- A third-party parametric EQ might be one of the last types of plug-ins that you look at—it's supposed to be transparent, so your DAW's EQ is transparent enough, right? Well, kind of. Not only has a dedicated EQ had more attention paid to it, resulting in a clearer sound with the visual curves more accurately representing their effect on the frequency spectrum, but they can also come with a lot more features that quickly become invaluable in mixing down sounds with precision and clarity. FabFilter's original, widely loved Pro-Q was praised for its sound, but an equally important reason for its popularity was its intuitive yet powerful workflow coupled with a lush, clear interface.
Pro-Q 2 adds a number of improvements under the hood and a range of new features. It now has three modes: the original Zero Latency (self-explanatory, prioritizing CPU and latency rather than quality), Linear Phase (which corrects phase problems that can be introduced in the normal modes) and a new Natural Phase mode, which is closer to the theoretical analogue amplitude and phase response than Zero Latency. (Digital methods of filtering can approximate the ideal mathematical frequency slope, but they don't match it exactly.) It can often sound smoother and, yes, more natural, without requiring inordinate amounts of CPU usage (and many DAWs autocorrect the latency anyway). They've also improved the algorithms to make the overall EQ both sound better and use less CPU.
The EQ bands themselves are added by clicking on or around the EQ curve, and it adds different types of EQ depending on where you click. You can change the type anyway in the resulting control box that comes up, but this is an example of the myriad shortcuts that have been included to make EQing as rapid and intuitive as possible. If you click on the dot that comes up to indicate the band's centre frequency, you can move it around the screen to change the frequency and gain, and hold a modifier key to adjust the Q instead. You can also use the frequency, gain and Q knobs on the floating panel that comes up for each band, but I found this to be a quicker way of working than the usual method of using graphic knobs. When sweeping the EQ around, the graphics and, most importantly, the sound react rapidly and smoothly, producing no artefacts that I could hear. There are other neat functions for things like entering values in a variety of ways, zooming and navigating around the spectrum, matching your frequencies up with equal temperament frequencies and editing bands collectively. This includes a new gain scale feature, which scales all bands that have a gain setting, effectively exaggerating your EQ curve.
There's a range of options available for each band, allowing you to change the slope to extreme values—not only on the high and low cuts, but also on all the other shapes. With new tilt and band-pass shapes and the option to have up to 24 bands in total, it's possible to sculpt highly complex curves. The display can be adjusted to a range of sizes, including full-screen, so it's easy to see what you're doing. This is also helped by a vibrant interface, with colours that let you clearly see the effect of each individual band as well as the overall curve.
The spectrum analyser behind it works smoothly and comes with a range of options, from selecting the speed and resolution through to a tilt setting and freeze operation. There's also a new Spectrum Grab mode, where if you hover over the spectrum, it comes to the foreground and the peak curve highlights. You can then directly grab and adjust it. This then creates the necessary EQ bands to make the spectrum match your specifications. This is a great alternative to the usual peak-and-sweep method to find problem frequencies and reduce them. You can also sidechain another channel to the plug-in and use the EQ match mode to match your channel's frequency profile to another one, with the required bands again being formed automatically. This can be useful if, for example, you have a couple of vocal takes that don't quite sound the same, and you need to EQ one to match the other.
Pro-Q 2 is a highly usable tool, but it's also got its serious side. The linear phase mode makes it appropriate for the master bus, and it also has both left-right and mid-side modes. The interface displays both channels at the same time, and you can separate a particular band with a click if it's in stereo mode and then adjust the separate channels readily. The EQ range extends down to 10 Hz and up to 30 kHz, and along with the sharp EQ curves, this makes it great for cutting inaudible frequencies that take up headroom. In use, it feels accurate and clear, with frequencies cut out when you want them to be, and with boosted frequencies plainly audible with very narrow Q settings. Pushing up the high-end adds what it should rather than an undue edge. This all results in clear, defined mixes when it's used on each channel—which the low CPU load easily makes it suitable for. It's not as comprehensive as, say, DMG's Equilibrium, which offers a wide range of EQ characters amongst other things. But Pro-Q 2 hasn't got any glaring omissions, while not being so specified as to detract from its immediacy.
EQing individual channels is a very common task, and a plug-in that lets you make your frequency adjustments as nimbly and surgically as possible can make a great difference to both creative flow and the sound of its product. With this in mind, FabFilter have created a very smooth product indeed. It's not only a highly effective mixdown tool; it's a genuine joy to use.
Ratings:
Cost: 4.5/5
Sound: 4.5/5
Versatility: 4.5/5
Ease of use: 5/5