The Steinberg D-Esser plug-in came with my version of Steingberg Cubase SX, and came installed when I installed Cubase. For this reason there was no real additional installation needed after I installed the sequencer. The interface of the Steinberg D-Esser plug-in couldn't be any simpler than it is, as it only has a few parameters. There is a knob for s-reduction, a button for auto threshold, and buttons to choose between male or female vocals. There is also a handy meter and a slew of helpful presets to get you started. I've never seen the manual for the Steinberg D-Esser, and since it comes with Cubase I believe there probably isn't any. This is really a moot point because it is extremely easy to use and there is no need for any type of manual.

SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I am currently running the Steinberg D-Esser on a Mac Book Pro that has a 2.2 Ghz Intel Core 2 Duo processor and 4 GB of RAM. I have also used this on a Hewlett Packard laptop that has a 3.0 Ghz processor and 2 GB of RAM. No matter which set up I have used this with, as it has worked great on both set ups. I don't use this plug-in all that often, so I usually only use one or two at a time, but it always works flawlessly when I do use it.

OVERALL OPINION

I've been using the Steinberg D-Esser for about five years and I've found it to be good sounding and easy to use option for D-Essing vocals. While I've heard some better sounding D-essers, considering that this comes with Cubase for free, it does its job well. The presets are great and it is handy to be able to store your own easily. While I don't believe you can use this plug-in outside of Cubase, for those of us that have Cubase this is a tool that needs to be utilized!