Here’s the the thing about sibilance: it’s human. It’s a natural sound of the human voice for certain words. You can’t even say “sibilance” without a bit of sibilance. In the very old days they were trying to design mics that WOULD pick up vocal sibilance, because not having it sounds crazy weird. It’s actually the unnatural version of sibilance that bugs all of us. But when we ask “is it on the recording?” and determine that it’s on the CD, it’s on the streaming file, etc., sometimes we falsely assure ourselves. Patricia Barber’s Nightclub LP was well done, and so was the DSD file I own. When my cartridge isn’t right (usually VTA), I can hear unnatural, spitty sibilance on certain tracks. Is it on the DSD version? Yes, but not to an unnatural degree. Not spitting at me. So, it’s not an “is it there?” question, it’s a “is the sibilance correct or not?” question. On one hand, this will help avoid falsely concluding “it’s just on the recording.” On the other hand, it also will help avoid concluding “wait, now I hear it on everything.” My two cents: listen for unnatural sibilance, and fix it. But if you start listening for ANY sibilance, you’ll find it everywhere. And you will gradually feel yourself losing your mind. Trust me. This will be obvious to many A-goners, but I’m sure there are a few like me who could be twisting themselves in knots hearing sibilance everywhere, and I suggest you give yourself a break and instead listen for INCORRECT, overly noticeable, non-human sibilance.
Next maddening topic: does it sound like a real cymbal tap, or just a pulse of white noise?
Next maddening topic: does it sound like a real cymbal tap, or just a pulse of white noise?