Uploaded November 2025 | Updated September 2026, 1 week ago
Have a mic., that you wish sounded like another? With Pro-Q 4 EQ Match, you can shape the sound of a mic you already have to sound like a different microphone. This video walks through how I used EQ Match inside FabFilter Pro-Q 4, to make a @shure MV7+ sound like an out of the box, SM7B.
Setting Up Your DAW for EQ Matching:
Start by dropping two audio files—one from the mic you want to match, and one from the mic you’re matching to—onto separate tracks. I’m using Adobe Audition, but this works in any DAW that supports (VST, AU, VST3) plugins.
Level-Matching Before You Start
This step is important. Without level matching, the louder clip will almost always sound “better,” which makes the EQ Match process less accurate. If you want to learn more about the leveling process, check out this more in-depth tutorial youtu.be/_vecHTGK7Yo.
Sections:
00:00 - Does the MV7+ sound like SM7B?
00:30 - The Difference between MV7+ and SM7B
00:38 - Matching the MV7+ to SM8B by ear
00:35 - Intro to Pro-Q 4
02:11 - Pro-Q 4 EQ Match tutorial
03:20 - Audio Level Matching
05:10 - Creating a Pro-Q 4 EQ Match preset
05:17 - Will I use Pro-Q 4 EQ Match?
06:20 - Who is Pro-Q 4 EQ Match for?
How to use FabFilter Pro-Q 4 EQ Match
- Add Pro-Q to each track
- Pull up the EQ Match window (click Pro-Q at the bottom of the plugin UI, this is not at all obvious) and select the Reference pulldown.
- Choose “Other Instance” as your reference and select the Pro-Q version that is on the other track, the microphone you are trying to match aka sound like.
Play the audio over both tracks, long enough for the analyzer (the top white line) to settle (it's only moving a little).
Apply the match and review the suggested curve
If you’re new to EQ Match, the suggested curve can look a little wild (many bands/control points), try reducing these with the slider to as few as possible but use as many as you need for it to sound the way you want.
Once the match is applied, you can still adjust the points, clean up the curve, or reduce the number of bands. When you get something that sounds right, you can save it as a preset and reuse it anytime you record with that mic. or use it to match a different mic. to your reference mic.
Results: The match that I did by ear sounds really close if not the same as the software but that's because the MV7+ is already so close to sounding like the SM7B. I think most people using the plugin will be trying to match very different microphones and, not in this video, but I did test with some other handhelds (Rode PodMic and Sennheiser E835) and FabFilter's EQ Match did a great job matching those as well.
You can get the plugin for a free 30 day trial so it's definitely worth trying bit.ly/4o8TCob
🎥 🖥 📱🎤 GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS VIDEO 🤘
► Shure MV7+ Podcast Microphone:
B&H: podhelp.me/mv7plusBH | Amazon: amzn.to/44ADnIt
► Zhiyun FIVERAY M20C: amzn.to/3UC35rp
► Rodecaster Pro: podhelp.me/rodecasterBH
► Shure SM7B: podhelp.me/sm7bZon
► Elgato Key Light: amzn.to/44G86nh
► Aputure Light Storm LS C120d Kit: podhelp.me/120dKitvmountBH
► SmallHD Sony kit: podhelp.me/smallHDfocusbundleSonyBH
► Sony FX30: amzn.to/4ifQyFF
► OC White Boom Arm Gen2: podhelp.me/OCWhiteBoomGen2
► K&M Boom Arm Mic Stand: podhelp.me/KMboomstandZon
*all links should be considered affiliate links. I encourage you to shop around for the best prices at the time you are viewing this. You can read my ethics statement via thepodcastersstudio.com/ethics. Thanks!
#FabFilter #EQMatch #ProQ #MV7+ #SM7B #podcasting #microphone #audioproduction #audiorecording
SUBSCRIBE: youtube.com/rayortega
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/podcasthelper
Bluesky: https://rayortega.bsky.social/
Have a mic., that you wish sounded like another? With Pro-Q 4 EQ Match, you can shape the sound of a mic you already have to sound like a different microphone. This video walks through how I used EQ Match inside FabFilter Pro-Q 4, to make a @shure MV7+ sound like an out of the box, SM7B.
Setting Up Your DAW for EQ Matching:
Start by dropping two audio files—one from the mic you want to match, and one from the mic you’re matching to—onto separate tracks. I’m using Adobe Audition, but this works in any DAW that supports (VST, AU, VST3) plugins.
Level-Matching Before You Start
This step is important. Without level matching, the louder clip will almost always sound “better,” which makes the EQ Match process less accurate. If you want to learn more about the leveling process, check out this more in-depth tutorial youtu.be/_vecHTGK7Yo.
Sections:
00:00 - Does the MV7+ sound like SM7B?
00:30 - The Difference between MV7+ and SM7B
00:38 - Matching the MV7+ to SM8B by ear
00:35 - Intro to Pro-Q 4
02:11 - Pro-Q 4 EQ Match tutorial
03:20 - Audio Level Matching
05:10 - Creating a Pro-Q 4 EQ Match preset
05:17 - Will I use Pro-Q 4 EQ Match?
06:20 - Who is Pro-Q 4 EQ Match for?
How to use FabFilter Pro-Q 4 EQ Match
- Add Pro-Q to each track
- Pull up the EQ Match window (click Pro-Q at the bottom of the plugin UI, this is not at all obvious) and select the Reference pulldown.
- Choose “Other Instance” as your reference and select the Pro-Q version that is on the other track, the microphone you are trying to match aka sound like.
Play the audio over both tracks, long enough for the analyzer (the top white line) to settle (it's only moving a little).
Apply the match and review the suggested curve
If you’re new to EQ Match, the suggested curve can look a little wild (many bands/control points), try reducing these with the slider to as few as possible but use as many as you need for it to sound the way you want.
Once the match is applied, you can still adjust the points, clean up the curve, or reduce the number of bands. When you get something that sounds right, you can save it as a preset and reuse it anytime you record with that mic. or use it to match a different mic. to your reference mic.
Results: The match that I did by ear sounds really close if not the same as the software but that's because the MV7+ is already so close to sounding like the SM7B. I think most people using the plugin will be trying to match very different microphones and, not in this video, but I did test with some other handhelds (Rode PodMic and Sennheiser E835) and FabFilter's EQ Match did a great job matching those as well.
You can get the plugin for a free 30 day trial so it's definitely worth trying bit.ly/4o8TCob
🎥 🖥 📱🎤 GEAR USED TO MAKE THIS VIDEO 🤘
► Shure MV7+ Podcast Microphone:
B&H: podhelp.me/mv7plusBH | Amazon: amzn.to/44ADnIt
► Zhiyun FIVERAY M20C: amzn.to/3UC35rp
► Rodecaster Pro: podhelp.me/rodecasterBH
► Shure SM7B: podhelp.me/sm7bZon
► Elgato Key Light: amzn.to/44G86nh
► Aputure Light Storm LS C120d Kit: podhelp.me/120dKitvmountBH
► SmallHD Sony kit: podhelp.me/smallHDfocusbundleSonyBH
► Sony FX30: amzn.to/4ifQyFF
► OC White Boom Arm Gen2: podhelp.me/OCWhiteBoomGen2
► K&M Boom Arm Mic Stand: podhelp.me/KMboomstandZon
*all links should be considered affiliate links. I encourage you to shop around for the best prices at the time you are viewing this. You can read my ethics statement via thepodcastersstudio.com/ethics. Thanks!
#FabFilter #EQMatch #ProQ #MV7+ #SM7B #podcasting #microphone #audioproduction #audiorecording
SUBSCRIBE: youtube.com/rayortega
INSTAGRAM: instagram.com/podcasthelper
Bluesky: https://rayortega.bsky.social/
