Probably more useful more of the time, though, is the new ‘tilt shelf’, which is like having high and low shelving bands centred on the same point, with one cutting while the other boosts. The band-pass option is like having high- and low-pass filters centred on the same cutoff point, and is useful for isolating a small area of the frequency spectrum, for instance if you want to create a ‘telephone’ vocal effect. Pro-Q already offered the usual shelves and filters alongside its parametric and notch options, but Pro-Q 2 adds a couple of interesting ‘compound’ shapes. Another novelty is a ‘Natural Phase’ mode which is said to match the phase response of analogue EQ designs very accurately in most practical situations I found it hard to tell the difference, but it is said to help preserve audio quality especially when using very high Q settings. The range of Q values available in Pro-Q 2 also goes further into the realms of vertiginous steepness than the original. This enables ‘Gain/Q interaction’, a common property of some analogue EQ designs whereby the bandwidth narrows as more boost or attenuation is applied. Some of these are quite subtle, like the small gear wheel that now appears between the Gain and Q dials when you create a parametric EQ band. If I’m honest, in fact, it hadn’t really occurred to me that there might be ways in which it could be made even better! Fabfilter themselves, though, have not been so complacent, and version 2 of Pro-Q offers a positive avalanche of new features. It quickly became my first-choice EQ plug-in, and I’ve spent much of the last four years happily popping Pro-Qs into insert slots. Simple, informative, flexible and unhampered by trying to look like a piece of hardware from 1968, Pro-Q made it easy to do whatever needed doing, whether that was gentle tonal correction, notching out an annoying resonance, clearing up a muddy low end or any of the other innumerable tasks for which one might reach for an equaliser. When the original version of Fabfilter’s Pro-Q was released in 2011, it had probably the best user interface of any EQ plug-in I’ve seen. Pro-Q 2 offers everything that a demanding engineer could wish for: top quality linear phase operation in addition to the zero latency and unique Natural Phase modes, Mid/Side processing, variable stereo placement of EQ bands, an intelligent solo feature, optional Auto Gain and a built-in, fully customizable spectrum analyzer.Fabfilter’s Pro-Q already did everything an EQ should do - so what can they have added in version 2?
Try it yourself! Mixing and mastering features
Unique features like Spectrum Grab, Full Screen mode and EQ Match will speed up your workflow even more. Via the large interactive EQ display, you can create bands where you need them and select and edit multiple bands at once. Effortlessly sculpt your soundįabFilter Pro-Q 2 is designed to help you achieve your sound in the quickest way possible. Unrivalled sound and workflowĪn equalizer is probably the tool you use most while mixing and mastering, so you need the best of the best! With FabFilter Pro-Q 2, you get the highest possible sound quality and a gorgeous, innovative interface with unrivaled ease of use. Even more work has been done under the hood: Pro-Q 2 features a whole new processing engine, twice as CPU efficient, with improved analog matching and the brand new, unique Natural Phase mode. Digital Adapters & Miscellaneous CablesĪt first glance, FabFilter Pro-Q 2 looks quite similar to its predecessor, but looks are deceiving! Of course, all the goodness and intelligence of Pro-Q's interactive interface is still there, but a lot of exciting new functionality has been added to improve your sound and workflow.