The traditional wisdom dictates avoiding the use of a condenser microphone in noisy and/or reverberant environments. Instead, the traditional wisdom dictates we should only use dynamic microphones in that type of uncontrolled environment. New tools like the just launched Hush for macOS (initial price: under U$50 one-time purchase from the app store) are challenging the traditional wisdom. After hearing some impressive results from its creator (Ian Sampson of British Columbia, Canada), I decided to purchase it myself to test it. I appreciate the fact that it works locally (not in a cloud) for both speed and privacy. Ahead, I’ll cover its simple interface and share my own audio samples, as well as my comments and a suggestion for the programmer.
Although Hush can work with Intel Macs, it is much faster with Apple M1 and Apple M2 based machines. According to the developer, Hush is also one of the first professional audio tools to run on the Neural Engine, a subprocessor for machine learning on Apple Silicon Macs. The Neural Engine allows Hush to render audio quickly and efficiently, without heating up the computer or spinning up the fans.The user interface is ultra simple:
There is a single slider to tell Hush what percentage of processing you want. Next, you set the destination folder. After that, you can tell Hush what prefix and/or suffix to add to the processed exported file. I chose to use the suffix -Hushed as you may have noticed in the screenshot above.
The last setting on the left side I love, Format: The option called Same as original file is wonderful most of the time. In other words, if the original file is mono, most often I would like it to remain as mono. If the original file is 24-bit, most of the time, I would like to stay as the original. If the original file is 48-kHz, most of the time, I would like it to stay as the original. Only on rare occasions, I would want the output file to be in another format.
The right panel is to drag the original file into Hush, where it will be processed immediately based upon the settings on the left panel. My only suggestion to the programmer would be to add the option of clicking to import, in addition to dragging.
Test recordings and comments
Below, you will hear the original sound, filled with much noise and reverb. The original recording was made with a RØDE XCM-50 at 48 kHz connected via USB to my Chromebook into the Auphonic Android app. It was an uncompressed mono WAV file. No processing was done in Auphonic. It was used solely to record the raw audio, which I then uploaded to Sync.com for later download to my Mac Mini M1.
After listening to several Hushed results from the same source file, I determined that the sweet spot (at least for this recording) is between 90% and 100%. At 90%, some of the background noise is still barely audible, with no noticeable adverse artifacts. Starting at 92%, some clicks are audible. Many of them could be edited out, but for the purposes of this review, I left them in so you can hear them.
90%
92%
95%
96%
99%
100%
Compatibility and language
Hush supports macOS 12 (“Monterey”) or macOS 13 (Ventura). An M1 or M2 Mac is recommended for optimal performance. The app does not require iLok or other third-party copy protection. The user interface is currently English-only.
Price & availability
Hush is available now on the Mac App Store for an introductory price of U$49.99 or similar price in your region and currency.
Conclusions
Hush is currently a standalone app, with a greatly simple user interface. Hush does an amazing job of reducing or eliminating reverb and noise from voice recordings. I appreciate the fact that Hush works locally (not in a cloud) for both speed and privacy. Currently, there is a free trial at Hushaudioapp.com
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FTC disclosure
Ian Sampson is not paying for this review, nor has he offered Allan Tépper any discount or free version. Some of the manufacturers listed above have contracted Tépper and/or TecnoTur LLC to carry out consulting and/or translations/localizations/transcreations. So far, none of the manufacturers listed above is/are sponsors of the TecnoTur, BeyondPodcasting, CapicúaFM or TuSaludSecreta programs, although they are welcome to do so, and some are, may be (or may have been) sponsors of ProVideo Coalition magazine. Some links to third parties listed in this article and/or on this web page may indirectly benefit TecnoTur LLC via affiliate programs. Allan Tépper’s opinions are his own. Allan Tépper is not liable for misuse or misunderstanding of information he shares.