In part 2 of our recent dialogue restoration listening test, we compared reverb reduction tools. The contenders were:

• Hush Pro

• Waves Clarity Vx DeReverb Pro

• Acon Digital Deverberate 3

• iZotope RX DeReverb

• Accentize dxRevive Pro

• Supertone CLEAR

Several examples of reverberant dialogue recordings were included, along with versions processed with each plug-in. The options were randomised and listeners were invited to vote on which they felt was the most effective in each case. Here are the results!

Test 1 - Basement

The contenders in this case were:

A - Supertone CLEAR

B - Waves Clarity Vx DeReverb Pro

C - Acon Digital DeVerberate 3

D - Hush Pro

E - Accentize dxRevive Pro

F - iZotope DeReverb

In this test, Hush Pro was the winner, with 34.07% of the votes, with Supertone CLEAR following not too far behind with 29.14%.

Test 2 - Bathroom

The identity of the plugins in this test were as follows:

A - Supertone CLEAR

B - Acon Digital DeVerberate 3

C - Waves Clarity Vx DeReverb Pro

D - Accentize dxRevive Pro

E - Hush Pro

F - iZotope DeReverb

Hush Pro came out top in this test with 53.49% of the votes with second place going to dxRevive Pro with 30.52%.

Test 3 - Lab

The identity of the plugins in this test were as follows:

A - Waves Clarity Vx DeReverb Pro

B - Accentize dxRevive Pro

C - Hush Pro

D - Acon Digital DeVerberate 3

E - iZotope DeReverb

F - Supertone CLEAR

This was a close contest, with dxRevive Pro just taking the lead with 40% of the votes followed closely by Hush Pro with 37.91%.

Test 4 - Warehouse

The identity of the plugins in this test were as follows:

A - Acon Digital DeVerberate 3

B - Hush Pro

C - Supertone CLEAR

D - Waves Clarity Vx DeReverb Pro

E - iZotope DeReverb

F - Accentize dxRevive Pro

Hush Pro was once again the winner in this category, accounting for 55.05% of the votes. Second place was taken by dxRevive Pro, taking 33.64% of the votes.

Results Summary

Looking purely at the plugin which received the highest number of votes in each test, the winners in each test are:

Test 1 - Hush Pro

Test 2 - Hush Pro

Test 3 - dxRevive Pro

Test 4 - Hush Pro

Conclusion

We have quite a clear overall winner in this test. Hush Pro received the highest number of votes in 3 out of 4 tests and came a close second in the other test. dxRevive Pro also did very well. One thing to remember about tests such as this is that they only include a small number of audio examples, and in order to push the plugin to their limits, and to make their shortcomings more audible, we’ve used extreme examples where we have attempted to reduce the reverb as much as possible. In actual use of course, you’re more likely to only require a moderate amount of reverb reduction. Nevertheless, Hush Pro fared extremely well against all of its rivals and so it’s certainly a product worth checking out if you need to reduce the audible reflections in dialogue recordings. In researching products to purchase for noise and reverb reduction, you should always try the demos of a variety of plugins yourself and decide which one suits your own workflow the best.