CEDAR Studio

Name: CEDAR Studio
Author: CEDAR

by CEDAR · Restoration · Pro restoration suite

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CEDAR's suite of restoration plugins, drawn from the company's broadcast and post-production hardware. It includes DNS One dialogue noise suppression, the Retouch spectral editor and processes for clicks, crackle, clipping, buzz, hiss and thumps.

It is used in film and TV post-production, broadcast and archive restoration, where fast real-time results on dialogue matter most.

Best for: Vocals, Acoustic Instruments, Mastering. Genres: all genres.

Keywords: repair, dialogue, broadcast, film & game audio, post-production, spectral, AI assistant, airy, corrective, enhancement, low latency, mastering, mixing, vocals.

What it does

CEDAR Studio is CEDAR's set of restoration plugins, based on the processes in its CEDAR Cambridge system used in post-production and broadcast. It covers eleven processes.

DNS One: Academy Award-winning dialogue noise suppression with a Learn function, very low latency, and reduction of room reverb, traffic, air-con, wind and tape hiss.
Retouch: CEDAR's spectral editor for removing individual unwanted sounds.
Restoration: Declick, Manual Declick, Decrackle, Declip, Debuzz, Auto Dehiss and Dethump for long low-frequency thumps.
Also: Forensic Enhance and the Adaptive Limiter.

CEDAR's plugin store now sells the processes one by one and in Restore and Dialogue bundles.

Source: CEDAR product page

When to use it

CEDAR Studio comes from the long-standing high-end name in restoration. Its strength is DNS One: fast, real-time dialogue noise suppression with very few controls, closer to the Waves NS1/WNS approach than to AI tools like Clarity Vx, but with a reputation for staying clean when pushed. RX 12 offers more modules for far less money; CEDAR Studio is for rooms where speed and CEDAR's sound are the priority.

Best for: real-time dialogue clean-up in film, TV and broadcast, and archive restoration.
Genres: post-production and archive work; the restoration processes suit jazz, classical and acoustic reissues.
Look elsewhere if: you want one affordable package for music repair. RX 12 or Acon Digital's Restoration Suite cover the same jobs for a fraction of the price.

What producers say

Reviewers praise the speed and quality but have always flagged the price.

Sound On Sound (2013) found it quick and easy, giving real-time results that rivals only matched offline, but very expensive.
postPerspective (Studio 7) rated DNS One above its competitors and worth the money for dialogue, but found the other processes comparable to cheaper tools like RX.
Production Expert (2024) listed CEDAR Studio 9 among the best restoration tools, calling CEDAR 'one of the originals'.

Where to buy

CEDAR: see store (Now sold as individual plugins (£49–£249) and bundles (Restore £349, Dialogue £499), prices + tax)

Tutorials and reviews

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All restoration & repair