is Fabfilter Pro Q2 the best EQ?

[e@rs]

@OP: Why don't you demo Pro-Q 2 and EQuilibrium and YOU decide which is the best? (Both devs offer generous demo times.)

I personally own Pro-Q 2 and demoed EQuilibrium. Both top notch. I bought the one that was on sale.

[plexuss]

In terms of good sounding EQs, there is one that is off the map at the moment called Equavescent by Barratt Audio. I bought it. The dev seems to be in hibernation however. But this EQ sounds amazing. The UI is pretty poor but workable.

In terms of Equilibrium vs Pro Q2 - here's my take in a little more detail. To me they are equivalent in terms of sound quality. Although I haven't done an AB test. But I have not found anything about either that drives me to compare them - they are close enough in terms of sound quality. Pro Q2 has a more focused workflow and more visual UI which can be good when you want that. Also because Q2 has a more focused workflow, its usually easier and faster to set it up and get where you want. Equilibrium is so far the most feature packed EQ I have seen. And the features are all useful. I dont know if it was designed this way but the feature set is presented in layers, in that to get to the deeper more detailed features you have to dig deeper into the UI. THis is great because it makes it easier to achieve a goal quickly if you dont want to utilize the detailed parameters. But if you do, they are there. This is why I think both EQs compiment each other. But like I said if I had to pick one it would Equilibrium because it provides all the functionality of Q2 and more for when its desired. But then you have to give up the better more focused workflow of Q2. Get both!

Here is the main GS thread https://www.gearslutz.com/board/product ... lable.html

And I found this thread on GS which is the same topic as this thread FYI https://www.gearslutz.com/board/music-c ... oment.html

[omiroad]

There is a lot of love for Pro-Q2. It adds a little bit of saturation to the signal IIRC.

Don't start rumors out of nowhere. o.O

Pro-Q 2 doesn't do anything magic with the sound but it has a nice interface. I hope in Pro-Q 3 you can enable bands to be dynamic similar to Neutron 2's EQ.

[Boone777]

There is a lot of love for Pro-Q2. It adds a little bit of saturation to the signal IIRC.

Don't start rumors out of nowhere. o.O

Pro-Q 2 doesn't do anything magic with the sound but it has a nice interface. I hope in Pro-Q 3 you can enable bands to be dynamic similar to Neutron 2's EQ.

That's why I wrote 'IIRC' I was'nt sure about this. Had a discussion about it on another thread somebody suggested that it was the case. I can't find nothing proving that point though.

[Keith99]

Pro-Q2 for me, it is so easy to use, sounds great and has extra features like spectrum matching and volume correction

[4damind]

Pro Q is a great EQ but mostly because of the great GUI and some additional features. Pro-Q has no own sound or adds saturation.
I use most of the time the new EQ from Cubase 9 and like the DMG Audio EQs a bit more... so I would not say that Pro Q2 is the best EQ.
I recommend to use the EQs which are already available or included with the DAW. For saturation or some very "special" EQ curves there are are dozens of vintage emulations.

[Kinh]

Shit, forget about how it sounds. I really doubt there's much difference there.
It's a surgical eq that can do a hole range of other shit like capturing frequencies of other tracks so you can also use it to mask frequencies that compete because it has sidechain and low latency.

u mean EQuilibrium or Q2?

Q2

[Arrested Developer]

For me it's Neutron's Equalizer.
The possibility to switch separate bands to dynamic mode is fantastic for the workflow.

[Rockatansky]

is Fabfilter Pro Q2 the best EQ?

No.

No EQ is *the best* EQ.

Good/best are subjective opinions, personal impressions and convictions. What works for you doesn't necessarily have to work for the next guy.

It's arguably the most comprehensively featured EQ, in that there are so mindbogglingly many things it can do. Copy spectrum, filter phase settings, etc. -- yes, definitely. But does it need all that, when all I want to do is boost a few dB at 1.5 kHz and maybe take out a few dB at 4 kHz?

I was always put off by Pro-Q's interface, there's too much going on automatically for me, depending on where I hover the mouse cursor. Tool tips, and "grab from spectrum", the floating parameter bar and all that. It's nice if you can work like that, but to my mind and perception it's just distracting, just like the color scheme.

Take something like Sonnox EQ to compare. It's seemingly simple, but it can do a lot of things that are a lot more convenient to me personally, than having a full-screen mode in which I can EQ my bass guitar on the full 48 inches of 4K display as in Pro-Q2. It has a "no graph" view that lets me focus on the sound and doesn't distract me with constant "oh, am I boosting too much? that curve looks weird" doubt. It has an "always show parameter values" mode that lets me instantly see which band is set to where and how much it's doing, without looking at curves. All the controls are visible all the time, all the controls are always in the same position, so I can check values and settings with one eye movement rather than having to locate a band in the graph, locate its handle, click the handle, locate the parameter bar and THEN look what the band's settings are. It has "Type2" mode that lets me sweep with a sensible filter when boosted, and then turns into a very narrow and notch-like filter once I've identified the problematic frequency and I bring the gain below 0 dB to cut. Yes, it looks stale and boring and it uses iLok and all that, but to me personally it's much closer to the "best EQ" than Pro-Q2.

All of the above doesn't make Pro-Q2 lesser or lacking, definitely not. It's in every way impressive and mindblowingly good, it's just not the "best EQ" to me. If it's the "best EQ" to one/some/all of you, then be happy you've found your "best EQ", as am I with Sonnox EQ.

Soundwise, I doubt there's lot of a difference. I obviously can't dis-/prove it (and I'm not interested enough to try), but I'm pretty sure that both use the bog standard RBJ biquads for the most part, like everyone else does, just with the odd optimization or trick here and there. And why wouldn't they.

What's more important in figuring out whether or not an EQ is the "best EQ" for you personally is its workflow and how you can work with it. So do. Give the demo a spin, work on a few projects with it just for fun, see if you can figure it out, and see how well the things you get it to do work out for you. That's all that matters. And nobody else can answer that for you, you have to find that out yourself.

[kobal]

you should demo, what will lead you to the best sound is probably the interface and not the filters, mostly the workflow matter with modern digital eqs with no non linearity (and after workflow it s how transparent are the hp/lp filters but you could pick a other eq just for that )

[audiosabre]

Best sounding? Perhaps not. I think the sound of Pro-Q 2 is very 'neutral', which OTOH is great for transparency, yet can be a little bland for more obvious use. I prefer some other EQs more in some aspects, like when using resonant peaks. However, when it comes to workflow, visualisation and features, it's hard not to count Pro-Q 2 as one of the very best. It's my go to.

[MogwaiBoy]

It's hard not to reach for Pro-Q 2. I have to consciously remind myself I have other options available - it's just that Pro Q2 is so light on CPU and so quick to use.. even as a straight analyzer or simple volume boost/cut.

Some of the features are really comfy and I miss them in other plugins.. Natural Phase, auto-gain, pre/post analysis, proportional Q on/off, mix control (for automating), mid/side per band, band solo etc.

I totally agree that per-band dynamics like iZotope's Neutron EQ would be a very welcome addition to Pro-Q. Also: a fully linear tilt mode (like Goodhertz), deeper analysis like -180db to see the noisefloor of any signal (like Voxengo SPAN), phase correlation meter, phase response view (Ozone), hardware curve emulation (Pultec etc) and so on

[DubLifeSD]

Sound and Ergonomics together is what makes Pro-Q so amazing. And the ease of which you can save presets and make custom folders is why I reach for it 80% of the time for mix duties. Not to metion it's been completely stable for me these past 7 years.

[jamleethorpe]

My 3 choices are: Surprising for some but T-Racks new EQual is my new favorite all around eq replacing Equality and Equilibrium. Eiosis AirEQ for everything except surgical. Lastly Bx_Digital V3 for mastering.

Best is subjective. In my opinon the #1 deciding factor is workflow, then filters, and then limitations. I often find that if I were happy with the settings of EQual, bypass it and start from scratch loading up either AirEq or BX Digital V3, I end up in a completely different place soley based on those 3 factors. This determines in most cases the final opinion on how it sounds.

EQual is the only eq Ive come across as truly transparent and you get a bunch of musical analogue filters as with Equilibrium. Awesome analyzer. Great for mixing, surgical, and mastering. AirEq is also very musical and for me excels at broadstroke enhancement or tone shaping. Great for mixing and mastering. Bx Digital V3 is more of mastering suite rather than just an eq. Great but more of a safety net for slight mastering adjustments if needed or just another option of musical filters to choose from over the loads of options provided by EQual or AirEQ. If I had to choose one, my vote goes to EQual for value as in more for less and transparency.

[soulone82]

Is purple the best color?