FabFilter Pro-Q is designed to help you achieve your sound in the quickest way. Via the large interactive EQ display, you can create bands where you need them and select and edit multiple bands at. FabFilter Pro-Q 3 is designed to help you achieve your sound in the quickest way possible. Via the large interactive EQ display, you can create bands where you need them, enable dynamic EQ for any band, and select and edit multiple bands at once. Unique features like Spectrum Grab, Full Screen mode and EQ Match will speed up your workflow even. See full list on sweetwater.com.

I was recently asked to mix a song using nothing but the bundled plug-ins that come with Studio One Professional. I have always been a big fan of 3rd party plugins from companies such as FabFilter, Waves, McDSP and Universal Audio. I normally dismiss the plug-ins that come standard with all DAW’s. The main reason being If I turn up to a studio and need to use another DAW in a session, I can still get the same results if I use my 3rd party ones as they work in all DAW's.

When I started this mix I was wondering how I was going to get by without a multi-band eq such as McDSP’s AE400 or Fabfilters ProMB. Also what was I going to do without my goto eq's and compressors? I know how to get the results i need out of these, and can work quickly and efficiently so that i can stay within the budget of the project.

My goto surgical plug-in eq is Fabfilter’s Pro Q2. In this mix as I could only use Studio One’s plug-ins I opened up the PreSonus PRO EQ. I have used this plugin before but not really in a mix situation. I really thought I was going to be at a disadvantage not being able to use Pro Q2, but to my ears the PreSonus Pro EQ sounded just as good if not better in some aspects. I have to say this plugin really surprised me. The only thing I really missed is the way you can audition frequencies in the Fabfilter plug-in to really hone in on a problem area. With Studio One’s Pro EQ you have to create a peak then find the problem frequency then cut it. I am really hoping that in the future PreSonus will include this feature as I feel it saves so much time. I recently did a video comparing the two eq's which you can find here.

What I was immediately impressed with on Studio One’s Pro EQ is the sound of this plug-in. It works and sounds like a good hardware unit. if you boost or cut at specific frequencies you can clearly hear the difference, even when you only adjust by .5 of a dB. I was able to create the desired eq setting I was looking for by only adjusting minimum amounts.

One of my favourite plugins for boosting eq is the Manny Marroquin EQ by waves. Waves modelled Manny’s favourite hardware units and each band is a different eq. They modelled the SSL 9080 XL K for its high and low pass filters; Quad 8 or Neve 1073 for the low end; Quad 8 or Motown for lows/low mids; Motown, 1073 and API 550B for mids/high mids; and Avalon 2055 for its silky high end.

Im the sort of guy that likes to cut frequencies using an eq like the Fabfilter Pro Q2, and then I like to choose a more vibey eq like the Manny Marroquin one to boost frequencies. I felt that I could use the Studio One Pro EQ for both tasks.

Fabfilter Eq Plugin

I can honestly say that if I could only have one EQ in my arsenal, and that was the Pro EQ, I would be totally fine. Althought I must admit, in the future I really hope they include the solo frequency feature, (please PreSonus) So if you havent given it a go yet, I would whole heartedly recommend that you spend some time with it to see if you feel the same.