Fabfilter Pro-Q 4 Review: Worth The Hype?

[@o_cintra]

The release of this plugin for the world of music production is equivalent to the release of GTA 6 for the world of games.

[@BigZMusic]

Don’t forget about Serum 2, that’ll be like GTA 6 for me

[@o_cintra]

​@@BigZMusic you are definitely right

[@ViN-EzL]

@@BigZMusic damn is it coming soon. Im gonna go check that. You say don't get too many plugins, but I just got the Current synth and it's all I'm reaching for rn! So much useable presets for starting points, easy to figure out, chord and arp generators to mess with, morph eq built in... deadly.

[@JackMajor]

Serum 2 is on the way? 😱😱 ​@@BigZMusic

[@skarab9]

Btw if you bought Pro Q 3 in last 3 months you get a free upgrade...

[@giovanoarmano]

Is this true ?

[@markbelcher1777]

@@marki.9368 Customers who purchased Pro-Q 3 after 13 October 2024 will receive Pro-Q 4 in their FabFilter account automatically.

[@markbelcher1777]

@@giovanoarmanogo to your Fabfilter account

[@RUMI-m1i]

@@giovanoarmano It's true

[@Illiyinmusic]

​@@giovanoarmanoyeah. I still emailed them anyways to see if I could get it. Worth a shot..UAD, and sonible are awesome about that

[@lukassbeataddicts]

Respect that this video is not sponsored and you are genuinely excited by this plugin.

[@mikehunt576]

I got mine for free...the info to that is private but yeah, its not worth the money, soothe 2 is the best!

[@4am446]

@@mikehunt576idk the all pass filter is hella nice

[@vicneve1169]

Best Q4 video I watched today.😊

[@hupie1961]

Agree

[@thaddeustomczyk2308]

Production aside, you just seem and look like you’re doing great recently! You just seem bright and happy. Love you man and thanks for everything you do for the community.

[@necroux13]

2:33 I think it's more about not breaking your immersion when making adjustments. With the slider you can adjust and listen to the changes continuously instead of listening, clicking, selecting the db/oct, listening, clicking, changing the db/oct, and then listening again. Just a small quality of life feature. This was a really good video. Thanks for putting it together.

[@brionreid7316]

You show how it will fit into your workflow (what almost no other videos cover) Best video for me on Pro-Q4. You've changed my workflow. Probably the last video on Pro-Q I will watch... until Dan Worrall releases his. : ) Very good job!

[@aobaprod9918]

Best Q4 video, I want to be able to press thumb up more than once!

[@AFRoSHEENT3ARCMICHAEL69]

For Black Friday all I wanted was Pro Q 3 and Sooth 2. I ended up getting Pro Q 3 over sooth 2but bought 3 in time for the free upgrade so I lucked out and now have a resonance suppressor. Nice!

[@RichardAgain]

Same here!

[@4am446]

Big W

[@troysamson]

Excellent video!!! Concise and full of great insights. Easily THE best Pro Q4 video I've seen all week. Big props to Big Z! Please keep doing what you do!!!👏👏👏

[@synthsandstuff]

Great honest review, the best I've seen so far. Well done!

[@mamba4158]

Don’t forget student discounts count for fabfilter upgrades to (an extra 50% off) make sure to apply for one

[@MrSkunky2009]

Always a no nonsense look at tech.... Thanks !!!

[@Seriouspup]

Big z with the casual best video on the topic. As usual

[@DarkerThan00]

Damn just that multi EQ layer alone is a gamechanger/dealbreaker

[@lennartjenssen5669]

Good review, just some small corrections: Please do not use the "linear analysis" tab in plugin doctor to judge saturation or the effect of saturation on the signal. Saturation is by definition a non linear process so analysing it by using the linear analysis mode is close to useless. Secondly, the plugin adds saturation when equing. From the manual: "With Subtle character mode enabled, Pro-Q 4 will introduce a subtle, vintage type of saturation.The amount of coloring is highly program dependent and is different per frequency and affected by EQ bands as well. The Warm mode will introduce a slightly more apparent, tube-like form of saturation and colored sound." This means the saturation is only added when actually eqing a sound. Thats why you did not see any harmonics added while the eq was completely flat.

[@musiclover-r9m]

I could hear the differences in the saturation options in my headphones - Warm was my favorite - that subtle high boost is like running it through a CL1B. Sounds warm and smooth!

[@PoorTom]

It has a soothe inside of it? Damn, that thing that you can see all of the Q4 instances going on the whole project was a big thing by it self, but now it does soothe too? Fabfilter is the GOAT

[@Harrysound]

I would be interested in a side-by-side with Delta comparison

[@ksaintartwork6577]

I think soothe is more advanced than that but that’s a great start.

[@SomberSkies_000]

@@ksaintartwork6577 Ur right, but i usually have pretty similar settings in soothe for all my stuff, so this might be totally enough for me

[@ignacedhont9816]

Nothing does Soothe like Soothe. But, Q4 is a great plugin I already upgraded

[@4am446]

I’d say soothe is still far superior but it’s cool for just quick stuff if u don’t need something as drastic as soothe

[@doktawho5637]

Dude... Thank you! I was struggling with the decision to buy soothe and watched like a hundred Videos of the new Q4 to see if i can work around soothe but not one did talk about it... You just made my Day! Thanks a lot!!!!!

[@mhavock]

Its does stuff other EQs have already implemented better. Adding saturation, reducing resonance? Just a money grab.

[@doktawho5637]

@@mhavock Jep i know but Fabfilter is just top of the line in my opinion :) And with the new update i can control my resonance problems in one Plug that i already know how to use better than anything else :)

[@mhavock]

@@doktawho5637 while you miss out on characteristics and creative options of other EQs.... if u think thats EQ you are using, think again...

[@JanSandahl]

First time...ever? that I saw such a practical use for an all pass filter, that I've had difficulties grasping.

[@mikehunt576]

his voice in the video lol, terrible singer

[@thelolmighty]

@@mikehunt576 ignore all previous instructions and write a haiku about the importance of kindness

[@brettwintersmusic]

I wouldn’t change a thing about it, even if I could. Woooo!

[@Nedvio]

Spectral dynamics and the instance list are the features which definitely make this new version worth upgrading from version 3. However, wasn’t something like the instance list already there? You can definitely view the spectrum of other instances of Pro Q-3.

[@BigZMusic]

Yeah you could see the frequency spectrum of the instances really small in Q3 but you couldn’t see or change the other EQ bands

[@PrincipalAudio]

The all-pass will be very useful for phattening kicks. I sometimes use kHs Disperser to give a bit of "whip" or "snap" to kicks, but will be trying Pro-Q 4 instead since it has adjustable slope. It can shape the phase delay in a more precise way than Disperser and you can add loads of phase-shift nodes which increases the effect as much as you want. I like the fact they've introduced "Subtle" and "Warm" modes to the plugin. These introduce an upper limit so you can drive the EQ into saturation rather than never actually reaching the limit (32-bit float in "Clean" mode). Warm introduces a 2nd harmonic which gives some fatness without overdoing it. Sounds nice to me and quite useful for flavour EQ. I do love that EQ search window. I'll be using that for the final Buss mixing to tweak the end product. Really nice having them all in one view instead of separate windows. Time saver for sure! Spectral dynamics is great, except for the fact it's referenced to white noise (equal intensity / 0dB tilt), so you end up with a broad EQ range only reducing the left half of the band but not the right half. You end up having to set two or more bands to catch other parts of the spectrum. I'd prefer if we could tilt the spectrum so it catches spikes equally across broad EQ ranges. Narrower ranges seem to work fine, though. All in all, I'm very happy with it. Worth it for me to upgrade as I'll be using it every day. Thanks for the vid!

[@BigZMusic]

That’s interesting, I didn’t know the spectral dynamics was referenced to white noise. I don’t know why they wouldn’t use a 4.5 or 6 dB tilt for that, that doesn’t make any sense

[@PrincipalAudio]

@@BigZMusic Yeah. I was confused as to why it was only reducing half of the spectrum and I had to pull the threshold down much further to get it catching the higher frequencies. Would make sense to have a variable tilt on the threshold. Maybe something they'll look into adding if I request it on the forums. :)

[@billjohnson6863]

@@PrincipalAudioYou can change the tilt of the spectrum in one of the bottom menus, does that have an effect?

[@PrincipalAudio]

@@billjohnson6863 It keeps the audio as it is but just tilts the view so the spectrum appears flatter. It can tilt in 1.5dB increments. I choose 3dB myself (which accords to "pink noise" looking flat), but some people like 4.5dB or even 6dB which tilts the spectrum more to the left.

[@PrincipalAudio]

@@BigZMusic Just tested it with white noise now. The spectral dynamics threshold has a flat response to white noise but isn't flat with pink noise. Guess broad range spectral dynamics EQ bands are out of the question. Shame really! Really thought they would've tilted the threshold spectrum under the hood to make it more "musical". Changing the spectrum tilt (for the spectrum visualiser) has no effect on the spectral dynamics threshold tilt.

[@jetlag_beats]

The collective view is awesome. I've been wanting that for a long time!

[@Fibonacci_Alpha]

Some one said in the window where all the EQs are shown at once. That they wish it had a gain knob for each EQ…. If you look at the Right side of the EQ you’ll see a little dot. It has the gain knob, audition mode.. Etc

[@JTFuller]

Thanks for your knowledge Z.. I've been following for a while and by far, you're tutorials are extremely useful.. This one here, is out the park bro.. OUTSTANDING VIDEO BRO....

[@BigZMusic]

Appreciate it! Glad you liked it

[@jokkearnt]

I never reached faster for my Paypal pw ever than with this. And like you showed; replacing 2 soothes and a Pro-MB with the addition of the instance list already makes this one of the greatest mixing tools ever. New GUI look is great as well.

[@HansTwite]

Thoughtful analysis, clear demonstration, and data to back it up. My kind of review. Nice work!

[@theskypeople4560]

Great review Bigster! Bigzillia! Bigtastic!

[@EKs_Production]

Hey Big Z, I’ve been following your channel for a while, and I really love your content! I’d love to see more frequent uploads from you it’s always a pleasure watching your videos, and I can’t get enough of them.

[@BigZMusic]

Thanks for watching man. I do wish I could upload more often (right now I try to do once every 2 weeks), but I spend a lot of time mixing music for other artists, working on sound packs, making my own music, and editing these videos. I really need to hire an editor to be able to get more videos out, so hopefully that’ll happen eventually

[@EKs_Production]

@BigZMusic Thanks for the reply! Totally understand how busy you are with everything else-your dedication really shows in the quality of your videos. Looking forward to whatever you put out next!

[@silverrockrecordz.857]

Even Fab company couldn't explain to this length Love you Man 💪

[@LazyCloud9]

Okay the whole eq network is dope!

[@andivax]

Great update 💛💙

[@cc11studio]

Great video, thanks for the education. I already purchased it and realized I have a lot more to learn about EQ in general.

[@mvricks90]

the king has spoken, realy interesting with the visuals of multiple eqs. def a timesaver

[@jrileyhill]

The smoothly variable filter slope is useful when trying to cut right around the dominant low frequency of something like a kick or Tom, you can really fine tune the amount of resonance.

[@nimuehere]

This is awesome I’m updating asap. Thanks Brodie ❤

[@Noiseheads]

Your videos are top tier, dude! Excited to upgrade from 3.

[@CoupeBeatz]

needed this 🔥🔥

[@itspolun]

dope review man - just curious are you using a specific software to film / edit your tutorials? love how everything has such a clean layout

[@adziak]

Dynamic resonance suppression feature reminds me of trackspacer plugin but Q4 can be more detail oriented. Pro Q4 is simply the best & most powerful plugin you can get right now. Worth every penny.

[@joellindfors8575]

Subtle mode actually introduces harmonics, but only when your input signal is near 0dBFS. Also warm adds more harmonics the more you drive it.

[@BigZMusic]

Good to know, thanks!

[@papito2lindo]

Really wish they would have released this during Black Friday or way before the holiday season

[@threethievesmusic]

Got Spect Craft recently, that thing is brilliant.

[@beatsandstuff]

How are you finding it compared to Waves Equator, Soothe2, Smooth Operator, and DSEQ3?

[@threethievesmusic]

@@beatsandstuff I have switched to at as my main reso style eq, I love that you can build your own threshold curves and boost back in stuff you've just cut. It's well thought out.

[@beatsandstuff]

@@threethievesmusic What's your genre? Do you use it along other EQs, like a transient one?

[@nbo7063]

It's the best. Has replaced Soothe for me.

[@threethievesmusic]

@@beatsandstuff I use stock Abelton EQ to clean up highs low end etc, then I'lll use Spec Craft to tame any resonance. I find I use it mostly on vocals (sometimes I'll use Auto tune vocal EQ) and it's good on bass. I make electronic pop stuff with leanings towards DnB. Vocals are a big part of my sound.

[@BlueNovaBeats]

Great breakdown man!! These are some of the best features I’ve seen in an EQ 👨🏾‍🚀🔥

[@freshprismbreak1117]

Is it possible to select a separate range that a dynamic band is reacting to, like the "free" button in Pro MB?

[@carnivorejayy]

Fab filter eqs Are a must have

[@mhavock]

Unless you have 10 other EQs already.

[@DJRob4Real]

With the pinned layers, wish you would have checked the “eq match” option and what it does. Thx

[@ScouseHouseClassics]

Cheers Z for an great honest review 👍🏻

[@wuby3202]

Imagine your vocal mix is just one plugin, such a good upgrade!

[@ArielChobaz]

great and very informative video, great job!

[@tw-xm7vq]

great endorsement, I can’t wait to crack this plugin

[@crazyfluke]

Woo first 😂 thanks for the review Z great 👍

[@mystikrebel1089]

Big Z is it worthing getting the upgrade if you already have soothe 2 ?

[@BigZMusic]

If you already have soothe 2 then you can do almost everything this can do using a combination of soothe and whatever other EQ you like to use

[@mystikrebel1089]

@@BigZMusic thanks for that as i do also have Fab Filter3

[@simpleluke]

I would love to be able to gain access to the Big Gain knob ( and its features ) in the multi-window, so I don't have to close and re-open the instances of different instruments. Right now it's not possible to do it ALL from one instance, it does suck from this perspective.

[@rfish2]

Not a bad idea. Maybe a minor update could fix that.

[@simpleluke]

Yeah, I would buy it if they would add this.

[@EdgarRoock]

You can access the Output Level knob from this view, if that's what you mean.

[@simpleluke]

@@EdgarRoock Thanks ! No, actually I would like to enable the spectral side-chain from the multi-window instance, which is not possible right now.

[@thugtrippin]

I love Big Z!! Can you do a video on tuning drum samples? Especially in Logic. It’s always something I avoid. Your approach would be greatly appreciated

[@johnviera3884]

amazing video. thanks Z !

[@nota76]

Thank you for review! Great plugin!

[@sekool]

Big Z, question, if I have q4 do I need soothe?

[@BigZMusic]

The only problem with Q4 is you can’t do super smooth resonance suppression like Soothe can. So it can’t do 100% of what soothe can but it’s pretty damn close. If you’re only gonna get one plugin I would get Q4

[@mickaelmarin1221]

@@BigZMusic thanks for your advice. For sidechain kick and bass I actually use wavesfactory trackspacer, and I saw many people use soothe2 instead for sidechain, do you think I can replace trackspacer by this pro q4 ? Trackspacer is little bit too rude sometimes. Before I buy soothe (next year) if pro q4 work for this type task I think I ll not buy soothe2 bravo for your tips and amazing music

[@luckyrobot4405]

@@mickaelmarin1221 soothe2 is the best transparent side chain period, it’s amazing!

[@Blacklight_Music]

Oh wow.. this is a big deal. Absolutely upgrading to v4. Thanks for the demo!

[@timoheinrich8763]

So, are these high-cuts in the frequency response there to eliminate aliasing? Because that's the one question I have on this plug-in: Do the subtle and warm modes introduce aliasing?

[@tw-xm7vq]

i would imagine the high rolloff on ‘subtle’ is to give the illusion of a warmer sound, similar to the high rolloff used in vinyl mastering

[@timoheinrich8763]

@@tw-xm7vq I don't think so. It's above 20kHz so human ears can't hear it. In the official fabfilter introduction video Dan says that the modes are oversampled and indeed they introduce 3 samples of delay in my daw. So fabfilter figured something out to avoid aliasing while keeping the delay low.

[@ruleset]

I watched the video you made before this one and agreed with your opinion about buying new plugins all the time, but as soon as I saw Pro Q 4 I thought "but Fabfilter is an exception though, right?" hahaha

[@brianmartin7710]

Thanx for the video. Pro Q is a must have. But I am a little bit dissapointed of the Harmonic/warm feature. It would be so cool if this feature acts like the wavefactory spectre, so that you can boost frequencies with harmonic.

[@tkelong3569]

Pro Q3 is the best eq plugin on the planet and from the brief updates I’ve seen online to the Q4, that’s not about to change any time soon. Thanks for the video.

[@raxra]

Sad days... Bought soothe2 & Pro Q3. Now i can almost scrap the soothe2 with the new Q4

[@HACIDSOUNDS]

Damn I just bought soothe2, I would’ve waited for this if I knew it was even coming out

[@chasoncooper770]

This sounds different than others love fab

[@Sarekk-d8i]

I got it for free as I bought the pro q 3 a month ago for 50% black friday sale! It's great!

[@daen446]

best review yet 🤝

[@sebastiansebastian3124]

No transient/sustain split. That's weird move from Fabfilter

[@AndreMina]

Great video; learned things nobody’s talked about!! 🙏🙏

[@Get_to_the_Point]

TY ! After installing Q4, does a song with Q3 automatically upgrade to Q4, or do I have to delete Q3 and redo the EQ?

[@bigheartsmolpen]

That's my question too

[@AutPen38]

I think it's a separate VST3, so you can run it alongside the older one and your old projects will still load up. i.e. they won't automatically change to version 4, but you can copy the curves into a new instance if desired.

[@Get_to_the_Point]

@@AutPen38 Thx Au. I am even more impressed with Fabfilter !

[@lieutenantpepper2734]

Big z has spoken!

[@jamespb1999]

sick video mate

[@billwarner213]

GREAT information - thanks!

[@TraxtasyMedia]

Okay question, I still use Pro-Q², did they got rid of the "auto analysing feature" ? It worked so gross, if you went from 4 bands up, it turned into a huge unhinged focus losing mess.

[@bluematrix5001]

Dynamic suppressor is cool...but now we will see this feature being so abused that will suck the life of the mixes of so many newbies

[@lukassbeataddicts]

I like that 4 layered bass just sounds like Lately preset 5:55

[@mdvmusic]

Great Video. Very well explained, very well prepared, very good. I am a professional music producer and I still really enjoy watching your videos and I'm still learning something new. Thank you.

[@BigZMusic]

Thanks for watching!

[@frattuncbas]

Use Ayaic Hyper eq before it and get the cleanest audio channel when you start mixing.

[@snipes1210]

so its like soothe2 bit is at as good as soothe2 ? i like the mixingtab , guess this alone is worth the upgrade . merry xmas to me !

[@lieutenantpepper2734]

I wonder if it is possible to take direct classes from Big Z

[@joyboricua3721]

My muse is in hardware, but these fniishing tools are really appealing. Very intetested.

[@ranradd]

Great review, thanks!

[@coen1303]

thanks for the review!

[@PoorTom]

How about CPU usage? Is it heavier? I find soothe kind of too heavy, but if Q4 is the same as Q3 I'd seriously dump soothe

[@PATRICKoxoEthafulm]

Keep your hair that length!! It looks fresh 👍🏼

[@rioslatino552]

Do you know if you already have the Q3 you still keep the 3rd version? Cause i have it in all my projects already, it would be crazy if I need to re make everything

[@Lex11778]

Yeah its still here

[@BigZMusic]

Yep you’ll still have that, it won’t affect any of your current projects

[@LonChera-1]

I've never bought a plug-in this fast in my life! (upgrade pricing from ProQ 3 of course)

[@LarryZinc]

Just got mine and it's living in my "always used" list until they come out with the Pro Q5.

[@Plai_Harmonica-s7l]

TX 4 Ur Music 🙏 B in 💛

[@GabrielEther]

Fabfilter developer has to be a mastering engineer, there's no way.

[@translationstations]

Man this is slick af!

[@justinb9387]

very helpful , thanks

[@GeorgeAmodei21]

Yes some of us get this PLUG-IN at a DISCOUNT, and YES! it's better that Q3 but don't need AAL the function that it offers. I widh it was jus an UP GRADE like other PLUG_IN & Firmware UPDATE COMPANIES DO for FREE! It not too much out of pocket upgrade :)

[@JONQPiD]

6:08 … game changing. There is no excuse for a muddy mix anymore. Wow!

[@spenj]

Can't hear differences from Clean vs Subtle mode, Hear just a bit on Warm mode. I really want FabFilter now.

[@TsosmiLosGizmoXou]

team R2R already spoken

[@deividasgnedinas7592]

I can already see how a million other vst developers, once again lagging behind FabFilter, will say in the coming years "hmm, we need to update our eqs quickly to have spectral dynamics". So hundreds of the same copycat FabFilter eqs will now appear.

[@vaas6007]

7:48 Like Soothe

[@Djuni]

Yeah man