Fabfilter Pro-Q 4!

[cryophonik]

I’m still waiting on their channel strip. That should be next IMNSHO.

[Writetomichael]

am loving Q4; the instance view alone is worth the price of admission. scrolling thru eqs and making adjustments is SO useful; the spectral dynamics works well, the other new features and improvements are really nice.... am happy with this (the ff eqs have been my go-to for a long time...)

100% agree. The upgrade price (£57 for me) was worth it for that alone. Been a total game changer for me.

FYI using instance view in Ableton Live on MacBook:

- AU: you get track names but no colour and no order.
- VST3: you get track names, colour and correct order.



The fact that it seems like it also works as a targeted MB compressor (correct me if I’m missing some downside here?) is amazing!

[kmonkey]

sick cross-forum reference

It is a low-end crossover on the crosstalk of a cross-forum sound referencing.

Merry Christmas everyone

[dastewart]

I'm giving this one a miss at the moment. Very happy with Q3 and that's part of the problem. It really is all the digital parametric eq that I need. Where Q4 has strayed into saturation and resonance suppression I'm already covered. So the only (slightly) appealing feature is the instance view but I'm not totally convinced that I'd use it very much although I can see how others with a different workflow could value that.

Fabfilter absolutely nailed it with Pro Q3

[LoveEnigma18]

I'm giving this one a miss at the moment. Very happy with Q3 and that's part of the problem. It really is all the digital parametric eq that I need. Where Q4 has strayed into saturation and resonance suppression I'm already covered. So the only (slightly) appealing feature is the instance view but I'm not totally convinced that I'd use it very much although I can see how others with a different workflow could value that.

Fabfilter absolutely nailed it with Pro Q3

While I did upgrade to Pro-Q 4, I completely agree with you. Pro-Q 4 is not an essential upgrade IMO. Pro-Q 3 was.

[kraster]

The instancing alone for me makes it an essential upgrade.

In a multi mic setup for drums or groups of vocals being able to eq all from one instance is a game changer.

I also think having more localised resonance suppression/spectral dynamics is not the same as Soothe. Being able to declutter certain areas of troublesome sounds is very handy.

[bmanic]

I also thought the instance list thing wouldn't be a big deal for me but indeed I seem to be using it absolutely all the time when mixing. I may even invest again in a dual monitor setup and keep a single Pro-Q4 instance full screened on there at all times!

Even when composing or just goofing around with hardware synths, it's extremely useful to have a Pro-Q4 instance on each audio input and then be able to affect all of them at once in a single instance. So quick and easy to get a basic mix.

[kraster]

I also thought the instance list thing wouldn't be a big deal for me but indeed I seem to be using it absolutely all the time when mixing. I may even invest again in a dual monitor setup and keep a single Pro-Q4 instance full screened on there at all times!

Even when composing or just goofing around with hardware synths, it's extremely useful to have a Pro-Q4 instance on each audio input and then be able to affect all of them at once in a single instance. So quick and easy to get a basic mix.

When you think about how many times in a complex Mix that you navigate to a plugin, click on it to open it, adjust it then on to the next track and do the same and on and on that really adds up and it's a pretty piecemeal way of mixing.

It's much more like a console experience with instancing where you can just reach for the band in whatever track and adjust. Particularly, as you say, when you're getting a basic mix together

I think that Fabfilter always have ergonomics in mind when it comes to how the features combine for a particular workflow. A lot of reviews have looked at features in isolation and whined about them. But when you combine say the single click node activation with instancing it makes sense. You can fly through a basic mix and then revert to the more methodical approach.

If they could add soloing/muting to the instances then a second dedicated Pro Q 4 monitor would be a no brainer.

[Ploki]

now imagine a fabfilter channel strip

[bmanic]

If they could add soloing/muting to the instances then a second dedicated Pro Q 4 monitor would be a no brainer.

It would be extremely tricky get soloing to work. Think about it.. how would Pro-Q4 know when an instance of it is on a bus or on the master? It's something the DAW would have to somehow report. Then it could be implemented.. or then the audio would somehow need to be bussed through the plugins and not through the DAW, probably something quite impossible.

[elxsound]

If they could add soloing/muting to the instances then a second dedicated Pro Q 4 monitor would be a no brainer.

It would be extremely tricky get soloing to work. Think about it.. how would Pro-Q4 know when an instance of it is on a bus or on the master? It's something the DAW would have to somehow report. Then it could be implemented.. or then the audio would somehow need to be bussed through the plugins and not through the DAW, probably something quite impossible.

Hmm… So you’re suggesting Fabfilter needs to build their own DAW-like mixing environment? I would not be mad at that idea.

In all seriousness, it would could messy if there was a way for Pro-Q to even handle mutes and soloing. Maybe come back to a project and not remember where something is muted.

I think this is when hardware will work wonders for mixing with Pro-Q. I only created a fake project so far, but Instant view is wonderful for quickly making changes across all tracks. I plan on using Push 3 for muting/soling as I go along.

[kraster]

If they could add soloing/muting to the instances then a second dedicated Pro Q 4 monitor would be a no brainer.

It would be extremely tricky get soloing to work. Think about it.. how would Pro-Q4 know when an instance of it is on a bus or on the master? It's something the DAW would have to somehow report. Then it could be implemented.. or then the audio would somehow need to be bussed through the plugins and not through the DAW, probably something quite impossible.

It would be tricky due to limited 2 way communication between DAW and Plugin but we can dream! I also think it's far from impossible. In fact it doesn't seem that difficult at all conceptually

The VST3 version reports track order, colour and name so obviously the VST3 protocol allows for things DAW being reported to the plugin. It's the other way that can be tricky.

I don't think it's that crazy for the plugin to report the current track it's on to the DAW. After that it's like a shortcut or key command that activates as if a solo/mute button is being activated on the DAW.

In other words you simply have a shortcut from the plugin instance to the respective DAW mute/solo system of the track it's on. If there are multiple instances on one track/group they still occupy the same track so not really a problem.

Ultimately it's a conversation between DAW and plugin developers as to how much two way communication the various protocols will allow.

[vitocorleone123]

now imagine a fabfilter channel strip

Meh. No thanks.

[Ploki]

now imagine a fabfilter channel strip

Meh. No thanks.

Blasphemy

I would unironically love it.
Along with macro control from creative fx. Sheeesh

[fisherKing]

now imagine a fabfilter channel strip

Meh. No thanks.

because? just seems if you're gonna take the time to post, you could say something useful...