefly turning the level down when it gets too loud. Wideband mode turns down the whole signal for a moment (the most natural choice for a single voice); Split mode turns down only the high band above a chosen frequency; Bell mode precisely turns down a narrow band (its width set by QValue), keeping the bright "air" above it. The Listen switch lets you hear exactly what is being removed.

Property	Type	Access	Description
`ShowAdvancedOptions`	`bool`	`get/set`	Show or hide the operator's advanced settings in the editor UI. [default=false].
`Mode`	`DeEsserMode`	`get/set`	`DeEsserMode` — how the sibilance is targeted and tamed. [default=Wideband]. `Wideband` turns down the whole signal when sibilance is detected (most audible, natural on a single voice). `Split` turns down only the high band above `Frequency`, leaving the low and mid voice untouched. `Bell` turns down only a narrow band centred on `Frequency`, with its width set by `QValue`, keeping the bright "air" above. `QValue` is not used in `Split` mode.
`Frequency`	`int`	`get/set`	The frequency the de-esser targets, in Hz. [min=2000, max=20000, default=6000]. In `Wideband` mode this is the centre of the band the de-esser listens to; in `Split` mode it is the point above which the high frequencies are turned down; in `Bell` mode it is the centre of the band that gets turned down. Sibilance usually sits around 5–8 kHz, so move this until it lands on the harshest part of the "sss".
`QValue`	`float`	`get/set`	Width of the targeted band, set as a "Q" value — higher Q is narrower, lower Q is wider. [min=0.1, max=10, default=4]. ("Q" is the standard audio term for how focused a frequency band is.) In `Bell` mode it sets the width of the band that gets turned down; in `Wideband` mode it sets how focused the sibilance detection is. Disabled in `Split` mode. A high Q (around 5–10) is a narrow band that isolates the "sss" — with `Listen` on you hear mostly hiss; a low Q (around 0.5–1) is a wider band that also catches some speech.
`ThresholdDb`	`float`	`get/set`	The level the sibilance must rise above before the de-esser starts turning it down, in decibels. [min=-60, max=0, default=-36]. Lower (more negative) values catch more sibilance; values closer to 0 act only on the loudest, harshest peaks. Lower this while watching the gain-reduction meter until the "sss" is tamed.
`RangeDb`	`float`	`get/set`	The most the de-esser is allowed to turn the sound down, in decibels — a safety limit. [min=0, max=36, default=12]. Once triggered, the reduction grows with how loud the sibilance is but never goes past this limit, so the voice is never over-dulled. Start around 6–12 dB and raise it only if sibilance is still too strong; beyond ~36 dB the band is already essentially gone.
`DetectorMode`	`AudioCompressorDetectorMode`	`get/set`	`AudioCompressorDetectorMode` — how the de-esser measures the band's loudness to decide when to act. [default=Rms]. `Peak` reacts to instant spikes (snappier on fast sibilants). `Rms` reacts to the smoothed average loudness (more natural). Leave on `Rms` unless quick "sss" sounds slip through.
`AttackMs`	`float`	`get/set`	How quickly the de-esser turns the sound down once sibilance is detected, in milliseconds. [min=0.1, max=20, default=1]. The default suits most speech; short values catch the very front of an "sss", longer values let a little through before acting.
`ReleaseMs`	`float`	`get/set`	How quickly the de-esser lets the volume back up after the sibilance passes, in milliseconds. [min=10, max=300, default=50]. The default suits most speech; too short can sound choppy on the sound that follows, too long keeps the volume down into the next word.
`Listen`	`bool`	`get/set`	When on, you hear only the sound the de-esser is removing, instead of the cleaned-up signal. [default=false]. Use it to check you are catching the "sss" and not the rest of the voice, then turn it back off.
`GainReductionMeter`	`GainReductionMeterData`	`get`	How much the de-esser is turning the sound down right now, in decibels (read-only). Shown as a horizontal meter: 0 dB means it is resting; the bar grows as it turns the sound down harder.
`ResetCommand`	`Command`	`get`	Reset all settings to their defaults.

Inherits from: AbstractAudioOperator, AbstractOperator, AbstractAudioMetering, NamedModel.

See also: De-Esser in Operators — user-facing introduction, screenshots, and section summaries.