Is Adobe's Enhance Speech a Good Option for Podcast Editors looking for an AI tool to clean up audio?

Hey everybody! You know, in the podcasting community, everyone seems to be talking about Adobe Enhanced Speech. It's touted as the solution to all our audio woes, but I've got to say, I'm feeling a bit lost in the hype. So, I decided to dig in, and here's what I found.

The Promise

Adobe Enhanced Speech is recommended to tackle every audio problem you can think of, from noise reduction to de-essing.

The Reality

After getting hands-on with Adobe Enhanced Speech, I can't say I'm fully on board. There are some genuine issues that seem to be glossed over.

1. High-End Roll-Off: It's just too much, robbing the audio of its natural feel.
2. Intensity and Mix Control: The lack of these controls can make the tool very unusable.
3. Unnatural Sound: The voice cloning feels robotic, and sometimes, the cloned voices just don't sound like the actual person speaking.
4. Aggressive EQ and De-essing: Sometimes, these are so intense that they can make people sound like they have a lisp.
5. Unpredictable Noise Reduction: Though it does a great job in some instances, other times it leaves annoying noises in the audio.
6. Unintended Word Replacement: One of the most baffling things is how it sometimes turns non-word noise into actual words, like turning a breath into "Allen."

Some Actual Testing

I wanted to be fair, so I put Adobe Enhanced Speech to the test, comparing it to other tools like RX. I found that Adobe did a decent job in some examples, but it often ended up making the audio sound unnatural, taking the fullness out of voices, or adding strange quirks like lisps.

In some cases, it might have even been acceptable to use Adobe Enhanced, but the extreme EQ and overly processed sound just don't cut it for me.

The Verdict

Is it just me, or is Adobe Enhanced Speech being overhyped? Could it be that it's recommended just because it's free? Honestly, I can't put my finger on why everyone's raving about it.