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Introducing Velvet, A smarter de-esser for smoother vocals | iZotope


Larry Shelby

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The BIGGEST problem with man is that we ALWAYS ask 'Can we?"
but NEVER ask "Should we?"

I say that all the time: "Just because I can doesn't mean I should." Especially at my age. Back on topic; I'm not a fan of the music/mixing ai stuff for the most part. Btw, Melodyne does a fantastic job of separating sibilance.

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2 hours ago, bluzdog said:

The BIGGEST problem with man is that we ALWAYS ask 'Can we?"
but NEVER ask "Should we?"

I say that all the time: "Just because I can doesn't mean I should." Especially at my age. Back on topic; I'm not a fan of the music/mixing ai stuff for the most part. Btw, Melodyne does a fantastic job of separating sibilance.

Melodyne is a powerhouse once you get down into it, but again it requires studying it...which most don't want to do.

Why study when AI can do that job for me?  

That's the equivalent of the past "why learn math...I have a calculator"

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IMHO A.I. is mostly arrogance, because all those gimmicks cover only 80 percent of the real cases! In the other 20 percent of cases, the ones forgotten by the developers, they often create terrible results and it can even be dangerous in technical things (cars, airplanes, ...). But how could it be different, A.I. is created by fallible men and not Gods! But YMMV, you are free to go with the hype!

P.S.: I have not found any convincing A.I. product to this day.

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It’s a de-esser! In 99% of times you slap on the track in the correct place in the FX chain and it does exactly what you need it too! No need to pay attention to it. The video is well made, it makes de-easing look like art, but de-essing is not and will never be. I have de-essers that left me with wanting nothing, that needs less tweaking than what this thing seems to require! So screw this thing. After a couple decades doing this sound and music stuff professionally, a damn de-esser has never been anything I wished anyone improved upon. This is a product-dumbing-down-its-users, not an audio tool. Save your money and buy Soothe or Scaler or a week’s worth of Starbucks. This is snake oil IMHO.
 

I’m sick of iZotope.

I’ll get my coat…

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I dunno, $39 would be a great deal for somebody who doesn't already have a de-esser and a spectral compressor. Such a consumer probably falls right into iZotope's marketing demographic. 

Next ground-breaking product: a combination bitcrusher + cheese straightener! Part of a new suite of things you never knew you needed.

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On 5/8/2025 at 5:09 AM, Larry Shelby said:

The biggest problem is that AI will take all of the "Necessary Skill" out of the equation
thus reducing Engineer pay, and even the need for an Engineer, and that all is a snow ball
rolling downhill.

The BIGGEST problem with man is that we ALWAYS ask 'Can we?"
but NEVER ask "Should we?"

This isn't AI. It's not intelligent. You will still need skill and talented people to make great music. The only people scared of "AI" (it's not AI) are people with no talent, no "sound", no identifiable artistic vision and nothing to say. In other words, people who would be better suited to building strip malls and office furniture than making music.

 

On 5/10/2025 at 4:05 AM, projectm said:

It’s a de-esser! In 99% of times you slap on the track in the correct place in the FX chain and it does exactly what you need it too! No need to pay attention to it. The video is well made, it makes de-easing look like art, but de-essing is not and will never be. I have de-essers that left me with wanting nothing, that needs less tweaking than what this thing seems to require! So screw this thing. After a couple decades doing this sound and music stuff professionally, a damn de-esser has never been anything I wished anyone improved upon. This is a product-dumbing-down-its-users, not an audio tool. Save your money and buy Soothe or Scaler or a week’s worth of Starbucks. This is snake oil IMHO.
 

I’m sick of iZotope.

I’ll get my coat…

It's clearly more than a simple de-esser. lol. Plenty of basic de-essers around it that's what you need. Some people might find these extra features super neato and do radical  things with it. People getting angry at plugins never ceases to amaze me.

Edited by Carl Ewing
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It is "intelligent"!  It says so right in the description with the phrase "Intelligent Deessing" AND it's "artificial", meaning that it's NOT human....so it IS "AI" despite your attempt to make it "not so".
ANYTHING that offloads "the work" to an algorithm is detrimental to the craft, but you know what they say... "opinions are like buttholes"!

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22 hours ago, Larry Shelby said:

It is "intelligent"!  It says so right in the description with the phrase "Intelligent Deessing" AND it's "artificial", meaning that it's NOT human....so it IS "AI" despite your attempt to make it "not so".
ANYTHING that offloads "the work" to an algorithm is detrimental to the craft, but you know what they say... "opinions are like buttholes"!

I hear the Amish are always looking for new members. You can join the army of fossils complaining about evolutions in music technology since the 1800s. May I hear your grand contributions to "the craft"? I'll be sure to give it more credit because you made it with locally sourced animals skins and spider silk.

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ANYTHING that offloads "the work" to an algorithm

Didn't realize I've been using AI since the 80s. Gonna need to improve that definition. Why do i come here? For the deals I guess.

 

Edited by Carl Ewing
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