Cut, boost, spit ‘n’ shine… Fab Filter’s mixing bundle offer’s it all…
Three products are on test here the Pro-L, the Pro-C and the Pro-Q (Limiter, Compressor and EQ respectively – do you see what they’ve done there!).
Pro-L
The Pro-L is Fabfilters professional brickwall limiter that claims to be loud and transparent, and after putting it through the ringer, it works just as advertised. It not only makes your mix louder, but it doesn’t ruin the transients like a lot of other limiters seem to do. It features low CPU usage, four different limiting algorithms, realtime level display, and advanced dithering for those that need it. There isn’t much more that needs to be said for such a functional device, as long as it delivers the goods.
Pro-C
Their compressor plugin is the Pro-C that boasts ultra flexibility, incredible sound, side chain, MIDI learn, and zero latency compression. At first look, the Pro-Q appears to be one of the easiest compressors to read, and after working with it for only five minutes its ease of use, and amazing sound should make it one of the go to compressors for most producers. The only gripe is that Fabfilter should have made this 10 years ago when we were first trying to understand compression, because the layout and waveform reading makes it absolutely amazing to learn on. By twisting the knobs and watching the center readout, you see what each knob is doing to your volume immediately, this makes this the absolute best compressor for a budding producer, hands down.
Pro-Q
Last up, we have the Pro-Q which is the equalizer plugin from Fabfilter. Being that more and more people are using Ableton Live, one of the main gripes is that Live doesn’t come with a all-in-one solution for spectrum analysis combined with a parametric EQ, similar to the EQ bundled with Logic Pro. Not only can you EQ and see the spectrum change, but you also have the option of monitoring the pre or post EQ signal, which is an added bonus. You can switch from stereo to mid side EQ with the push of a button and it comes with the standard bell, hi and low cut, and shelf curves. All this is done in the prettiest EQ interface we have ever seen in a plugin.
Bottom line is that Fabfilter has one of the absolute best solutions for mixing for users. The interface for all three is clean, easy to use, and sound great. This bundle is an absolute must buy by any producer of any level.
Rating - 5 stars
Original source - Bang the DJ.
