Today we are gonna take a look at the new Pro-Q2 EQ, the successor of the populair Pro-Q by masterminds FabFilter. The original Pro-Q was already a big hit with producers and studios all over the world but with Pro-Q2 the Fabfilter team knocked it out of the park. New to this update are : Natural Phase mode,Full screen Mode, Spectrum Grab,EQ Matching,Notch filter, Bandpass Filter, Tilt Shelf,Q factor till 96db/oct, Improved linear phase mode,Autogain,Gain Scale, Gain q interaction, Piano display,Phase invert option,Improved spectrum analyzer and optional output metering.
Natural Phase Mode:
This new mode matches the magnitude response and analog phase response that you get when using analog eq's. Also when you dial in big boosts with the highest q settings you normally would get a pre-ringing effect that's not desirable. Not so with Natural Phase mode.This new mode is a big improvement in my book.
Spectrum Grab:
Another stroke of genius is the spectrum Grab function, that freezes the spectrum of a signal and lets you specifically zone in on rogue freq spots and grab them and cut or boost them. This saves a lot of time finding problem spots and results in a much more evenly balanced signal.
New filters and eq slopes:
The choices of filters and eq slopes also have drastically been improved. You now have a notch filter (cut out a small section of the freq spectrum), Bandpass (isolate part of the freq spectrum), Tilt Shelf (tilt the spectrum around a specific freq), and last but not least the slopes going all the way up to 96db/oct. And this not only for the Low and High cut filters but to all filter shapes, great for surgical precision and resulting in ultra narrow bell shapes and super steep shelving filters. Shapes are possible now that definately weren't available on the first Pro-Q.
Final thoughts:
Pro-Q2 is a big improvement over what was already a very good eq. The new functionality is very welcome and sometimes close to brilliant for instance the Spectrum Grab function. Fabfilter products are always easy to use and their GUI's are top notch. One little request from me would be that they also provided an input option to make controlling what comes into Pro-Q2 easier.
And maybe even give us some more slopes for the Low and high cut filters, like , Chebyshev, Legendre and an allpass. But that's just nitpicking. When looking for a digital eq that's up for the task you can't go wrong with this one.
Original Source: Gearjunkies.com
