page A – 18
AirAura X1 / Dec 2016
A P P E N D I C E S
SIBILANCE
Sibilance is a vocal artifact and because it sounds so unnatural it tends to stick out
like a sore thumb. Excessive sibilance can be the result of too much high-end boost or
too much final clipper drive. Sibilance tends to be most prevalent in the 4,000Hz to
8,000Hz portion of the frequency spectrum. Microphone processors (like the Wheatstone
M1 and M2) are great tools for keeping vocal sibilance under control. Their specialized
de-esser sections are specially tailored for removing or minimizing excessive “esses.”
When excessive sibilance is an issue and there is no microphone processor to control it,
lowering AirAura X1’s Band 4 to Band 5 crossover setting and/or using a slightly faster
attack time on the Band 5 AGC/Compressor can help.
Sibilance can sometimes be found in an unlikely place; the L-R. “But voice is mono…”
you say, “…so there is no L-R…” Well, yes and no. When the left and right channels
don’t have perfect balance or there is phase shift between the channels, energy ends up
in the L-R. Why? By definition the L-R signal is the
difference
between the left and right
channels, regardless of whether it’s level, or phase, or both. When phase is the culprit the
error is generally larger at high frequencies, making the L-R energy also greater at higher
frequencies. As if by magic, sibilance appears in the L-R and the only way to fix it is to
tend to what’s causing it or reduce the level of L-R at frequencies where sibilance might
reside. The AGC’s multiband mixer can help with this. Slightly reducing the setting of
the Band 4 and Band 5
L-R mixer
can help tame sibilance without having too negative
an effect on stereo separation.
TREBLE/BRIGHT/OPEN
Treble (like its friends Bass and Midrange) is a generalized term for the high end in
most broadcast and recording systems. Bright and Open are oft-used descriptive terms
of treble styles.
Unfortunately, bright can be a positive or negative term. For instance, laser-bright is
usually a negative term used to describe too much enhancement in the upper end. The
term probably borrows its origins from the early days of CDs when
brighter
supposedly
meant
cleaner
.
Open is a term usually reserved for describing audio texture in the upper midrange
when it doesn’t sound overly processed, packed in, or is lacking in detail. To achieve a
more open sound in any processor there is usually some sacrifice in loudness. Fortunately
AirAura X1 is much more forgiving in this regard and most users have an easier time
being loud with AirAura X1 while still being quite clean and open. Operating the AGC
and Compressor with slower attack and release times and making some minor tradeoffs
in loudness will push perceived quality off the charts while going a long way towards
achieving an open and easy to listen to sound. When
this
is the target sound, starting
with one of our Classical or Jazz presets and then “turning things up” is a good way
to approach achieving this sound. These presets are surprisingly competitive without
sounding “processed.”
FINALLY
As always, Wheatstone’s Tech Support team is available to answer any questions,
help with setup, or assist in tweaking your station to the sound you hear in your head
but might not know how to achieve. Shoot us an email at [email protected]
or give is a call at 252-638-7000. We know our processors inside and out and can make
them sit up and dance in any market or format.