It sounds good, it's amazingly flexible, and best of all, its graphical interface makes it a joy to use. Once again, FabFilter is leading the way with another sensational plugin.I'm not sure if there is such a thing as a desert island EQ plug-in, but if I was stranded on a Pacific atoll with only one tool to tackle problematic audio files, FabFilter's Pro‑Q would be that tool.
The only downside is that it never really gets down and dirty in an 'analogue' sense, but considering the excellent results it delivers for everyday mixing, that's a mere quibble. Pro-C 2 is immediately one of the best compressor plugins money can buy - it's flexible, reasonably priced, and sounds beautifully clean. Nothing revolutionary, but all solid enhancements that will please Pro-C fans.
#Fabfilter pro q 1 manual plus
The sidechain section's previously basic LP/HP filter section has been radically enhanced and now boasts a choice of slopes from 0-96dB/ octave for the low- and high-pass bands, plus a mid band that can be set to Bell, Low Shelf, High Shelf, Notch, Band Pass or Tilt Shelf mode with adjustable Q. Other newly added niceties include 2x and 4x oversampling modes a convenient Mix fader that can scale the change in gain from 0 to 200%, effectively acting like an overall 'compression amount' control a Range parameter for limiting the maximum gain change applied and the ability to trigger compression via MIDI input. There's also now a second Audition button supplementing the sidechain Audition button of v1, which enables you to hear only the compressed component of the signal, giving insight into how much dynamics shaping is taking place. "The VST3 version can be stretched to any size you like, and Pro-C 2 can even be switched into full-screen mode."Īlso new, the Lookahead function is turned off by default because it adds latency, but when active, it can be set between 0 and 20ms to increase transparency. In the same way as Knee, it can be used to make the compression sound more transparent or, at longer settings (up to its maximum of 500ms), introduce pumping effects. Hold is simply another envelope stage that delays the onset of the Release stage. Pro-C 2 makes improvements to the envelope section, too, with new Hold and Lookahead faders. Having this extra dimension of control over the sound (the original Pro-C had just two fixed Knee settings) is a powerful thing that, in conjunction with the various compression styles, makes Pro-C 2 an even more flexible and creative part of your toolkit than its predecessor was. Thus, the Knee fader can be used to harden or soften the compression (or even achieve almost saturation-like effects when a soft Knee is used in conjunction with a fast Attack). That lack of explanation isn't a major problem, as the Knee is really intuitive to use, and the theory isn't particularly taxing anyway: at softer Knee settings, compression will start to kick in before the signal actually reaches the threshold, giving a smoother sound. "Pro-C 2 makes improvements to the envelope section with new Hold and Lookahead faders."
#Fabfilter pro q 1 manual manual
The two biggest enhancements in this area are the addition of five new compression styles and a Knee fader that can be set anywhere between 0dB (hard knee) and +72dB (soft knee), and which the manual describes rather vaguely as affecting the "roundness" of the compression around the threshold. There's no denying that Pro-C 2 has a pretty, intuitive and info-packed interface, but what we really care about is how it sounds.
This thoughtful approach to interface design might seem like a small thing, but it makes Pro-C 2 easy to get started with and quick to use. Their layout is arranged in such a way that you intuitively start with the Threshold and Ratio knobs on the left, working your way over to the right via the envelope and output controls.