Online Vocal Cleaner & Noise Reduction
Two fixes that voice recordings need most often, on one page: a noise gate for the pauses and a de-esser for harsh S sounds. Your file is processed in your browser and never leaves your device.
What Is a Noise Gate?
A noise gate is an automatic volume control. While you speak, the gate is open and your voice passes through unchanged. When the level falls below the threshold you set, the gate closes and mutes the sound, so room tone, fan noise and hiss disappear from the pauses. A gate cannot remove noise that sounds while you are speaking; the guide How to Remove Background Noise from Audio explains what else helps.
What Is a De-Esser?
A de-esser turns down the high frequencies only at the moments when they get too loud. Sharp S, SH and T sounds (sibilance) sit mostly between 4 and 10 kHz. When the level in that range rises above the threshold, the de-esser lowers just that range for a moment and leaves the rest of the voice untouched.
Good Starting Settings
Press Play and adjust the sliders while you listen:
- Gate Threshold: raise it until the pauses are silent, then play a full sentence. If word endings disappear, lower it by a few decibels. Most voice recordings end up between -50 and -35 dB.
- Gate Release: 150 to 250 ms lets word endings and breaths fade out naturally. Shorter times sound choppy.
- De-Esser Frequency: start at 5,000 Hz. Use a lower value if the harshness sounds more like SH, and a higher one if it is a thin, whistling S.
- De-Esser Threshold: lower it until the Reduction display shows about 3 to 6 dB on S sounds. More than that can make the voice sound as if it has a lisp.
To switch one of the two off, move the Gate Threshold slider all the way to the left or the De-Esser Threshold slider all the way to the right.
Who Is It For?
Podcasters, streamers, voice-over artists and singers who want to tidy up a recording quickly. If you also need EQ, compression and loudness control, the Sound Optimizer combines them on one page.