In Summary
Dutch audio alchemists FabFilter continue to make it their mission to make everyone’s favourite stock plugin killers. Despite built-in tools in DAWs that grow ever better, most engineers lean on third party audio plugins every day. If you’re a FabFilter user, why is this and what are your favourite flavours? Let us know in our poll.
Going Deeper
FabFilter Turns Twenty
A familiar name in the audio plugin folders of pros the world-over, FabFilter are this year celebrating their 20th anniversary. Since the launch of the Fabs’ very first audio tool, FabFilter One in 2004, the company has expanded its arsenal and gained a reputation for very high quality tools that take on daily mix tasks with FabFilter’s added innovations and of course their sound. The company are also proud of their added “Fabfilter Goodies” which include “perfectly” tuned knobs, interactive MIDI Learn, undo/redo and A/B switch, Smart Parameter Interpolation for smooth parameter transitions, an extensive help file with interactive help hints, sample-accurate automation, advanced optimization and more.
Current FabFilter Audio Plugins
Pro-Q 3
Anyone hoping to reinvent the equaliser is going to have to have some pretty fresh ideas, perfectly executed. Now in its third iteration, FabFilter’s venerable EQ ticks those boxes for thousands of mix engineers, and can claim to be something of a modern classic. Its unique features like Spectrum Grab, Full Screen mode and its innovative EQ Match are designed to speed up workflow, but on more familiar ground, the emphasis is on technical quality. Linear phase operation in addition to the zero latency and unique Natural Phase modes, smooth dynamic EQ, per-band mid/side processing, full surround support (up to Dolby Atmos 9.1.6), an intelligent solo feature, optional Auto Gain and a built-in, fully customizable spectrum analyzer all help to put the Pro in Pro-Q 3.
Pro-C 2
Another industry fave, Pro-C 2 offers eight different, program-dependent compression styles offering their own sounds and character. Apart from the classic compressor controls, there is also lookahead, up to 4x oversampling, intelligent auto-gain and auto-release, a variable knee, hold, range, external side-chain triggering, variable stereo linking and mid/side processing, all utilising a Retina user interface. The large animated metering covers metrics such as level/knee, plus exact peak and loudness values. These features allow use on tracks and busses, as well as across entire mixes and masters, making Pro-C 2 something of a compression chameleon.
Pro-L 2
FabFilter Pro-L 2 features precise true peak level meters and extensive loudness metering with support for the EBU R128, ITU-R BS.1770-4 and ATSC A/85 standards. Combined with real-time level display, Pro-L 2 provides a credible alternative to other control room favourites from Waves, Avid, or Nugen. “Highly advanced” algorithms, linear-phase oversampling, professional dithering and noise shaping, and surround support (up to Dolby Atmos 9.1.6) with intelligent channel linking round off the credentials of this professional audio limiter.
Pro-MB
Taking on multiband compression, Pro-MB invites engineers to think in terms of compression bands, as opposed to the crossovers of conventional multiband treatments.Instead of conventionally splitting the entire spectrum with crossovers, Pro-MB enables you to directly create a new band at the frequency range you want to work on. Bands can easily be snapped together to recreate a traditional crossover system if preferred. FabFilter Pro-MB also has a unique Dynamic Phase processing mode. Linear Phase and traditional Minimum Phase modes are also provided.
Pro-DS
With its highly intelligent 'Single Vocal' detection algorithm, FabFilter Pro-DS sets out to accurately identify sibilance in vocal recordings and attenuate it transparently. Wide band or linear-phase split band processing, an optional look-ahead of up to 15 ms, adjustable stereo linking with optional mid-only or side-only processing, and up to four times linear-phase oversampling are provided. With an eye on creative de-essing, the 'Allround' mode, does high-frequency limiting of any material, like drums or even full mixes for analogue-like smoothness.
Pro-G
A staple tool in any mixing or live situation, the humble gate/expander might be indispensable in its traditional form, but the Fabs’ spin on gating takes things a little further. FabFilter Pro-G’s “perfectly tuned” algorithms, with complete control over the side chain and channel linking, excellent metering and great interface design make for a formidable dynamic controller. Flexible routing sees a choice between mono, stereo or mid/side processing and in expert mode, external side chain input is available with completely customizable channel linking and routing. Smart input/output level meters land with a real-time level display and transfer curve.
Pro-R 2
Flipping over into effects-based wizardry, FabFilter Pro-R 2 takes a less technical approach to using reverb, offering user-friendly, intuitive controls like Brightness, Character and Distance to achieve reverb sounds. These put the engineer firmly in charge without needing an intimate knowledge of conventional parameters. The stepless Space is a great example of this that combines spaces’ geometry and decay time in one. This lets you fade between dozens of different, carefully tuned room models, automatically choosing a matching decay time for a natural-sounding result. Its industry-first Decay Rate EQ concept offers completely free adjustment of the decay time over the frequency spectrum. New Vintage and Plate algorithms let you recreate classic digital reverb units of the '80s and '90s, as well as the metallic sound of plate reverbs.
Saturn 2
No set of mix tools would be complete without the saturation effects that many engineers rely upon. Offering anything from subtle, clean and warm tube or tape saturation to the wildest multiband overdrive effects Saturn 2 dishes the dirt in more ways than most. Saturn 2 introduces a host of new features such as a redesigned interface with modulation visualisation, new subtle saturation and linear phase processing for mastering, and many new distortion styles among other things. There is a range of different high quality distortion models, as well as five creative FX distortion styles to mangle sounds in “weird and unexpected” ways. FabFilter’s innovative XLFOs are also present in Saturn 2. This drag-and-drop system of working lets you apply modulation to almost any parameter in seconds.
Timeless 3
On delay duties is Timeless 3. This is billed as the company’s versatile, vintage-sounding tape delay, that sets out to serve up everyday delay needs. Unique effects, filters, tap patterns and unlimited modulation options mean that this thing can be used to almost completely redesign sounds from the ground up. The stereo delay signal is routed through five unique effects and up to six analogue-sounding filters, before being routed back to the input with adjustable feedback. Timeless 3 follows the Fab family look with well laid-out controls and interactive delay and filter displays. This delay also boasts FabFilter’s easy drag-and-drop modulation for ducking, wow and flutter, dynamic diffusion or more creative effects.
Volcano 3
With more than just a passing nod to FabFilter’s roots, their uber-filter audio plugin promises just about anything a sound sculptor would ever need. This filter plugin offers a “vintage sounding, gritty and creamy cut-off filter” plus a tonne of other shapes that extend far beyond the needs of many. Volcano 3 has new non-linear, vintage filters, as well as four analogue-sounding filters with flexible routing, each offering many filter shapes including non-linear bell and shelf filters. Different filter styles offer saturation and self-oscillation at high peak settings, just like classic, vintage filters. Easy drag-and-drop modulation is present thanks to its XLFOs, plus envelope generators, envelope followers and modulation from MIDI sources.
Twin 3
In a departure from FabFilter’s well-known audio plugins, Twin 3 is a quad oscillator synth instrument. Twin 3 is equipped with what the Fabs claim are the best possible analogue-modelled oscillators, “award-winning filters” and an extensive effects section. Twin 3 lands with a completely redesigned, intuitive interface to design sounds from the ground up, however it also comes with a library of carefully designed, quality sounds that you can use right away.
It features four vintage-sounding oscillators, versatile filters and built-in, high quality effects section, and now has a revised preset browser. In this you can type to search, tag, and mark presets as favourites, making it easy to find the sound you need, or more to the point keep hold of that once-in-a-lifetime creation! The Fabs drag-and-drop modulation is also there, with all the XLFOs, EGs, XY controllers, envelope followers and MIDI sources you will ever need, plus the built-in effects can all be modulated as well…
FabFilter One
FabFilter say they put tremendous effort in creating One, billed as “the best cut-off filter ever”. A new design approach has resulted in what they call the fattest and smoothest self-oscillating digital filter you have ever heard. FabFilter One’s filter is designed to sound raw but never cheap or ‘digital’, even at full resonance, carefully tuned to achieve the character and warmth of a classic analogue synthesiser.
FabFilter Simplon
FabFilter Simplon is a simplified version of FabFilter Volcano 3 with two independent multimode filters providing low-pass, high-pass, and band-pass responses with 12/24/48 dB/octave slopes available. The filters can be used in serial or parallel mode. Heading up an impressive feature set given its light footprint, Simplon boasts two state-of-the-art multimode filters, three different filter characteristics per filter, lowpass, highpass, and bandpass filters, serial and parallel filtering modes, and GUI helpers including large interactive filter display, large controls for flawless live performances, Undo and Redo, plus MIDI Learn.
FabFilter Micro
FabFilter Micro is the ultimate lightweight filter plug-in that harks back to the introduction of FabFilter One in 2004 that aimed to set a new standard for digital filters... Designed to deliver the “FabFilter sound” for a tiny price, Micro is a single high-quality filter. Described by FabFilter as “smooth and creamy”, Micro easily turns into raw saturation and self-oscillation when tweaked using the interactive filter display. Featuring both low-pass and high-pass shapes, there is also an envelope follower to modulate the cut-off frequency.
Watch this space for when we publish the results to reveal which is the Fab flavour to rule them all…