FabFilter’s Pro-Q 2 is an extremely powerful EQ plug-in. Joe Albano shows how to do the simple stuff, like learning to create, bypass and remove EQ bands, and goes much further. Not only do you have access to regular frequency, gain and Q controls, but you can also choose to have a band affect left and right channels of your stereo tracks, or split the bands to independently process just the left or just the right channels.
There’s also a M/S (mid/side) processing mode, which is popular in mastering and when EQing a full mix. The signal is divided into Left plus Right and Left minus Right (differences between channels). In M/S mode the side EQ can, for example, brighten up cymbals without overly affecting the mid and center panned elements of the drums, like the kick and snare. (See example in video below at 3:30).
Joe also delves into using modifier keys to adjust multiple bands simultaneously, fine-tuning settings, changing the shape of the band, and much more.
The display is as powerful as the controls. You can switch between frequency to notes on a piano keyboard, so you can see visually how your EQ settings are affecting the different musical note ranges and harmonics.
There’s plenty of tips and tricks for existing FabFilter Pro-Q 2 users, and certainly enough here to convince you one way or the other is FabFilter Pro-Q 2 will be the next EQ plug-in on your “to buy” list!
One particular feature yours truly loves is the ability to solo individual bands and thus listen to only that band in your mix. I can’t stress how useful this feature is and would love to see this feature alone incorporated into Logic Pro X’s built-in EQ.
If you want to learn more about the Match EQ feature and, in fact, the entire range of FabFilter’s Pro series plug-ins, then the complete course (FabFilter 201) is available here in the Ask.Audio Academy.
Discussion
Want to join the discussion?
Create an account or login to get started!