Review and Tutorial: Fabfilter PRO Q 2

Hello and welcome to this week's article!
Today we're going to talk about my to-go Eq Vst plugin, the Fabfilter Pro Q 2, which is basically nowadays the only Equalizer I use, both in the Mixing and in the Mastering phase.

Why do I think this Eq is better than the others?
Apart from the fact that it sounds good and it doesn't colour my source sounds too much (but this is a characteristic that many good quality Vsts have, for example some of the Waves ones), I love this Eq and I use it on every project because of its unique tools, that makes my job so much easier:

- Built in Spectrum Analizer: it lets you see the original curve and the Post Eq one, even at the same time, to see if there are peaks or resonances to tame.
I don't know of any other Equalizer that gives that much flexibility, so far I had to use at least a Spectrum analizer on each chain, and it has been a pleasure to take 'em out.

- The fact that if you're working on a stereo track (i.e. Mastering), you can have each band to work on the whole track or just on the left or right channel.

- It has an Eq Matching function, much like the Voxengo Curve Eq: you can make it analyze another track via the Sidechain Input, and it will apply the same curve to yours.

- Solo mode: this function allows you to isolate just one "slice" of the spectrum and hear it.
I find this function, which is quite rare, to be the most useful feature in the whole plugin, and it works by clicking and holding down the headophone icon that appears whenever you highlight a single band. You can move left and right to move the "slice" of the curve you're listening to, and use the mouse wheel to make the audible part more wide or more narrow.
This is the best and most precise way to point out a single area of the sound to intervene.

All in all, this plugin makes my tracks sound better and my signal chain shorter, which is very important since the more processors you need to stack on a track to make it sound good, the more problems you will have, and ultimately the more "unnatural" the final result will sound (plus the project will be heavier on the cpu).


Become fan of this blog on Facebook! Share it and contact us to collaborate!!