Since its release, the FabFilter Pro-C 2 has been one of the most used and beloved compressor plug-ins on the market. FabFilter’s latest update, the Pro-C 3, takes it from incredibly flexible to incredibly powerful, with new compression styles, character settings, Dolby Atmos compatibility, auto-threshold, a redesigned preset browser (with new presets), and many other new features that, in typical FabFilter fashion, I didn’t know I needed.
A sleek new GUI design stylistically aligns the Pro-C 3 with the Pro-Q 4 [Tape Op #166], and a “compact” mode does away with FabFilter’s display for a “use your ears” option. But you don’t care about that; let’s talk about the new styles and character settings that make this plug-in worth the upgrade on their own. The previous style options have been incorporated into a three-part menu that now includes Versatile, Smooth, Upward, TTM (To The Max), Op-El, and Vari-Mu. Of those options, Versatile, Smooth, and Upward do exactly what we’d expect them to do. Then it gets interesting. We’re all familiar with the sound of vari-mu and opto compression, but with FabFilter’s seemingly infinite tweakability, we can play around with what’s possible inside these styles and utilize them in ways that might have previously been impossible with a hardware emulation.
Cue the Character parameter, my favorite new feature, which allows for an entirely new creative dimension within the Pro-C 3. With Tube, Diode, and Bright options, FabFilter borrows from the Pro-Q 4 update to introduce saturation. Logically, we can now apply tube saturation to our Vari-Mu compression, or diode saturation to our Punch or Bus compression, and so forth. But we can also refuse to go gently into that good night and apply diode saturation to the Op-El style or add Bright saturation (I would rename it Sheen) to the Vari-Mu style, or just cycle through combinations until something clicks. A Drive slider allows an additional 24 dB of saturation. Saturation can be applied pre- or post-compression to thicken your sound and shave off a bit of transient before compressing, allowing the compressor to work less and respond more naturally. This philosophy has been applied in analog gear for decades, but in the digital domain it typically involves using a separate saturation plug-in.
Returning to the new compression styles, the new Op-El style doesn’t replace the previous Opto style but instead offers a faster, punchier version of it (think Universal Audio LA-3A [Tape Op #49] vs. Gates Sta-Level). It’s handy for more exciting applications, as I’ve always found the Opto setting to excel when I need transparent weight and squeeze. A compression type I absolutely didn’t expect to see is TTM, which stands for To The Max and appears to be a tip of the cap to the Xfer Records OTT compressor plug-in, which itself is a recreation of a plug-in found in Ableton Live. In a nutshell, this style of compression uses heavy upward and downward compression to add crazy amounts of hype; or, when used sparingly, it can provide a sonic pulse to an otherwise flat source. The incredibly powerful sidechain section of the Pro-C 3 lets us choose which frequencies are affected in a wide variety of ways, which – in combination with the new Host Sync sidechain ducking (removing the need for a dummy kick drum) – should have EDM composers jumping for joy.
The Pro-C 3 also introduces several other features, such as new sidechain filter shapes, slopes, and mid/side modes, and (this is cool and unexpected) Pro-C 3 now appears in the Pro Q-4 instance view! This means you can now browse all instances of Pro-C 3 from inside Pro Q-4, creating a sort of virtual channel strip. The workflow implications of this are an impressive reminder that FabFilter is consistently ahead of the curve.
I’ve heard many users complain about the lack of AI, but in my opinion, it would be counter to FabFilter’s mission statement of giving the user the best tools to do their best creative work. FabFilter’s plug-ins have historically empowered us to think differently, or more carefully, or more artistically. Beyond quality-of-life features like auto-threshold, auto-release, etc., I’m perfectly content to remain in control of such a well-thought-out sonic tool. There are many more additions, tweaks, and improvements I didn’t cover here, so I strongly suggest grabbing the demo and seeing if the Pro-C 3 fits into your workflow.