FabFilter Volcano 3 Filter 2026: $149, Four Filters

This Page Is Volcano 3. It Is Not Saturn 2, Pro-Q 4, or Movement.

Stay here for FabFilter Volcano 3 as a 2026 mix/FX insert: current shop price, 3.09 installer, four filters, per-filter Drive, High Quality oversampling, and drag-and-drop modulation. Do not use this file as a Saturn 2 saturation note, a Pro-Q 4 EQ walkthrough, or an Output Movement rhythmic-FX page.

FabFilter’s product page is the feature primary. The USD shop page is the live cart primary. The 18 November 2021 press release is the launch primary. The download page is the version primary. This September 2026 page is that current SKU, not a claim that Volcano 3 first shipped this year.^[1][2][3]

Saturn 2, Pro-Q 4, free filter lists, EchoBoy, and Movement live on related slugs. This file stops at Volcano 3.

Current SKU: Shop $149. Installer 3.09 (16 April 2026).

FabFilter’s press note announced Volcano 3 as immediately available on 18 November 2021: redesigned interface, vintage Bell / High-Low Shelf / Notch / All-Pass shapes, per-filter saturation, High Quality (4× oversampling). Launch list on that note: EUR 109, USD 129 or GBP 94. Cite it for history, not for today’s cart.^[3]

The USD shop page fetched for this article prints 149.00. Upgrade from Volcano 2 is a logged-in myaccount quote on that page. Educational accounts are 50% off on the same shop. Volcano 3 is listed inside Total, FX, and Creative bundles—bundle math is not this file.^[2]

Download page: Volcano 3 3.09 — 16 April 2026. KVR’s product listing also prints 3.09 and $149, with a marketplace upgrade-from-Volcano-2 line at $65—that $65 is a KVR Marketplace figure, not a public number on FabFilter’s shop page. All FabFilter downloads are 30-day evaluations until a licence key unlocks them.^[4][5]

Four Filters, Per-Filter Drive, Drag-and-Drop Modulation

Volcano 3 is a multi-filter FX engine, not a surgical EQ and not a one-knob cutoff. Product page: four analog-sounding filters with flexible routing (including per-channel and mid/side); shapes include non-linear bell, low/high shelf, notch and all-pass plus the classic high/low/band-pass set; Style settings add saturation and self-oscillation at high peak. Each filter has its own Drive for internal saturation, plus Level/Pan for parallel routings. A 6 dB/oct slope option is new versus earlier Volcano.^[1]

Launch note: High Quality mode is 4× oversampling. Modulation: as many 16-step XLFOs, XY controllers, envelope generators, envelope followers and MIDI sources as you add; connections are drag-and-drop. Envelope generators gained Attack/Decay/Release curve shaping; the envelope follower gained a transient-detection mode.^[3]

MusicTech (Robbie Stamp, 24 December 2021, rating 10) treated Volcano 3 as a customisable toolbox around four EQ/filter bands, and printed a filter-delay figure of up to 50 ms for combing/Haas when used on parallel filters. That 50 ms is MusicTech’s, not a number on the product-page highlights this file fetched—quote it as the review, and confirm in the live help if delay length is why you buy. Same review’s launch-era price was £94, matching the 2021 GBP list, not the 2026 USD shop.^[6]

• Static first Park one low-pass, pick a Style, raise Peak until the source changes, then add Drive. Split to a second filter only when lows and highs need different shapes—that is the four-filter argument versus a stock cutoff.
• Drive is per filter Product page: Drive adjusts internal filter saturation. Use it when a clean 24 dB/oct cut is too polite. It is not Saturn 2’s 28-style multiband saturator.^[1]
• Modulation is a second product in the same UI XLFOs, EGs, envelope followers, XY/sliders, MIDI sources, drag-and-drop, live visualisation. Use it when cutoff should follow a kick. Skip it when you only want a static high-pass.

Trial, Volcano 2 Upgrade, iOS AUv3 Is a Separate SKU

Install the macOS or Windows build from fabfilter.com/download. The 3.09 line is the current desktop SKU. Looking for Volcano 2 is an Additional Downloads path, not this page. The shop email after purchase sends a licence key that removes the 30-day evaluation.^[4][2]

The launch note also lists Volcano 3 as an AUv3 plug-in on the App Store for iOS. That is a separate store SKU from the desktop $149 line. Do not treat an iPad AUv3 receipt as a desktop licence, or the reverse.^[3]

DRM on KVR: serial number. FabFilter does not print iLok on the product page fetched for this file.^[5]

FL, Ableton, Logic: One Filter Pass Before You Buy

This checklist is the buy decision, not a filter-design course. Confirm 3.09 on the live download page if you are reading after a later point release.^[4]

1. Install the 30-day trial next to the stock filter you already use
   Keep the DAW’s Auto Filter / Filter / Channel EQ in the session. Duplicate a bass, a vocal send, and a drum loop. Unlock only if the trial instance is the one you actually leave on.^[2]
2. Start one filter, then add Drive and a second filter only if needed
   Match output level. If a single low-pass at moderate Peak does the job, you do not need four bands. If the sub smears when the mids bite, split and pick two Styles.^[1]
3. Arm High Quality before you print; skip it on a tracking insert if CPU is tight
   Launch note: High Quality is 4× oversampling. Use it on a bounce or a bus, not as a default on every live clip.^[3]
4. Leave Pro-Q 4 as EQ and Saturn 2 as saturator
   Volcano 3 is the filter/FX insert. Surgical cuts and 28-style multiband drive are related pages, not this file.
5. Stop before this page becomes a free-filter list or Movement
   Once the instance is up, style-by-style craft lives in FabFilter’s help. Free filter roundups and Movement are related slugs.

Saturn 2, Pro-Q 4, and Movement Are Out of Scope

This article does not review Saturn 2 saturation, does not walk Pro-Q 4, and does not score Output Movement. Those comparisons are related slugs. EchoBoy is a delay on a related page, not a filter substitute. A free-filter shortlist is a different article.

As of Sep 2026, Volcano 3 3.09 is the current download line. Recheck fabfilter.com/download if you are reading this after a later point release.^[4]