P422 Fairuz
Overview
Built on proven circuits. Taken further than the hardware ever could.
The op-amp that put punch and harmonic density on decades of hit records. The boost-and-cut behavior that engineers discovered by accident and have been exploiting ever since. Fairuz takes both and pushes them into territory the original hardware never offered.
Every band runs through a real op-amp stage — voiced after the discrete circuits that defined what an EQ could do to a sound, not just to a frequency. Push it and it gives back warmth, density, harmonic weight. Back off and the signal stays cleaner, more transparent. That character is always there, whether you’re sculpting frequencies or not.
Turn a band off and the op-amp stays in circuit. Without drawing any EQ curve at all, you get the harmonic color that hardware EQs only deliver when you boost hard. This is Band Saturation Mode: op-amp character at a specific frequency, completely independent of your EQ moves.
The Contour bands take the classic boost-and-cut trick — the one engineers replicated for years using two separate filters on the same frequency — and make it a single band. One move. Focused boost, automatic complementary dip, no congestion in the surrounding frequencies.
Push Fairuz hard: bold Contour boosts, full Hammer drive, op-amp saturation across every band. Then blend it back with MIX to taste. All the character, as much or as little as you want.
Features
- Four op-amp EQ bands with three filter shapes: Bell, Contour, and Contour X2
- Band Saturation Mode: decouple the op-amp from the EQ curve for frequency-targeted harmonic character
- Proportional Q: gentle boosts stay wide, large boosts focus automatically
- Stepped or continuous frequency: stepped points chosen by ear, with deliberate gaps that avoid problem zones
- TREMOR infrasonic circuit: sub-bass foundation before the EQ
- VOICE input transformer: harmonic drive that sets the tonal stage
- Hammer output transformer: body, density, and saturation at the output
- LO and HI sculpting shelves with complementary dip behavior
- HPF and LPF with switchable HPF position (pre or post transformer)
- MIX: parallel wet/dry blend without extra DAW routing
- Dual Mono: true stereo hardware behavior for buses and groups
- Oversampling for the cleanest harmonic behavior at standard sample rates
- Zero latency
Videos
Specification
Supported Plugin Formats
AU, VST3, AAX (Apple Silicon ready).
Supported Operating Systems
macOS 10.13+
Windows 10+
Mac
Apple RISC M chip and Intel CPU (Universal 2 Binary)
PC
x64-compatible CPU
System Requirements
Display resolution: 1440 × 900px or 1280 × 960px or higher
Memory: 2 GB RAM
Copy Protection
A one-time challenge & response over the internet. The license works on up to two separate machines.
Downloads
User Guides- Dark Mode
User Guides- Print Mode
For previously authorized computers
- Redesigned GUI with expanded spectrum visualizer
- 278 presets, organized by instrument and application, from individual tracks to mix bus
- Op-amp circuit refined for deeper analog character and improved stereo imaging
- HPF revoiced at 20 and 30 Hz for a smoother, more musical low end
- Oversampling rebuilt from the ground up for truer transient preservation
- Contour and Contour X2 curves recalibrated above 6 dB: deeper boost and cut, no cramping at high gain
- Dual Mono mode: L/R randomization for true stereo hardware behavior on buses and groups
Frequency Analyzer IN/OUT can now be selected individually for display.
- Fixed GUI resizing when you open and close the visualizer and when saving and recalling the session.
- Frequency spectrum analyzer.
- EQ bands visualizer.
- Additional presets.
- Code optimization.
- GUI update.
- The knobs use smoothing to ensure rapid automation without any artifacts.
- Modifier keys implementation to bypass parameters for quick A/B.
- Added German and Japanese user guides.
- Official Release.
A great alternative resonant EQ! Combining transformer and voice controls with spectrum sweeping for pleasant—or ear-fatigue-inducing—frequencies often yields excellent results. I now often reach for Fairuz when traditional EQ or dynamic EQ just doesn’t do the trick. I also have a soft spot for the optional stepped controls, which is a classy addition!
Maybe add a horizontal version of the GUI? Otherwise – great!
What if PM made a ‘character’ EQ that could be many characters? As with it’s older, wiser brother, the P440 Sweet Spot, the secret is in the unusual but carefully shaped curves and high and low pass filters. Unlike the P440 you have less fine grained control over every nuance, and less of a zoomed out mastering level perspective. With the Fairuz you get the curated options you get, let go of some control and are rewarded by workflow and using your ears. Trident A range users will be at home with the concept. The Fairuz can go from extreme to subtle but thrives when pushed in unusual ways, in unexpected combinations. Curve and parameter wise, there’s nothing here the P440 can’t also do (qualifier: each does “have a sound” and the saturation options are not quite the same), so there’s a case for saving your coins. But even if you ultimately want both, the Fairuz often gets the nod on instrument level tracks. So, what about those many characters? The “voice” knob is key. Add it for some built in saturation. Remove if you want the creative workflow of those PM eq curves, while putting your own saturator or preamp plugin of choice before it. Sure, you could painstakingly recreate any curve using FabFilter or it’s many imitators. And sure there’s also a million and one “character EQ”s out there where you get what you get, but choose for the color. The value proposition of the Fairuz and what makes it unique is that it is something in-between: characterful curves with a slight mind of their own, that could have a color, any color, or none at all. Unlike many “character eq’s” that trade on nostalgia, this sounds modern and it sounds great.
Lastly: a short mention of the presets. They’re excellent. So many presets just offer the same redundant options (“drums” “more drums” …) As if the only music ever to exist was made of drums and guitars. And you didn’t have your own go-to moves for kick drum memorized. Presets should be for those things you don’t always already have dialed in, but when they come up, dang it’s handy to have a preset! The Fairuz has presets for cello (multiples of them!) as well as “bowed group” “plucked” various shadings of vocal options, piano, and even “lute/oud” If you mix classical, scores/soundtracks, world, folk, jazz this EQ is for you. But also it’s fresh to try something left field on synth pads or that odd percussion element you can’t get a handle on, having these options is refreshing and worth your time.
Very nice equalizer, with the PM magic. In addition to high, high mids, low mids and lows, you can use high pass and low pass filters, high and low shelves, tremor for frequencies around 30 Hz and below, blend with the dry signal and add a touch of color. Simple and effective eq. when surgical work is not needed.
I love the voice knob. Nice for enhancement.