ferraus deess

Reduce sibilance

Synopsis

ferraus deess <input> [options] [-o <output>]

What it does

A band-limited detector around the sibilance frequency drives a dynamic high shelf (split: only the highs are turned down, via a phase-matched crossover) or the whole signal (wideband).

This command is also an fx stage and a pipeline op: ferraus fx in.wav -o out.wav --fx "deess:key=value".

Examples

Default de-essing

ferraus deess vox.wav -o vox_deessed.wav

Stronger wideband de-essing for a darker voice

ferraus deess vox.wav --center 5kHz --range 10dB --mode wideband -o vox_dw.wav

Narrow detector tuned higher, for a bright voice

ferraus deess vox_bright.wav --center 8kHz --bandwidth 0.5oct --threshold -24dB -o vox_deessed.wav

Light touch: at most 4 dB of reduction, blended with the dry signal

ferraus deess vox.wav --range 4dB --mix 60% -o vox_light.wav

Options

Flag	Type	Default	Meaning
`--center`	frequency	`6.5kHz`	Detector centre frequency
`--bandwidth`	text	`1oct`	Detector bandwidth in octaves (e.g. 1oct, 0.5oct)
`--threshold`	gain	`-20dB`	Detector level where reduction starts
`--range`	gain	`6dB`	Maximum reduction
`--mode`	split \| wideband	`split`	split: turn down only the highs; wideband: turn down everything
`--mix`	percent	`100%`	Dry/wet balance: 0% returns the input unchanged, 100% is fully processed

Global options

Every command also accepts the global options (-o, --json, --dry-run, --overwrite, --progress, ...). See Global options.

Exit codes

Code	Meaning
0	Success
1	Processing failed
2	Usage or parameter error
3	Input missing or unreadable
4	Unsupported format or codec
8	Cancelled
70	Internal error (bug)

Common mistakes

Forgetting that outputs are never overwritten: pass --overwrite or a new -o path when re-running.
Gains need a unit when not in dB: 0.5x is a factor, -6 and -6dB are decibels.

For models

MCP tool: ferraus_deess
Schema: ferraus schema deess
Pipeline: { op: deess, args: { ... } } (flag names with _ instead of -)
fx stage: yes

{"command": "deess", "defaults": {"center": "6.5kHz", "bandwidth": "1oct", "threshold": "-20dB", "range": "6dB", "mode": "split", "mix": "100%"}}