GARUC Audio has released Deess-ertic Lite, a free de-esser plugin for macOS and Windows.
De-essers are usually associated with vocals, but they’re useful on a lot more than that.
I like using de-essers in my sound design workflow too, especially at the mastering stage, where they’re pretty handy for dynamically removing harsh frequencies without reaching for an EQ.
A de-esser is dynamic and lets you be more precise when pinpointing a specific nasty frequency. Of course, it needs to be a good de-esser for this to work, and Garuc Audio just offered a very decent one for free.
Deess-ertic Lite is designed to work on vocal recordings, instruments, and full mixes.
The plugin uses 64-bit floating-point processing and centers around a Process knob that controls the threshold and behavior of the reduction.
The Frequency selector sets the cutoff for the detector, and the Input and Output knobs give you gain control on both ends. There’s also a Dry/Wet mix for parallel processing.
The monitoring features are where it gets handy, and these are extra useful if you’re processing stuff that isn’t vocals.
Listen mode lets you hear what’s entering the detector, so you know exactly what you’re targeting.
Delta mode lets you hear only what the Process knob is removing from the signal.
There’s also Auto RMS and Auto Peak gain compensation, which keep your levels consistent so you can make better decisions about how much reduction you’re actually applying.
These are all nice to have, because the worst thing you can do with a de-esser is overdo it and end up with that lispy quality in your signal.
I tested this briefly, and it’s a very decent de-esser.
We already have some very good free de-essers out there (T-De-Esser 2 leads the pack), but I think it never hurts to get another one to try.
This one also includes A/B comparison, a preset system, a resizable interface with six UI themes, and two saturation modes tucked away in the menu.
Deess-ertic Lite is available in AAX, AU, and VST3 formats for macOS 12 through 15 (Intel and Apple Silicon) and Windows 10 or higher.
Download: Deess-ertic Lite by GARUC Audio (FREE)
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Last Updated on March 11, 2026 by Tomislav Zlatic.
