FabFilter Pro-R 2 -> Released Thursday November 2, 2023

[Jac459]

I'm quite confused by the Import IR feature. Initially I read and thought that sounds quite revolutionary but having thought about it, how is it any different to any convolution reverb already out there?

Because it isn't a convolution reverb (as per my understanding).
What it does is read the IR and use it to auto-config the setting of the reverb to be as close as possible from the IR provided. What is supposedly "revolutionary" is the fact that you can tweak these parameters.
Seems fun (if not revolutionary).

[OscSync]

I'm quite confused by the Import IR feature. Initially I read and thought that sounds quite revolutionary but having thought about it, how is it any different to any convolution reverb already out there?

Because it isn't a convolution reverb (as per my understanding).
What it does is read the IR and use it to auto-config the setting of the reverb to be as close as possible from the IR provided. What is supposedly "revolutionary" is the fact that you can tweak these parameters.
Seems fun (if not revolutionary).

Yes, thanks for the info. I do understand all this but let's say I'm not interested in geeking out on behind the scenes stuff and just the end result, it's no different to using a convolution reverb, albeit with some additional flexibility on the parameters.

That said, most (if not all), convolution reverbs allow you to adjust decay, room size, etc etc.

It's just another way of looking at convolution reverb IMO. Don't get me wrong, I want to like it, I'm just struggling to identify the USP.

[OscSync]

...

[OscSync]

Sorry, KVR going mad with dups.

[Jac459]

I'm quite confused by the Import IR feature. Initially I read and thought that sounds quite revolutionary but having thought about it, how is it any different to any convolution reverb already out there?

Because it isn't a convolution reverb (as per my understanding).
What it does is read the IR and use it to auto-config the setting of the reverb to be as close as possible from the IR provided. What is supposedly "revolutionary" is the fact that you can tweak these parameters.
Seems fun (if not revolutionary).

Yes, thanks for the info. I do understand all this but let's say I'm not interested in geeking out on behind the scenes stuff and just the end result, it's no different to using a convolution reverb, albeit with some additional flexibility on the parameters.

That said, most (if not all), convolution reverbs allow you to adjust decay, room size, etc etc.

It's just another way of looking at convolution reverb IMO. Don't get me wrong, I want to like it, I'm just struggling to identify the USP.

I don't own the v2 so I can't tell you more...
But fabfilter selling point is more usability than specific innovative features imho. 9f course, they do have a very very solid implementation, their plugins sound good and are quite CPU friendly. But the killer point is always usability and quality of the UI...

[Caine123]

i support fabfilter much more than others, no online drm shit!

[OscSync]

I'm quite confused by the Import IR feature. Initially I read and thought that sounds quite revolutionary but having thought about it, how is it any different to any convolution reverb already out there?

Because it isn't a convolution reverb (as per my understanding).
What it does is read the IR and use it to auto-config the setting of the reverb to be as close as possible from the IR provided. What is supposedly "revolutionary" is the fact that you can tweak these parameters.
Seems fun (if not revolutionary).

Yes, thanks for the info. I do understand all this but let's say I'm not interested in geeking out on behind the scenes stuff and just the end result, it's no different to using a convolution reverb, albeit with some additional flexibility on the parameters.

That said, most (if not all), convolution reverbs allow you to adjust decay, room size, etc etc.

It's just another way of looking at convolution reverb IMO. Don't get me wrong, I want to like it, I'm just struggling to identify the USP.

I don't own the v2 so I can't tell you more...
But fabfilter selling point is more usability than specific innovative features imho. 9f course, they do have a very very solid implementation, their plugins sound good and are quite CPU friendly. But the killer point is always usability and quality of the UI...

Yes, I have and love V1. Just assessing whether there's enough there to upgrade.
Time will tell but I'm not convinced yet.

[Jac459]

I'm quite confused by the Import IR feature. Initially I read and thought that sounds quite revolutionary but having thought about it, how is it any different to any convolution reverb already out there?

Because it isn't a convolution reverb (as per my understanding).
What it does is read the IR and use it to auto-config the setting of the reverb to be as close as possible from the IR provided. What is supposedly "revolutionary" is the fact that you can tweak these parameters.
Seems fun (if not revolutionary).

Yes, thanks for the info. I do understand all this but let's say I'm not interested in geeking out on behind the scenes stuff and just the end result, it's no different to using a convolution reverb, albeit with some additional flexibility on the parameters.

That said, most (if not all), convolution reverbs allow you to adjust decay, room size, etc etc.

It's just another way of looking at convolution reverb IMO. Don't get me wrong, I want to like it, I'm just struggling to identify the USP.

I don't own the v2 so I can't tell you more...
But fabfilter selling point is more usability than specific innovative features imho. 9f course, they do have a very very solid implementation, their plugins sound good and are quite CPU friendly. But the killer point is always usability and quality of the UI...

Yes, I have and love V1. Just assessing whether there's enough there to upgrade.
Time will tell but I'm not convinced yet.

Well same situation here... And I just bought vintageverb from Valhalla so....

[OscSync]

Well same situation here... And I just bought vintageverb from Valhalla so....

Yep, same. I also have VintageVerb so that isn't a selling point for me either.

[Jac459]

Yep, same. I also have VintageVerb so that isn't a selling point for me either.

Another thing that is nice with fabfilter and forgot to mention is that they provide iPad compatible version of all their softwares. It is very cool to be able to create sounds for twin 3 on the go. But I don't think I need Pro R2 to sketch sound....

[OscSync]

Yep, same. I also have VintageVerb so that isn't a selling point for me either.

Another thing that is nice with fabfilter and forgot to mention is that they provide iPad compatible version of all their softwares. It is very cool to be able to create sounds for twin 3 on the go. But I don't think I need Pro R2 to sketch sound....

Nice addition for sure, however no benefit for me personally.

[bmanic]

Totally agree with everybody here about Valhalla VV. It's always the first commercial reverb I recommend everybody get. It covers pretty much everything you'd ever need in a reverb. The rest is pure luxury.

It's only missing thing is that it's sometimes not as easy to mix into a project as some classic reverbs like the Lexicon flagships (or clones/derivatives of them). You really need an EQ plugin after most VVV instances. Having said that, it's not a big deal.. just insert an EQ and get rid of the 150-600Hz buildup if it happens (or make tiny adjustments to pre-delay, room size and decay until it sits).

So if you want to cover absolutely _all_ bases you pretty much only need 5 reverb plugins as far as I can tell.

1) Valhalla Vintage Verb
2) One true plate emulation. For instance Valhalla Plate,UVI Plate or Wavealchemy Radiance
3) One "lexicon" like thing, for instance Liquidsonics Tai Chi or HD Cart (or Lexicons own PCM bundle but beware, it's super outdated and doesn't work natively on Apple ARM processors).
4) One non-linear weird AMS RMX16 clone (I use Wavealchemy Glow for this and it's excellent)
5) One convolution plugin (tons of free ones available)

That's it. I can't think of any others and even in this list VVV covers 90% of it all. So with 5 plugins you can cover every single scenario you could ever need. Anything more is pure luxury and GAS.

I do dearly love Pro-R and thus now Pro-R2 but it is indeed a luxury item. You need to love it's algorithms and specifically want/need that sound. Nothing can really copy the exact sound of Pro-R but the overall idea, reverb density, placement, the task it does, can be approximated just fine with VVV.. so if you don't need or desire the exact sound then you are just fine with VVV.

In my opinion Reverb is one of those things that is extremely subjective and thus there isn't much "wrong" you can do, except using some really resonant and "bad" sounding reverbs in the context of being realistic or doing an actual stereo/Z-depth placement task. That wont work and will only muddy up the mix in a horrible way that can't be fixed in mastering. So as long as you have any actually good reverb you'll be fine. It's almost impossible to purchase bad reverb plugins in 2023. We are so spoiled for choice now. It used to be "the final frontier" in plugin land, one of those few things that hardware boxes did way better than plugins.. but that hasn't been the case in over a decade now.

[dremin]

Totally agree with everybody here about Valhalla VV. It's always the first commercial reverb I recommend everybody get. It covers pretty much everything you'd ever need in a reverb. The rest is pure luxury.

It's only missing thing is that it's sometimes not as easy to mix into a project as some classic reverbs like the Lexicon flagships (or clones/derivatives of them). You really need an EQ plugin after most VVV instances. Having said that, it's not a big deal.. just insert an EQ and get rid of the 150-600Hz buildup if it happens (or make tiny adjustments to pre-delay, room size and decay until it sits).

So if you want to cover absolutely _all_ bases you pretty much only need 5 reverb plugins as far as I can tell.

1) Valhalla Vintage Verb
2) One true plate emulation. For instance Valhalla Plate,UVI Plate or Wavealchemy Radiance
3) One "lexicon" like thing, for instance Liquidsonics Tai Chi or HD Cart (or Lexicons own PCM bundle but beware, it's super outdated and doesn't work natively on Apple ARM processors).
4) One non-linear weird AMS RMX16 clone (I use Wavealchemy Glow for this and it's excellent)
5) One convolution plugin (tons of free ones available)

That's it. I can't think of any others and even in this list VVV covers 90% of it all. So with 5 plugins you can cover every single scenario you could ever need. Anything more is pure luxury and GAS.

I do dearly love Pro-R and thus now Pro-R2 but it is indeed a luxury item. You need to love it's algorithms and specifically want/need that sound. Nothing can really copy the exact sound of Pro-R but the overall idea, reverb density, placement, the task it does, can be approximated just fine with VVV.. so if you don't need or desire the exact sound then you are just fine with VVV.

In my opinion Reverb is one of those things that is extremely subjective and thus there isn't much "wrong" you can do, except using some really resonant and "bad" sounding reverbs in the context of being realistic or doing an actual stereo/Z-depth placement task. That wont work and will only muddy up the mix in a horrible way that can't be fixed in mastering. So as long as you have any actually good reverb you'll be fine. It's almost impossible to purchase bad reverb plugins in 2023. We are so spoiled for choice now. It used to be "the final frontier" in plugin land, one of those few things that hardware boxes did way better than plugins.. but that hasn't been the case in over a decade now.

extremely well put, as usual! I would just add some spring reverb plugin maybe like AudioThings Springs! but yeah other than that nobody really NEEDS much else

[MrJubbly]

i support fabfilter much more than others, no online drm shit!

That is a major benefit to Fabfilter plugins. A great example, that far too few developers follow.

Yet another reason for customers to fund the likes of customer-friendly developers like Fabfilter and u-he, Valhalla, etc., instead of the more draconian DRM merchants, who encumber their plugins with the likes of iLok, etc.

[jamcat]

How realistic are the results of Pro-R’s IR analysis?

As some have noted, the results aren’t going to be identical to the IR, which is understandable, but does it at least retain a comparable level of realism, or does it end up sounding synthetic? Does an IR derived reverb stand out, or does sound like just another preset?

I hate IRs because they sound canned, but I also don’t trust algorithmic reverbs to sound realistic, unless they are physically modeled.

So I may get Pro-R2 if it can deliver a realistic room simulation from an IR without the stagnation.