Lindell Audio De-Esser free download

Need to tame harsh 's' sounds in a vocal without constantly riding a threshold? Looking for a simple way to control excessive brightness on cymbals or guitars that just works? The Lindell Audio 902 De-Esser is a free download that tackles these problems with a unique, automatic approach. It’s a faithful emulation of a classic hardware unit, but with a workflow stripped down to just two main knobs.

What It Does

This plugin handles high-frequency control by focusing on sibilance and harsh transients. Its core function is to reduce gain at a specific frequency range you select, but it does so by automatically comparing the level of those high frequencies to the rest of your signal. This means you don’t set a fixed threshold. Instead, it adapts whether the passage is quiet or loud, aiming for consistent smoothing. You get a graphical layout that shows the de-esser’s real-time activity.

Key Controls and Workflow

Frequency and Reduction You have two primary knobs: one sets the target frequency you want to control, and the other sets the amount of gain reduction. That’s the heart of the minimalist 2-knob workflow. Mix and Listen A Mix knob lets you blend the processed and unprocessed signal for parallel processing. The Listen function is crucial—it lets you audition the sidechain signal being analyzed and hear the gain reduction on its own, so you can precisely dial in the right frequency. Air Control After reducing harshness, you can use the Air control to apply a smooth high-frequency boost. This helps add back some sheen or clarity that might feel lost after de-essing.

Who Should Grab This

This fits a few specific scenarios. It’s useful for audio engineers working on vocal recordings who are tired of manually adjusting a threshold knob for every phrase. It also works for producers dealing with overly bright cymbal overheads or harsh guitar tracks, where you need to control the top end without sucking the life out of the performance. If you want a set-and-forget style de-esser that reacts to the music, this approach is worth trying.

Final Verdict

If your work involves voice recordings or instruments with harsh transients and you want automatic high-frequency control that adapts to signal level, this Lindell Audio free download delivers that specific solution. You get a straightforward plugin based on a classic 1980s design, with the unique benefit of no threshold to configure. It requires a compatible DAW (AAX, AU, VST) and a relatively modern system, but it’s not a resource hog. For the specific problem of variable sibilance and brightness, it’s a focused and effective tool.