EQ by FabFilter. 5 (38) Wishlist. Your price $89.00. An equalizer is probably the tool you use most while mixing and mastering, so you need the best of the best! With FabFilter Pro-Q 3, you get the highest possible sound quality and a gorgeous, innovative interface with unrivalled ease of use. Any references to any brands on this. FaBFilter Pro Q is probably the device you use the most when mixing and working, so you need a top-notch add-on. With FabFilter Pro-Q 3, you get the best possible sound quality, a broad overview of features, and a clean, creative interface for easy use. It is a VST engine sound module with unusual sound mixing techniques.
The In-Depth Review
Equalizers are essential utilities for any recording musician. They don’t make your sound but they shape your sound. Given that EQs in Logic Pro X, FL Studio, Ableton Live and other DAWs are powerful and free, is it really worth spending extra for a paid equalizer plug in?
Starting Flat Out
Let’s start at the beginning and talk about the installation. This is really frustrating in many plugins. But FabFilter makes this straightforward and user-friendly. You simply enter the licence key (which you receive via email after your purchase), enter the text string in the plugin window, and restart it. That’s it. No ilok dongle or account needed. No internet is required either, so you can use FabFilter Pro Q 3 offline as well. A good start.
When you first open the plugin, you look at a clean, dark interface FabFilter is known for across its plugin range, dominated by the frequency spectrum. No EQ parameters are shown. Instead, you simply see a flat EQ curve, fashioned in “FabFilter Pro Q 3 Yellow”, and the grey realtime analyzer showing the incoming signal. By default, the frequency spectrum extends from 10 Hz right up to 30 kHz, with an amplitude of +/- 12 dB. So whether you want to manipulate subsonic whale recordings or ultrasonic bat noises, FabFilter Pro Q 3 is probably going to work for you.
With such a clean interface, how do you actually use the EQ? One easy way is click on the EQ curve and to drag the band up to boost the gain, or down to reduce it. Each new band is represented by a coloured dot, with FabFilter assigning a new colour for each band automatically. The quickest way I found is double-clicking above or below the 0 dB line to create a new band instantly. Its frequency and gain are set relative to where you just double-clicked. Now I am used to Apple Logic Pro X EQ which also allows dragging each band. But the double click functionality in FabFilter Pro Q 3 is a welcome addition.
When creating new bands the plugin is intelligent enough to choose a low shelf EQ when creating a band below 30 Hz, a high shelf above 10kHz, and a bell EQ in between (using a default setting of 12 dB/ octave, and 0.3 Q for the shelf or 1.0 Q for bell EQ bands). I would have preferred different defaults, as I chose high and low cut filters far more often than shelf EQs, or to have an option for changing the default. But on the whole, creating bands is a breeze.
Changing each band's settings is as quick and intuitive as creating them in the first place. This is due to FabFilter allowing you to change basic settings cleverly with the mouse. Hovering over a band shows a mini display with frequency, gain and Q factor. Using a combination of the mouse wheel and keyboard modifiers, changing the gain, Q factor, of frequency is done in seconds. You can even perform more complicated functions such as making dynamic cuts or boost using the ALT key with the mouse wheel, or mute a band ALT clicking on a band.
Diving a Bit Deeper
For more precise editing, the lower half reveals a control panel that includes the expected options of filter shape, slope, frequency, and gain.
Filter shapes in FabFilter Pro Q 3 include:
- Bell
- Low/ High Shelf
- Low/ High Cut
- Notch
- Band Pass
- Tilt Shelf
- Flat Tilt
The filter slope (how drastic the filter acts from the centre frequency) can be changed between 6 dB/octave and 96 dB/octave, for every filter. Even a Brick wall slope is included, offering a near infinite slope.Gain extends from -30 dB to +30 dB, and the Q factor stretches from extremely wide 0.025 (about 20kHz) to an ultra-narrow 40 (about 100 Hz wide).
Sometimes I found it tricky to identify unwanted resonances in the spectrum, despite like many using a narrowly boosted bell-curved band to find those. To help in those situations, FabFilter Pro Q 3 has a function that I have not seen in any other EQ plugin, called Spectrum Grab. When selected, it averages the frequency spectrum over a few seconds and labels precise peaks. All you then have to do is grab a highlighted peak and reduce it with a filter. This works brilliantly in practice, making the tedious job of finding and reducing those nasty resonances a cinch.
“FabFilter is just a pleasure to use. With every function in the ‘right’ place, little slows you down.”
FabFilter Pro Q 3 also includes a dynamic EQ function, allowing you to not just statically manipulate the audio spectrum, but also adjust it depending on the input signal. The plugin offers both auto threshold and manual threshold settings, and side-chain option allows you to dynamically control the gain using an external signal. It works really well in practice, and the intuitive interface helps you to dial in subtle changes. The Dynamic EQ starts to set FabFilter's EQ apart from others, in particular free EQs which come with DAWs such as Apple Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, FL Studio, Steinberg Cubase and Avid Protools.
Another really handy feature is the Frequency Collision function. This is based on inter-plugin communication, meaning that several FabFilterPro Q 3 instances are able to communicate with each other. Opening the Analyzer menu at the bottom gives you a list of all instances with realtime spectrums. Selecting the Frequency Collision button highlights any build-up of frequencies across tracks.
Using this feature, I was able to reduce clashing bass frequencies clashing between 40 and 180 Hz in bass and kick tracks, using a Dynamic EQ and side chain. The bass track was only reduced when the kick exceeded the threshold I selected, cleaning up the song considerably. This works very well, and the frequency spectrum and amount of compression are easily dialled in. If FabFilter added Attack and Release to the Dynamic EQ in the future, this would allow users to be even more precise.
Fabfilter Pro Q 3 Tutorials
In Comfortable Waters
Now whilst the functionality may seem daunting, FabFilterPro Q 3 rarely becomes cluttered or overwhelming due to its stripped-back user interface, which only ever shows what is needed. I appreciated the built-inHelp function. Once selected, the plugin shows a comprehensive explanation of the function you hover. The explanations are easy to understand and comprehensive enough, whether you are a beginner or a more advanced user. In practice, that means you can confidently just dive into using the plugin, without looking once at the manual. FabFilter is just a pleasure to use. With every function in the ‘right’ place, little slows you down.
Fabfilter Pro-q 3 Eq And Filter Plug-in
I did encounter some quirks however. Changing the gain accurately with the mouse using the big display was rather difficult. I expected to simply click and hold the knob, and then to change its value with a vertical up/ down movement of the mouse. However, unlike other plugins I am used to with rotary encoders, it turns out you have to follow the outside circle of the knob with your mouse instead, making accurate changes tricky. Oddly, changing the auto gain in the dynamic EQ works as expected with up/ down mouse movements.
To finish this in-depth review, let's look at some nifty options that FabFilter Pro Q 3 offers to customize its functionality. Over 50 Presets are built into the plugin. Presets for various genres like EDM and instruments such as Guitar, Drums, Mix and Vocals serve as a great starting point. Furthermore, simple settings are included, such as a ready-made flat EQ with 7 bell filters and high and low cut, and the obligatory default setting. You can also experiment with changes using the A/B setting, or using the undo function.
Fabfilter Pro Q 3 Presets
For automating filter setting, a MIDI Learn function is included, and FabFilter Pro Q 3 offers three overall settings of zero latency, natural phase and linear phase. You can choose an EQ match function to automatically create an EQ curve to shift your audio to another reference imported, and a handy AutoGain function allows you to just focus on frequency changes, whilst the plugin compensates for gain changes. Finally, comprehensive Stereo options include per-band Mid/ Side/ Stereo/ Left/ Right placement. There is not much functionality that this equalizer leaves to be desired, apart from perhaps Attack and Release settings for the dynamic EQ.