Pro Tools Expert community member Garrard Whatley spotted the Eoisis e2 Deeser at the recent AES show and had bought it within 15 minutes of trying it. Watch and find out how he gets on with the Eiosis e2 Deesser for his audio post production workflows. Over to you Garrard...

While at AES 2016, I spotted the visual interface of the e2 (“e-squared”) Deesser from Eiosis. I thought it might be a noise reduction solution as it looked similar to some audio restoration software. But once at the stand I realised that it was a de-esser and listened to a demo on headphones. Even in the noisy hall of the L.A. Convention Center, it made such an impression with it’s simplicity, visual feedback and great results that once I got back to my studio I downloaded the demo version, I tried it out in the quiet of my studio, and then bought it 15 minutes later.

I like the spectral display on the the Eiosis de-esser because of the similarities to iZotope RX, and the really simple user interface. The plugin separates the audio into 'voiced' and sibilant components based on the chosen detection algorithm, and for post work I was pleased to see a voiceover algorithm in the list as well as other more music orientated algorithms.

The spectral display shows very clearly what is sibilance and enables you to quickly use the additional features with controls like Auto and Smooth which have the effect of smoothing out the high frequency harshness. You can also add dynamic EQ to center in on any problem areas on the sibilance content, and then a different EQ setting on the Voiced path which can help to replace some of the brightness that can be lost when using a de-esser.

Final Thoughts

It really works — it doesn't take away any of the brightness, doesn't take away any of the intelligibility, and is very simple to use. I was able to do a lot of work very quickly, and it has already helped me out tremendously and has found a place in my session templates. 

More On Garrard Whatley

Garrard Whatley established RocketWerks in 1997 in Santa Monica, CA,  creating sound primarily on independent film productions. His small facility utilised its economy of space as a small mix stage that met Dolby’s theatrical criteria, and a fully functioning recording stage for both ADR and foley, to cater to the budgetary needs of independent filmmakers.

Fourteen years later in 2011, Garrard moved RocketWerks’ headquarters down the street to longtime colleague and collaborator Gary Zacuto’s Shoreline Studios with an immaculate Dolby certified stage that has a beautiful view of the Pacific shoreline.

Garrard has an established hard-won philosophy in post audio. Having come into the game after the days of analog, he recognizes that there has been a tendency in the filmmaking community these days to view the job as a mere “technician at a workstation” — a direct result of moving into the digital world. Even those working in post audio are subject to this. The effect can be subtle yet apparent even in the most artistic among us: head crooked down, hunched over a keyboard, staring into computer monitors. And worse, this can even affect how clientele perceive the man in the mix position.

Garrard began developing software to make the job more intuitive, to rely less on looking down, to help raise the head, and to stop mixing with the eyes as much as the ears — to reclaim the title ‘engineer’, and leave the word ‘technician’ by the wayside. 

More To Come

We are hoping to share more about Garrard's developments in the first part of 2017. So watch out next year for some announcements. We have a number of audio post practitioners who have realised that there is a problem in need of a solution and instead of moaning about the problem have got stuck in and done something about it.  When I was at RSPE to present my view on The Future of Pro Tools Garrard gave me a sneak peek of some of what he has in development, so do keep your eyes open in 2017 for some news on what he is working on.