FabFilter Pro-DS De-esser Plug-in Reviews

Fabfilter Pro DS has been enormously helpful, perhaps actually vital, my work. I have developed a sibilance problem for some unknown reason which has caused me a lot of grief. The Fabfilter program has dealt with this very effectively. I'm exceptionally pleased with it.

I've always had a sibilance problem with my Dad's vocals when I mix his songs. I don't know what it is, whether it be exciters EQs or compressors really bring out the SSSSSSSS in my Dad's singing. We were using a De-esser called LISP which was a free download. We found that it was doing a lot of tone gouging and still not producing the effect we were looking for, so I decided to look around and I heard about the Fabfilter DS saw videos on it and everything. I wasn't sure if it was gonna work for me so I tried the demo. When I did it was spot on, hands down the best De-Esser Ive ever seen in my life. The vocals were clearer in every way. It only took a few tweeks and BAM my vocals were De Essed like a champ. So before I buy it I thought I'd review it and tell everyone else to buy it too. :P. If you're not sure, go to the fabfilter website and get the demo. It will blow your socks off.

I was surprised that Studio One as no de-esser, so I looked around for one that was easy to use and settled on this. One of the primary reasons I picked FabFilter is there licensing is super simple. You enter the key to activate the product, and then you're good to go. You can have it on multiple computers as long as it's not commercial use. The actual de-esser function is great. The presets are fantastic for most single vocal siblance issues, and can be easily tweaked from there. It can also be used on instruments, or full mixes.
If you need a great "turn on and it does it's job" solution, with no license errors, this is definitely the way to go.

Easy Peasy!

Ok, first off, ALL of the FabFilter plug-ins I own or have demoed work EXTREMELY well. But their Pro-DS is a little special. If you need a de-esser, (and who doesn't), that is simple to use and does a FANTASTIC job talking out just as much sibilance as YOU decide to have it take out, this is the one. You can solo up the frequencies which are going to be reduced, then you can solo up what is being taken out. This plug-in gives you so much control over the level of sibilance in your vocal tracks that you can take out exactly what you want to so they sound great and ALSO sound very natural. You can work with a "final mix" or an individual track and get great results either way.
But, if that was ALL that it did, it would not be all that different from other plug-ins. The real POWER of this plug-in lies in the frequency range select and the audition, (solo), button. The FabFilter Pro-DS is, (secretly), an adjustable frequency range dynamics compressor. So, you can use it to "tame" other things, not just sibilance. I had a mix I was working on were the overhead tracks on the drum kit sounded great on quieter parts of the song, but when the drummer got cranked up during the choruses they were just too harsh. I put them on a stereo bus and slapped the Pro-DS on the bus. When I auditioned the frequencies I quickly found the range of frequencies that were too bright and dialed them down just the right amount. During the quieter parts, the Pro-DS left the cymbals alone, but it dialed them down just enough during the choruses to keep the mix pumped without becoming too much. I used the same trick on the lead singers vocal. His voice sounded clean and clear during the quiet parts of the song, but during the punchier parts his voice got so strong that I had a little too much 3k. The Pro-DS smoothed out his vocal so nicely it makes me wish I could use this plug-in for live shows. Seriously, it worked that well on his vocal track. I find myself using this to "smooth out" all kinds of things, (especially vocals and acoustic guitars), that sound great in one part of a song but go a little overboard in other parts of the song. Using an equalizer would "tame" the louder parts but would adversely effect the quieter parts, but using the Pro-DS allows you to tame the loud parts while leaving the soft ones alone.
So, if you need a good de-esser, find any one of them on the Sweetwater Website that has good reviews, buy it and put it to work. But, if you are looking for a de-esser that was so well thought out when it was designed that you will be able to use it to do more than simple de-essing, consider this one, you won't be disappointed. Btw, I didn't even mention the mid/side only processing, and several other cool features. You'll just have to learn about those on your own..!