Recording - June 2021 - 10

- Review by Bill Stunt

Accusonus
ERA 5 Pro Bundle
Get your tracks clean with this well-rounded
and easy to use plugin collection
Accusonus recently updated its ERA suite of audio repair
plugins. The new ERA 5 Bundle comes in Standard and Pro
versions. Both offer super simple yet effective tools to address
a host of common audio issues. Many of these tools will be
especially attractive to content creators, and music producers
will find much to like here as well. The Standard version has nine
plugins, the Pro version thirteen. I'll try my best to give you a good
overview and some perspective on each one's best use cases.

With just a few tweaks of the Spectral Controls, we saved the original performance, much to the relief of all involved. Brilliant!

Voice Deepener

Most of us are a bit taken aback when first hearing our own
recorded voices. It often sounds thin to our ears. Voice Deepener
is designed to alter the recorded audio to sound more like how
we hear ourselves in our heads. Deepening a voice is as simple
as turning a knob. The effect is noticeable but natural at 15-20%.
Anything above 50% starts to sound effected. You can also add
a bit of 'punch' to a take by choosing that mode. The effect is
quite flattering. I'd use it for voiceover work whenever a 'voice
of authority' quality is called for.

Mouth De-Clicker

Noise Remover Standard and Pro

Unwanted noises from the environment-traffic noise, computer
fans, hard drives, HVAC systems, etc., creep into our recordings.
Both versions of Noise Remover quickly and transparently attenuate all kinds of background noises. The Standard version has five
'focus' settings for targeting the algorithm to address specific offending noises. The Pro version offers more precision; you can independently process up to six frequency bands for fine-tuning. The
Pro version also has an additional algorithm for hum and buzz
attenuation. Both let you dial in the overall amount of processing.
I used the Standard version successfully to get rid of a bit of
HVAC fan noise on an acoustic guitar track. I got more dramatic
results with the Pro version on a bass track. That track was brilliantly
played but suffered from some unwanted noise from a vintage preamp that decided to show its age during the recording. We wanted
to see if we could salvage the take, as it was played so well.
10 RECORDING June 2021

Lip smacks, mouth clicks, and saliva crackles can stand out unpleasantly. Removing them from sung vocal tracks and spoken
narration is a time-consuming and tedious task (I know-I worked
in broadcasting for many years and did a lot of audio cleanup
work). Mouth De-Clicker makes short work of that. Again, simply
turn the processing knob up until the problems disappear-where
were you when I was hunched over a workstation for hours, getting carpal tunnel syndrome and a headache?
There are two processing modes: Normal and Broad. The
former is usually appropriate for mouth clicks and smacks.
Broad works on more prominent standout sounds. There's a
DIFF or solo toggle that helps you sort out what mode works
best. Again, you apply only the amount of processing you need
to clean up the audio. It works like a charm.

Voice AutoEQ

Voice AutoEQ is designed to clear up frequencies that muddy vocal recordings. The plugin analyzes a short portion of the
voice recording and then applies a series of EQ algorithms that
you adjust to taste.
Adjustments are made by moving a dot inside the Tonal Blending
Triangle in the center of the display. The triangle's corners are labeled Air, Body, and Clarity, and moving the dot towards them alters
the frequency spectrum accordingly. It's quite a clever interface, and
it's easy to dial in a perfect blend. You globally adjust the overall
amount of the effect by dragging the Intensity slider. This tool is quite
effective on poorly recorded or lower resolution voice recordings.

Recording - June 2021

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