The Best De-Esser Only $49

I have a lot of de-essers. My regulars include Slate’s 902; Waves’s RDeesser; and Slate’s Eios De-esser. But none that quite do what Velvet does! Velvet by Izotope is now my go-to de-esser. Here’s why:

Velvet, just like any other deesser, splits the incoming signal. In a normal deesser, the high split frequency signal is used as the side-chain to trigger compression. In Velvet, the esses are split and truly processes on their own, then combined with the lower frequencies again at output.

But Velvet does more: First, it processes the lower range with spectral balancing—able to suppress ugly resonances and boost desired frequencies—allowing you to change the tone of your vocals. Secondly, Velvet incorporates a de-clicker before output, removing those nasty lip-smacks and other mouth-noises—incredibly handy on voiceovers (though singers do plenty of this too).