Vocal Sibilance Vinyl

Joe laporta senior mastering engineer at sterling sound said that older records were often not cut as loud as new vinyl and so older records tend to play on less.

Vocal sibilance vinyl.

If it is only a few recordings then sibilance is often casued by a bad recording bad pressing or damaged records. Vocal sibilance should be reduced with a de esser. Sibilance is often centered between 5khz to 8khz but can occur well above that frequency range. Dynamics are key to a great vinyl recording.

That can sometimes cause skipping or problems with vocal sibilance on less expensive record players. Be careful not to go overboard with main buss limiting. So consider putting your most blistering tracks towards the outside when sequencing for vinyl. Sibilance can be caused by many aspects of analog vinyl replay.

When vinyl was the main release format records were sequenced to put the songs with the most high frequency content or often just the more important songs nearer to the outsides of each side. All tracks will be analyzed for optimal vinyl transfer. Vinyl mastering facilities rely on de essers that are built for this particular problem. This problem is almost exclusively caused by new vinyl it should be noted.

But many vinyl cutters have been benefitting from the constant development and growing versatility of the plug in world. Vocal sibilance is an unpleasant tonal harshness that can happen during consonant syllables like s t and z caused by disproportionate audio dynamics in upper midrange frequencies. I see a great many recordings where there is a local dip in spl response of the vocal lines around 4 5 8 khz that was obviously put there to counteract the sibilances of the vocalist into a microphone. It is important to determine if the problem relates to a small amount of recordings or many records and the condition of those records.

Mastering your audio for vinyl is included with our service. Several known outboard de essers through the years include the maselec mds 2 and the orban 536 a. I ve only ever had an issue with unbearable sibilance when using vinyl.