New Sonar EQ vs. FabFilter Pro-Q

Hi pdarg,
Sonar latest version here, and while the ProChannel EQ and new LP EQ are quite good, I think the FF ProQ2 is still better and more full featured. I don't know that I can say one sounds better than the other, but the FF just has more stuff you can do with it. The only thing I can think of that the PC EQ does that FF doesn't do is the console curve emulations (FF has gain-q interaction but it's not as configurable). FF has AutoGain, slope control on bell curves, resizeable interface, Tilt curves, and (IMHO) a better UI.
 
Don't get me wrong, I like the EQ's in Sonar and they're genuinely good serviceable EQ's, but FF is the one that gets used most often around my joint.
 
Dean

Thanks for the opinions - keep 'em coming!

As a single purchase the FF is pricey. It's a lot better if you get a bundle during a sale.

I use my ProQ2 as go-to EQ. I don't know that it sounds any better than the QuadCurve or LP but it does at least as much as both and I prefer the UI and additional options.

I think the new LP EQ compares very favourably with Fab Filter. To the extent that I wouldn't significantly miss Fab Filter if I didn't have it any more. And I rate Fab Filter very highly.
 
Like Panup, I wouldn't use either for a general purpose EQ though; sledgehammer to crack a nut in most cases.

Btw, to the OP - the ProChannel EQ, also called the QuadCurve EQ, is the same as the one that shipped with X3! The LP64 that is in X3 (64-bit linear phase "mastering style" EQ) is the one that has been updated. It has more of a FabFilter style interface now. It doesn't have a ProChannel module so it doesn't replace the QuadCurve. It is also by definition a a little heavy on CPU because of the linear phase thing. The QuadCurve has no linear phase mode so the two EQs should be seen as complementary. The FF has all these options switchable so it's more of a catch all thing. That's what you pay for I guess. It doesn't have a ProChannel module though.

FF is a little more feature rich but sound wise they are pretty close, if not indistinguishable.

To me EQ is EQ. I really don't get excited by an exotic EQ. 

Thanks, Zargg71, I wasn't aware. A point for the LP!

I MOSTLY think EQ is EQ but I have this Waves Pultec thing that sometimes makes something happen that I can't get by tweaking a clean curve like with FF/QC/LP. Could be my incompetence or the plug does some kind of harmonic distortion/modeling/whatever.

Just a quick revisit on this, after some more thought I think for me the real difference for FF is the UI, the spectrum grab capability, and the EQ match stuff (did something cool with it a while back, you can read about it here: http://forum.cakewalk.com...412428-p2.aspx#3412960 ). There is certainly nothing wrong with using the ProChannel quad curve EQ, and like some others, for me an EQ is pretty much an EQ when it comes to sound. The only real differentiating factor for me is how quickly I can get the results I want, which is why my toolbox is really the FF, UAD Pultec, and the Slate stuff these days. For me the UAD and Slate stuff quickly get me to particular results in a predictable and familiar way, and for everything else I have the FF. I think I could probably get almost the same results with the PC EQ and the LP, but for me it's just faster with the others. That's strictly a personal thing though, so YMMV.
 
That said, I was interested in others impression of the FF as too big a hammer for general track work....I'm quite the opposite; I use the FF as a general all-purpose parametric EQ....pretty much always on tracks and rarely on busses. Always interesting to me to see how others work and how perceptions differ.
 
Dean

Sanderxpander
Thanks, Zargg71, I wasn't aware. A point for the LP!

I MOSTLY think EQ is EQ but I have this Waves Pultec thing that sometimes makes something happen that I can't get by tweaking a clean curve like with FF/QC/LP. Could be my incompetence or the plug does some kind of harmonic distortion/modeling/whatever.

Nomad Factory (BT) also comes with some Pultec eq's. You should check them out.
All the best.

Noted.

I was merely replying to the "EQ is EQ" idea. I still think you should be able to closely model a Pultec curve with a surgical EQ. But I've never gotten it quite right, so I expect these vintage emulations (and the real thing) offer something else like harmonic distortion.

John
To me EQ is EQ. I really don't get excited by an exotic EQ. 

Same here. :)