FabFilter Pro-C compressor plugin

Mannie · 14th August 2007

Yet another compressor plugin to argue about:
FabFilter Pro-C

It's downright gorgeous, as per usual for FabFilter, but I've yet to try it out. I love their other stuff, so I'm anxious to give it a go!

bmanic · 15th August 2007

Some audio examples of what this puppy can do.

Original clip
Soft Kick, round sound (2 times FF Pro-C in series with "manual look ahead" using the side chain
Extreme compression but still clean without heavy distortion. More than 20dB of gain reduction here and the attack is very fast.

Drumloop with YouWaShock (it's a limiter)
Same as above but Pro-C pre-limiter to add the missing punch

Cheers!
bManic

cl516 · 15th August 2007

Not a smart-ass question, but genuine interest:

what does this plug try to do that's different/better than
sonalksis compressor / waves rencomp / sony dynamics ?

is there anyone from fabfilter on this forum?

electricsound · 15th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by cl516

what does this plug try to do that's different/better than
sonalksis compressor / waves rencomp / sony dynamics ?

I came to ask essentially the same question. I really like FF's other plugins, but what makes this compressor unique, sound-wise? I don't often bother with demos but I'm definitely going to demo this one.

it certainly looks fantastic, and a mix knob is always useful..

bmanic · 15th August 2007

You guys obviously didn't "get it" from the above examples so here is another one.. try doing this with any other compressor. Hardware or software.. doesn't matter. This is a single FabFilter Pro-C inserted on the masterbus with a expander+distortion plugin on the sidechain.

puuump biaaaatch!! (listen at the extremely clean compression action when the pad comes in after 8 bars)

original boring clip

Cheers!
bManic

PS. I'm not from FabFilter. Floris and Frederik of FF fame have a policy of not commenting on any other forums except their own (which is quite cool).

strauss · 15th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by cl516

Not a smart-ass question, but genuine interest:

what does this plug try to do that's different/better than
sonalksis compressor / waves rencomp / sony dynamics ?

is there anyone from fabfilter on this forum?

M/S compression, external sidechain and mix knob.

cl516 · 15th August 2007

aahh thank you strauss.
the m/s and mix knob look interesting to me.

p.s. seems to be a lot of love for it over at KVR

macleodgrant · 15th August 2007

it is indeed very nice and for 200 it should be! it looks snazzy too

TBlizz · 15th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by macleodgrant

it is indeed very nice and for 200 it should be! it looks snazzy too

... and only $129 if you already own FabFilter Timeless, Twin or Volcano.

For a while I’ve been exporting stereo drumloops from Logic Pro on the Mac to my PC Laptop to have otiumFX Compadre Beatpuncher have a go at them. Its side-chain abilities and crunchy Distressor character, gives me something unique I couldn’t find in Mac AU plug-ins. Until now perhaps…?

I see (and hear) that bmanic drum-presets in FabFilter Pro-C also feature side-chain functions, but they seem to be more on the cleaner side.

Did anybody A-B these two plug-ins side by side on the Windows platform?

OMU · 15th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by strauss

M/S compression, external sidechain and mix knob.

Sidechain and Mix controls on the PSP Mastercomp too. And a great sound

I'll try this one too, seems interesting.

anon · 15th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMU

Sidechain and Mix controls on the PSP Mastercomp too. And a great sound

I'll try this one too, seems interesting.

Definitely a different flavour from PSP Mastercomp, it a very nice Compressor I'm
getting it for sure when the demo runs out.

Vank · 16th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMU

Sidechain and Mix controls on the PSP Mastercomp too. And a great sound

Does Mastercomp feature EXTERNAL sidechain?? I don't think so but correct me if I'm wrong of course!

Also, this one lets you dial in the original which I like much better than a mix percentage knob

TBlizz · 16th August 2007

I thought I was smart (or cheap) and try to copy a few drum-presets from Pro-C to MasterComp and compare them. That didn’t really work; I quickly got stuck on Drum Preset number 2 “Compact” where the side-chain input on the Pro-C is driven beyond 0 dB.

I don’t think MasterComp has this feature, I sure couldn’t find it. Also MasterComp uses the Mix % and Pro-C mixes the dry signal using dB and the Mastercomp release doesn't go down to 50ms.

Oh well, maybe the universe is telling me just to buy this Fab looking plug-in.

I do wish Pro-C had some more bread & butter Instrument Presets to lazily scroll through though. I mean, a whole seperate Guitar Presets folder… with only 2 presets in it… common!

OMU · 16th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vank

Does Mastercomp feature EXTERNAL sidechain?

Yes it does.

bmanic · 17th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by Vank

Does Mastercomp feature EXTERNAL sidechain?? I don't think so but correct me if I'm wrong of course!

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMU

Yes it does.

No it doesn't. Or then I'm completely blind. Could you tell me where it has a switch for external sidechain? Or does it come with several separate .dll files?

Native, windows here.

Cheers!
bManic

OMU · 17th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by bmanic

No it doesn't. Or then I'm completely blind. Could you tell me where it has a switch for external sidechain? Or does it come with several separate .dll files?

Native, windows here.

Cheers!
bManic

Don't really know about the Windows versions but here it does (v1.5.4, AU).

The switch can be seen in the attachement, it's the only one that's active.

fr0st · 17th August 2007

VST 2.4 doesnt support external side chain right?

thermos · 17th August 2007

Who cares if they have the same features. Do they sound different?

TBlizz · 17th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by thermos

Who cares if they have the same features. Do they sound different?

I guess that’s the problem when you develop a ‘clean’ compressor plug-in. UAD-1 can successfully sell you their ‘character’ plug-ins one by one (LA-3A is their latest addition) advertising a radical different sound, but how do you do that with clean compressors?

Even cleaner! More transparent?! For me it’s features other compressors don’t have, low CPU usage and I must admit… presets (with sensible names!) that require a minimum of adjusting and make my mixing task easier.

bManic described Pro-C as following on the KVR Audio Forum:
Don't think of Pro-C as a replacement for all your unique compressors, rather think of it as a general high-quality musical compressor with a certain "softness". It's just like FabFilter Twin has a unique, kind of "soft" sound to it. I don't know what the guys do with their code but everything ends up sweet, musical and "fluffy".. even at extremes!

thermos · 18th August 2007

Sounds good!

bmanic · 20th August 2007

Quote:

Originally Posted by OMU

Don't really know about the Windows versions but here it does (v1.5.4, AU).

The switch can be seen in the attachement, it's the only one that's active.

Wasn't there in the windows native version last time I tried the demo and it's not there when looking at the screen shot at the PSP website. Damn.. that external sidechain would be sweet for the master compressor!

Cheers!
bManic

OMU · 21st August 2007

It is a new feature, it looks like they have not updated the picture on the website.

Silver Sonya · 25th August 2007

Heyyy... I am messing around with this plug-in now and this stuff sounds pretty good! Smooth and grippy! And it's inspiring to gaze upon while you're working. Fun! A worthwhile dynamic tool.

I like this company. Terrific sense of style. They're obviously cool guys. I'm going to buy all their plug-ins.

- c

BorrelNote · 2nd September 2007

This indeed is a great compressor !!

Chrisac · 28th November 2007

I think its to expensive at £129 UK. It should be less than half the price imho. compared to compadre on the price front well theres just no comparison. In general I believe small companies are selling their wares far to expensively and I dont buy the "They are independent" So are many indie labels and you dont see them charging double for their releases.
I think theres a lot of greed in this industry but I guess thats the west for ya!.

SonOfSteven · 28th November 2007

I realy like this compressor, very good for sidechaining.
No 1 mentioned this, but u can also select exactly wat frequency of the external signal being sent to the sidechain u want the compressor to react to, very cool.

dantheman65 · 3rd January 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by Chrisac

I think its to expensive at £129 UK. It should be less than half the price imho. compared to compadre on the price front well theres just no comparison. In general I believe small companies are selling their wares far to expensively and I dont buy the "They are independent" So are many indie labels and you dont see them charging double for their releases.
I think theres a lot of greed in this industry but I guess thats the west for ya!.

I agree completely. I understand a lot of time and money goes into developing something like this but really someone who is likely to be able to afford this easily is going to be using outboard compression anyway. It's the home guys who are going to want it and who ironically can't afford it.

tommymakestapes · 4th January 2008

Quote:

Originally Posted by dantheman65

I agree completely. I understand a lot of time and money goes into developing something like this but really someone who is likely to be able to afford this easily is going to be using outboard compression anyway. It's the home guys who are going to want it and who ironically can't afford it.

Yeah man, I can't stand how all good outboard compressors cost almost $200 bucks for unlimited channels. oh wait... I dare say most home engineers can afford a $200 plugin but probably cant throwdown $2800 a TubeTech CL1B.

Seriously though. Theres plenty of cheap plugins out there. If you want cheap, go get them. Theres even an onslaught of free plugins out there. (some of which don't sound so bad)

MarsBot · 9th July 2008

FabFilter Pro-C is really good. I have all the UAD compressors and I find myself preferring Pro-C over them in almost every situation. That really surprised me. Pro-C has three settings (clean, classic, opto) and choosing the right one can really bring an instrument alive. Somehow this plug adds a feeling of subtle tape emulation even at very modest compression settings but it still feels very open. It just sounds "Bigger" than most other compressors I've used. It has separate knobs for the compressed and direct sound so you can easily set up parallel compression. Download the unrestricted 30 day demo and check it out. You'll be glad you did. Very low CPU usage. Now if they'll just make an EQ that's this good!!

t_d · 9th July 2008

how do you choose which channel in your DAW feeds the side chain?

14th August 2007	#1
Mannie Gear interested Join Date: May 2006 Location: Charleston, SC Posts: 24 Thread Starter	FabFilter Pro-C compressor plugin Yet another compressor plugin to argue about: FabFilter Pro-C It's downright gorgeous, as per usual for FabFilter, but I've yet to try it out. I love their other stuff, so I'm anxious to give it a go!

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15th August 2007	#2
bmanic Lives for gear Join Date: Oct 2005 Posts: 818	Some audio examples of what this puppy can do. Original clip Soft Kick, round sound (2 times FF Pro-C in series with "manual look ahead" using the side chain Extreme compression but still clean without heavy distortion. More than 20dB of gain reduction here and the attack is very fast. Drumloop with YouWaShock (it's a limiter) Same as above but Pro-C pre-limiter to add the missing punch Cheers! bManic

15th August 2007	#3
cl516 Lives for gear Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Toronto Posts: 1,218	Not a smart-ass question, but genuine interest: what does this plug try to do that's different/better than sonalksis compressor / waves rencomp / sony dynamics ? is there anyone from fabfilter on this forum?

15th August 2007	#8
macleodgrant Lives for gear Join Date: May 2007 Location: London Posts: 2,417	it is indeed very nice and for 200 it should be! it looks snazzy too

16th August 2007	#13
TBlizz Gear addict Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: The Netherlands Posts: 373	I thought I was smart (or cheap) and try to copy a few drum-presets from Pro-C to MasterComp and compare them. That didn’t really work; I quickly got stuck on Drum Preset number 2 “Compact” where the side-chain input on the Pro-C is driven beyond 0 dB. I don’t think MasterComp has this feature, I sure couldn’t find it. Also MasterComp uses the Mix % and Pro-C mixes the dry signal using dB and the Mastercomp release doesn't go down to 50ms. Oh well, maybe the universe is telling me just to buy this Fab looking plug-in. I do wish Pro-C had some more bread & butter Instrument Presets to lazily scroll through though. I mean, a whole seperate Guitar Presets folder… with only 2 presets in it… common!

17th August 2007	#17
fr0st Gear Head Join Date: Jun 2005 Posts: 67	VST 2.4 doesnt support external side chain right?

17th August 2007	#18
thermos Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 3,550	Who cares if they have the same features. Do they sound different?

18th August 2007	#20
thermos Lives for gear Join Date: Jul 2004 Location: Brooklyn Posts: 3,550	Sounds good!

21st August 2007	#22
OMU Lives for gear Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Romania Posts: 638	It is a new feature, it looks like they have not updated the picture on the website.

25th August 2007	#23
Silver Sonya Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: Washington, DC Posts: 6,974	Heyyy... I am messing around with this plug-in now and this stuff sounds pretty good! Smooth and grippy! And it's inspiring to gaze upon while you're working. Fun! A worthwhile dynamic tool. I like this company. Terrific sense of style. They're obviously cool guys. I'm going to buy all their plug-ins. - c

2nd September 2007	#24
BorrelNote Gear maniac Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 222	This indeed is a great compressor !!

28th November 2007	#25
Chrisac Gear addict Join Date: Aug 2004 Posts: 453	I think its to expensive at £129 UK. It should be less than half the price imho. compared to compadre on the price front well theres just no comparison. In general I believe small companies are selling their wares far to expensively and I dont buy the "They are independent" So are many indie labels and you dont see them charging double for their releases. I think theres a lot of greed in this industry but I guess thats the west for ya!.

28th November 2007	#26
SonOfSteven Gear maniac Join Date: Apr 2006 Location: Amsterdam Posts: 276	I realy like this compressor, very good for sidechaining. No 1 mentioned this, but u can also select exactly wat frequency of the external signal being sent to the sidechain u want the compressor to react to, very cool.

9th July 2008	#29
MarsBot Lives for gear Join Date: Dec 2006 Posts: 782	FabFilter Pro-C is really good. I have all the UAD compressors and I find myself preferring Pro-C over them in almost every situation. That really surprised me. Pro-C has three settings (clean, classic, opto) and choosing the right one can really bring an instrument alive. Somehow this plug adds a feeling of subtle tape emulation even at very modest compression settings but it still feels very open. It just sounds "Bigger" than most other compressors I've used. It has separate knobs for the compressed and direct sound so you can easily set up parallel compression. Download the unrestricted 30 day demo and check it out. You'll be glad you did. Very low CPU usage. Now if they'll just make an EQ that's this good!!

9th July 2008	#30
t_d Lives for gear Join Date: Sep 2004 Location: pound ridge, NY Posts: 1,541	how do you choose which channel in your DAW feeds the side chain?