FabFilter Pro-Q 3

[dandezebra]

For good reason as well.

[bmanic]

A quick tip, one that I find I use all the time with Pro-Q3:

If you hold ALT/Option key and drag the main GAIN knob of an EQ node, then you will effectively "freeze" the dynamic part in-place. It will then operate in the opposite direction of your cutting/boosting. Especially when cutting frequencies I've found this to be a really natural way of removing mud or excessive sustained brightness on sources as it keeps the transients.

Another unique feature is that you can actually do dynamic equalization when in Linear Phase mode (low, medium and high resolutions only)! This can come in handy when you have your phase exactly the way you want it, for instance all single kick/snare/tom tracks lined up to the overheads and room tracks.. and then still want to EQ some more. This is where linear phase shines and now you can have it dynamically too. I use this all the time on overheads especially to dynamically remove the muddy stuff while keeping the transients going. Same for drum rooms.

[Vortifex]

..

[Niowiad]

Having seen the official video, I'm actually starting to change my mind about upgrading (at 75€)

For dynamic eq NovaGE still looks like the better ad most surgical tool, featuring dedicated settings for attack/release/ratio, lookahead and smart operations.
It's understandable for ProQ3 not to invade ProMB's space too much, but what started as the strongest new feature for v3 doesn't seem so appealing to me right now.
Surround support actually sounds more interesting to me as a new feature, if only I was dealing with surround stuff
Linear phase dynamic eq is also interesting, to be fair.

Another thing I didnt know since this is the first FF upgrde i'm dealing with, is that ProQ3 does not substitute ProQ2, but it's a separate plugin. ProQ2 will have to remain installed separately and I would guess it will have to keep working fine for project recall anyway.

I might just keep v2 until it stops working for some reason :/
Or eventually upgrade much much later than I already thought.
For parametric static eq, v2 it's likely going to remain my favorite option.

Last thing to be said, respect to FF, the fact they still manage to keep with those prices and having rare sales shows how strong and confident they are despite today's fierce competition.Top grade company.

[bmanic]

You should be fine with Pro-Q2. FabFilter doesn't abandon older plugins unless formats completely change. If you run into bugs in Pro-Q2 I'm sure FabFilter would fix them (they've done so in the past with Pro-Q1 for instance).

Having said that, have you guys actually tried the dynamic EQ action? It seems to be program dependent and do most of what one would normally do with a dynamic EQ. Also if you click the 'Auto' button you'll get a manual threshold and the internal operatings of the compression change to reflect this. You can get more brutal with peak detection in this mode, if that's what is required. For instance, you can set the threshold to just barely touch the peaks and then set the actual dynamic range all the way to the bottom.

I do wish we got attack and release parameters though. It was asked for at the beta forum, pretty much from the start. I just suspect they may consider a future true dynamic EQ at some point with a lot more settings (knee, program dependency, attack, release, sidechain etc).

[MogwaiBoy]

It's about $65US for me to upgrade, which isn't instant no-brainer territory, especially this side of Black Friday weekend - but my Birthday and Christmas are incoming....

Total first world dilemas...

[masterhiggins]

Just a few years ago sub 100$ would have been considered an ok upgrade price for a premium plugin (which is what Pro-Q always has marketed itself as).

Well, Zebra is a premium plugin. You don't see u-he change $89 to upgrade to V3.

Still I suspect they'll have no problems selling this. It is after all one of the most used plugins in the audio industry.

Undoubtedly. It's certainly the most hyped one. Hard to say without looking at actual sales numbers, though.

[hhuang9611]

So... combined with my EDU discount, I can get the upgrade for like $53.7
I don't see an urge to buy it, but it is really nice and handy to have new features and I still have a small amount of money to spend
Will this be the best price that I can get? If there will be additional discount, I think I can wait.

P.S. I bought the total bundle about 4 months ago... damn, should have waited

[perpetual3]

You should be fine with Pro-Q2. FabFilter doesn't abandon older plugins unless formats completely change. If you run into bugs in Pro-Q2 I'm sure FabFilter would fix them (they've done so in the past with Pro-Q1 for instance).

Having said that, have you guys actually tried the dynamic EQ action? It seems to be program dependent and do most of what one would normally do with a dynamic EQ. Also if you click the 'Auto' button you'll get a manual threshold and the internal operatings of the compression change to reflect this. You can get more brutal with peak detection in this mode, if that's what is required. For instance, you can set the threshold to just barely touch the peaks and then set the actual dynamic range all the way to the bottom.

I do wish we got attack and release parameters though. It was asked for at the beta forum, pretty much from the start. I just suspect they may consider a future true dynamic EQ at some point with a lot more settings (knee, program dependency, attack, release, sidechain etc).

Hey bManiac - have you used TDR Nova GE and if so, how does the dynamic mode compare between the two?

[Lesha]

Hey bManiac

[perpetual3]

Hey bManiac

Don’t get what’s so funny.

[mcbpete]

One thing I didn't understand is if it's just "spectrum visualization" (as it says in the product page) from other instances, or you can also jump to equalize instances in other tracks from the same window, like IIEQPro does with its "multitrack control".

Damnit, unfortunately it's the former... Looks like you can overlay the spectrum of the various Pro-Q instances onto the the active window to see collisions etc. but alas not directly control them. Booooo

[plexuss]

The ability and process for putting a band on a specific channel is incredible. As is the multi-track Analyzer with collision visualization is also incredible. These two features make Q3 a formidable competitor to iZotope Neutron. The way they are integrated into the UX is astoundingly effective. So effective I wonder if people are not quite realizing the value of what they have done here. Let alone the dynamic features and the even-more-slick UI...

[bmanic]

Hey bManiac - have you used TDR Nova GE and if so, how does the dynamic mode compare between the two?

TDR Nova GE is extremely flexible and an absolutely amazing plugin! That plugin, Toneboosters FLX and Melda Dynamic EQ are the ones I use when I need absolute control over the dynamic aspect of what I'm trying to do. 95% of the time though it is very common tasks that need addressing and Pro-Q3 works flawlessly in these. For instance dynamically having controll over the sub bass region of a kick or bass. Or controlling how pokey a snare or tom fundamental is.. or controlling harshness dynamically around 2 to 4kHz.

I also use Pro-Q3 for separating transients over the sustain part of a specific frequency region.. meaning I cut first then apply dynamics upwards to let the transients be unaffected, which can be done with a single key modifier (ALT/Option on Mac). It takes just seconds to set this up.

The same trait, it's ease of use and speed, that has always made Pro-Q the best general purpose EQ around (in my opinion) still applies to the dynamic portion of the plugin as well. I can literally get stuff done within a couple of seconds with Pro-Q3 whereas it'd take a lot more effort and time to launch a 2nd plugin only to then start tweaking with thresholds, ratio, attack and release. It's extremely quick to operate and does most of the common tasks immediately without any real effort. In my opinion this is about the most valuable commodity a tool can provide.

[bmanic]

Hey bManiac

Don’t get what’s so funny.

A slight difference between a manic personality and a maniac? Both descriptors do suit my personality though.