HoRNet Sybilla 1.4.0 update

We are excited to announce the release of an updated version of Sybilla, our intelligent de-esser designed specifically to help you say goodbye to sibilance in your tracks. With its intelligent processing and musical sound, Sybilla is a versatile tool that will quickly become a key part of your audio production workflow.

Sybilla is a highly efficient and easy-to-use de-esser that is designed with one primary goal in mind: to reduce those harsh, sharp sibilant sounds in your recordings without compromising the overall quality of the audio. Sibilance, the high-frequency hissing sound that can occur in words with “S” and “T” sounds, can often be distracting and unpleasant to the listener, especially in vocals, speech, and certain instruments. While most de-essers rely on traditional techniques that involve complex processing, Sybilla stands out due to its intelligent processing approach, which ensures it operates both efficiently and musically, giving you a natural-sounding result with minimal effort.

The way Sybilla works is particularly innovative. The plugin divides the input signal into 8 different frequency bands, each specifically tuned to target the frequencies that are most associated with sibilance. This allows Sybilla to focus its processing on just the critical problem areas, ensuring that it reduces sibilance without affecting the rest of the sound spectrum. By carefully splitting the signal into multiple bands, Sybilla ensures that the de-essing is precise, preventing the plugin from over-applying compression to non-problematic areas of the audio.

The output from these carefully tuned filters then drives a VCA-modeled compressor, a type of voltage-controlled amplifier that is known for its smooth and natural response. This compression type is particularly effective for de-essing because it doesn’t cause the harsh, pumping artifacts that might result from more aggressive compression. The result is a smooth, pleasant, and musical reduction of sibilance without compromising the natural dynamics of the voice or instrument. Whether you’re working with vocals, dialogue, or any other source that may produce sibilant sounds, Sybilla provides a very musical solution for this common issue.

One of the standout features of Sybilla is its use of envelope followers, which are crucial to its effectiveness in dealing with sibilant sounds. These envelope followers are especially perfect for speech, which tends to have varying amounts of sibilance depending on the context and inflection of the words. The envelope follower ensures that Sybilla responds to the dynamics of the input signal in a very natural and musical way. This capability allows Sybilla to effectively adapt to the changes in speech or vocal delivery, making it an ideal tool for processing spoken word material, vocals, and even podcasts. The combination of the envelope follower and the VCA-modeled compressor means that Sybilla can reduce harsh sibilance in a way that is not only effective but also musical.

Another reason Sybilla is so popular among audio professionals is its simplicity. While many de-essers on the market come with a complex set of controls, Sybilla has just two knobs: one for adjusting the threshold or how much reduction is applied to the sibilant frequencies, and another for adjusting the wet/dry mix, which allows you to blend the processed signal with the original, unprocessed signal. This simplicity makes it extremely easy to use, even for beginners, while still offering precise control for more advanced users. Since Sybilla automatically detects the critical frequencies that require de-essing, you don’t need to worry about manually setting a detection frequency or adjusting complex filters. The plugin does all of this for you, leaving you with just two simple controls to dial in exactly how much de-essing you want and how much of the original signal you’d like to preserve.

This streamlined interface makes Sybilla incredibly easy and effective, allowing you to achieve great results in just a few moments. With no need for extensive training or deep technical knowledge of de-essing, you can get to work immediately, using Sybilla to clean up your tracks in almost no time. Whether you’re processing singer-songwriter vocals, podcasts, or dialogue for film and TV, Sybilla provides an intuitive, quick solution for managing sibilance.

The new 1.4.0 version of Sybilla introduces a few key improvements that make it even more powerful and compatible with modern production environments. One of the major updates is the addition of support for the Apple Silicon platform, ensuring that Sybilla now works smoothly on the latest Apple M1 and M2 chips. As Apple moves forward with its new architecture, it is crucial that audio plugins like Sybilla remain compatible with these systems, and we are excited to bring this support to our users. This update ensures that you can continue to use Sybilla without issues, whether you are using an Intel-based Mac or the latest Apple Silicon devices.

In addition to the Apple Silicon support, we have also addressed an issue that users with high-DPI monitors on Windows were facing. The interface of Sybilla was reported to appear too small on high-DPI monitors, making it difficult for some users to work efficiently. With the new update, this issue has been resolved, ensuring that the interface now scales correctly on high-DPI screens, making it easier to interact with the plugin and adjust your settings with precision.

This update is free for existing owners of Sybilla, and it can be downloaded easily from your user area or by using the HoRNet DoIn downloader installer. We believe in continuously improving our plugins, ensuring that they stay up-to-date with the latest software and hardware developments, and we’re happy to provide this update at no additional cost to our loyal users.

In conclusion, Sybilla is a simple but incredibly effective de-esser that delivers precise and musical results in a way that’s easy to use and quick to apply. With the enhancements in version 1.4.0, including support for Apple Silicon and improved compatibility with high-DPI monitors, Sybilla continues to be an essential tool for tackling sibilance in any vocal or speech material. Whether you are a beginner or a seasoned pro, Sybilla gives you the tools to eliminate sibilance without compromising the quality of your sound, making it an indispensable part of your production workflow.