How does Bitwig's native eq hold up against something like Fabfilter's Pro Q?

[lickle_emu]

Hello All,

For those who are more experienced at mixing than myself, how does Bitwig's native eq fair against Fabfilter's Pro Q?

I was thinking of investing in a good quality software eq, but am wondering whether Bitwig's eq can easily get the job done and that I would just be wasting my money with an unnecessary purchase.

[antic604]

Well, it's an EQ - it does what it's told to do. And it being a Bitwig device you can easily make it dynamic, you can sidechain it, you can apply it to mid/side or left/right, etc. One thing it doesn't have is very steep filters that are sometimes useful. Also no linear/natural phase and no fancy GUI.

[Stamped Records]

To be honest with you mate, I can't rate them against eachother - perhaps my ears aren't qualified for that - but for me, Bitwig is genuinely the first opportunity I've felt I've had to go all native. I own Fabfilter Pro Q but I don't use it. I've been using Bitwig totally native for 3 months now and I'm loving it.

The only qualm I have is..... 5 bands, come on. In saying that, when you consider that there's 3 or 4 EQs in a sound design chain, it's not a deal breaker, but 8 bands would be nice.

Because Bitwig is modular, all of the features of Pro Q that I find useful can be replicated, and I feel like my ears don't really need the more detailed spectrum analyser of Pro Q.

Anyways, I'm future proof now and loving it.

[Butwug]

Well, it's an EQ - it does what it's told to do. And it being a Bitwig device you can easily make it dynamic, you can sidechain it, you can apply it to mid/side or left/right, etc. One thing it doesn't have is very steep filters that are sometimes useful. Also no linear/natural phase and no fancy GUI.

The High/Low pass doesn't get super steep with the cutoffs but besides that the native eq is good. You can change the Q on the other bands to do precision cuts/boosts. Unless youre specifically looking for something you can't do with the native EQ5, save your money. If you need more than 5, do a second instance, now you have 10

[lickle_emu]

Man, I am really starting to love this community! Am really grateful for these replies. Good to know that there isn't a world of difference between the native device and Pro Q.

Think I'll use the money for an update instead (am currently running 2.3).

[dgmulf]

As mentioned, Pro-Q has linear phase mode, and more filter curve options. Additionally, as of version 3, it offers dynamic EQ functionality. But these are unnecessary for most applications.

Heck, I bet you could even build a dynamic EQ using Bitwig native devices if you really wanted to... (Perhaps modulate the EQ band gain with an envelope follower tracking a band-limited sidechain?) EDIT: I see Antic beat me to that suggestion!

[newtobitwig]

It depends what kinda EQ you're going for.
Personally,I use parametric EQs for cutting out frequencies most of the time.I just use a highpass/lowpass like 8/10 when cutting out and I find the Pro Q2 does a better job as it has various slopes.
I mean,you might not regret buying the Pro Q-2/3,since the gui is much smoother and gets a lot done very quickly.And you can always make it dynamic by modulating one of the knobs using bitwig's modulators.
Still,the native one isn't as bad as it looks,does the work.

If money is the problem,try to buy a bundle instead of individual plugins.Will save you a ton.for eg. Izotope Neutron Advanced,today is available at 299,whereas the Pro Q 3 alone might cost you around 140.

[Trancit]

If money is the problem,try to buy a bundle instead of individual plugins.Will save you a ton.for eg. Izotope Neutron Advanced,today is available at 299,whereas the Pro Q 3 alone might cost you around 140.

If money is the problem, I would go for the free melda bundle, as the EQ is fantastic as are the other included plugins and upgrading to the nag free version is just 50 bucks ...

[brownerthanu]

SlickEQ is another great free eq.

I find Bitwig’s eq to be quite usable, but I like having a few eqs to reach for, for variety.

[newtobitwig]

If money is the problem, I would go for the free melda bundle, as the EQ is fantastic as are the other included plugins and upgrading to the nag free version is just 50 bucks ...

Absolutely. There are lot of good less expensive plugin bundles out there that almost cost a single plugin.

[arrakeen]

I've also started to use EQ-5 much more these days, I wish it worked MS though without having to use a Mid-Side Split container. It's only because I like to see the two EQ curves combined and how they interact.

Still, it does the job.

[SpaceCadetOnLeave]

If money is the problem, I would go for the free melda bundle, as the EQ is fantastic as are the other included plugins and upgrading to the nag free version is just 50 bucks ...

Absolutely. There are lot of good less expensive plugin bundles out there that almost cost a single plugin.

Not only that, Bitwig plugins are not less than others but in general certainly not better.
Plus ( a big one for me ) I find the system a bit of a work-flow/-rhythm killer, instead of just clicking the white/orange square next to the name in the mixer or (clip-)arranger and the desired plug pops up where you need it. The BWS plugs are hidden on the specific tracks in chains 12 Nautical Miles scrolling to the right (sometime hidden in nestings you forgot).
So for the sake of the working flow/rhythm most of the time I don't use them.
Btw I find those sometimes extremely complex chains more and more annoying, especially if there are cheap (or not) alternative that do the same job or better or charmingly different comparing to the hive.
Also I use more than 1 DAW and then it's better to use the ones who work in all of them.

[newtobitwig]

Not only that, Bitwig plugins are not less than others but in general certainly not better.
Plus ( a big one for me ) I find the system a bit of a work-flow/-rhythm killer, instead of just clicking the white/orange square next to the name in the mixer or (clip-)arranger and the desired plug pops up where you need it. The BWS plugs are hidden on the specific tracks in chains 12 Nautical Miles scrolling to the right (sometime hidden in nestings you forgot).

Yup,I always check when loading bitwig presets if there's something nested that i might be missing just by hearing.Sometimes it's just an amp or a distortion,but mostly it's just a reverb and delay to make the sound a little bit more lush.

Also I hope Liverpool wins by a good enough margin tonight haha

[Trancit]

What bothers me a bit with EQ 5:

- Spectrum analyzer is way to busy, fidgety... needs some serious decay to be able to see something useful with i.e. drumloops
- Shelving bands have no Q setting... that´s a bit poor for an EQ programmed in (don´t know) 2014
- shelve and LP/HP filter only available in the first and last band... need of 2 EQ´s if you want to combine a i.e. HP filter and a low shelve
- The filters (LP/HP) round up the frequencies around the cutoff too much... very noticeable with the LP filter... it seems, by setting the Cutoff to 10K, the filtering already starts at about 6-7k, which makes it hard to set it up for just cutting the highest frequencies... other EQ´s don´t behave this extrem way...
- 12/24db choice for the filters (for all filters in Bitwig) is a bit poor too and because you cannot have more than one LP or HP filter in one instance you have again work with 2 or more instances

[brownerthanu]

If you mean it’s not for surgical work yes that’s true. But it’s quite good for toneshaping. It’s more useful in that realm than many other eqs I’ve used.