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FabFilter releases FabFilter Pro-Q 4 EQ plug-in

FabFilter is proud to announce immediate availability of Pro-Q 4, the latest version of its industry-standard equalizer plug-in. Pro-Q 4 builds on the powerful feature set, sound quality, and intuitive workflow that have always set Pro-Q apart with the addition of dynamic spectral processing, unified multi-instance control, direct curve drawing, analog-style saturation modes, a fresh new look, and much more.

Spectral Dynamics

Taking problem-solving EQ to new heights, Spectral Dynamics extends Pro-Q’s existing Dynamic EQ mode with the ability to apply expansion or compression to only those frequencies within a specified band that exceed the threshold, leaving all other frequencies unaffected. Making light work of suppressing harshness and unwanted resonances, this form of processing has always required a dedicated plug-in, but Pro-Q 4 simply integrates it as another per-band option alongside the conventional dynamic and static EQ modes users already rely on every day.

Instance List

The new Instance List button at the bottom center of any Pro-Q 4 running in a project opens an overview of all Pro- Q 4 instances, zoomable from a rack of miniaturized spectrum displays all the way up to fully-interactive displays in which curves can be created and edited as usual — including with EQ Sketch. Activate the Auto-Zoom option to automatically focus on the instance currently under the mouse pointer, and use the Filter, Quick Jump, Search, and Minimap features to easily navigate between all Pro-Q 4 instances, no matter how numerous. The Instance List will save a ton of time when mixing, and is a feast for the eyes in Full Screen mode.

EQ Sketch

Pro-Q 4 further improves on the user experience with a whole new way to create broad-strokes filter response curves: EQ Sketch. Simply drag the mouse across the main display to instantiate a series of filters set up to match any curve drawn, with slopes defined by the steepness of the user’s mouse movements. Ideal for quickly establishing general frequency-shaping starting points to be tweaked and honed using Pro-Q 4’s regular controls, EQ Sketch is a serious workflow booster — particularly when used in conjunction with the new Instance List.

Character modes

Pro-Q 4’s new Character modes bring the authentic circuit-modelled distortion for which FabFilter has long been known to Pro-Q, imbuing tracks and mixes with ear-pleasing analog flavor. Switch to the Subtle mode for gentle program- and frequency-dependent, transformer-style saturation, or the Warm mode when more obvious tube- style saturation is called for. The default Clean mode, meanwhile, retains Pro-Q’s original transparent, uncolored sound. 

Key features:

  • Professional mastering-grade EQ plug-in with up to 24 bands, a huge range of filter types, 6-96 dB/oct slopes for all filter types, plus Brickwall slopes for the High Cut and Low Cut filters 
  • New: Draw response curves directly into the display with EQ Sketch
  • New: Target problem frequencies with Spectral Dynamics
  • New: Control all Pro-Q 4 instances in a session from a single interface with the Instance List
  • New: Bring analog-modelled color and warmth to sounds with Character modes 
  • New: Copy and Paste EQ curves between plug-in instances 
  • New: Full-featured preset browser, with tags, favorites, search and filter functions, plus new factory presets 
  • New: Fractional filter slope settings, so, for example, 3 dB/oct Low Cut or 14.2 dB/oct Bell filters can now be created 
  • New: Apply phase adjustments with the All Pass filter type 
  • New: Parameter editing directly in the EQ parameter value display via dragging or mouse wheel scrolling 
  • Improved: Fresh new design, with resizable GPU-accelerated graphical interface and full-screen mode 
  • Improved: Context-sensitive curve creation previews 
  • Improved: Attack and Release controls for Dynamic EQ curves 
  • Improved: Fine-tune Dynamic EQ response with sidechain filtering 
  • Improved: Greater precision for Linear Phase mode 
  • Improved: Better analog matching in Zero Latency and Natural Phase modes 
  • Dynamic EQ option for every band 
  • Natural, Zero Latency, and Linear Phase processing modes
  • Per-band Stereo, Left, Right, Mid, or Side mode
  • Surround support, supporting up to Dolby Atmos 9.1.6 with flexible surround channel linking
  • EQ Match for imposing the tonal characteristics of one signal on another
  • Spectrum Grab: grab and adjust filters directly in the spectrum analyzer
  • Intelligent multiband selection and editing, and band solo mode
  • Powerful real-time spectrum analyzer with separate mastering (3/6 dB) and mixing (12/30 dB) display ranges
  • Piano Display switches the frequency scale to musical note values
  • Plus: All the usual FabFilter features: perfectly fine-tuned knobs and controllers, 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, NEON and SSE optimization, and more

FabFilter Pro-Q 4 is now available for EUR 169, USD 179, or GBP 144, supporting both Windows and macOS in VST and VST 3, Audio Units, AAX, AudioSuite, and CLAP plug-in formats. Bundles with FabFilter Pro-Q 4 and other FabFilter plug-ins are also available at: www.fabfilter.com/shop

Existing FabFilter customers can purchase or upgrade to FabFilter Pro-Q 4 with very attractive discounts by logging into their online user account at: www.fabfilter.com/myaccount

System requirements are either Windows 11, 10, 8, 7, or Vista (32-bit and 64-bit) and a VST 2/3 host, CLAP host, or Pro Tools, or macOS 10.13 or higher (64-bit only) with Intel or Apple Silicon processor, and an Audio Units host, VST 2/3 host, CLAP host, or Pro Tools. 

FabFilter offers a free 30-day evaluation period for all its plug-ins, including Pro-Q 4.