# Halion 6 shape of things to come



## ZeroZero (Jan 25, 2017)

I know that people use Kontakt and its the leader in this field for years, it's unlikely there will be a mass migration to Halion. But, Halion has always been a reasonably capable sampler, less scripting in my version (Halion 4). 

However, the new Halion 6 is out in February. There are a few teasers but the one that may interest people is the drag and drop facility to create user instruments. Within a few minutes (it seems) it is possible to create a whole instrument layer it, add knobs and assign them to different parameters.

This seems to steal a march (pun intended) from the current version of Kontakt. 

It's called the "Macro Page designer" Take a look here:

https://www.steinberg.net/en/produc...at_is_new_in_halion_6_and_halion_sonic_3.html


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## ysnyvz (Jan 25, 2017)




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## ZeroZero (Jan 25, 2017)

Fair point  Yet ( don't want to say but) there is some movement here. I think the guy who created that String thing is non 'orchestrally centric' . Hopefully the concept of a drag and drop interface for GUIs is useful, though 'engineering' (e.g. eq) tools is not enough for _real_.


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## Brian2112 (Jan 25, 2017)

Yea. Those are probably the worst strings I've ever heard. 
Brass sounds almost as bad. 
Don't need more frickin pianos. 
Tired of wavetable vomit. 

HOWEVER

Halion really is a beast in a lot of ways. Most sounds are very usable and cool, and I love the granular stuff. Lots of sound design possibilities so I plan to upgrade from Halion 5. Probably won't touch the strings though.


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## InLight-Tone (Jan 25, 2017)

Kontakt is of course the go to sampler, but look into UVI Falcon to compliment it and process samples with granular and all the rest. A VERY deep synth/sampler, just bought it and am VERY pleased. The good thing about Halion is of course the Cubase integration.


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## d.healey (Jan 25, 2017)

HISE is what developers should be looking at. Much more powerful scripting that any other sampler - http://hise.audio/


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## ZeroZero (Jan 25, 2017)

I am just hoping that the drag and drop idea (for controls) would inspire NI for Kontakt 6. The whole family are there and don't want to move down the road. Imagine if there were, for example, a 'real' vibrato dial that provided non mechanical custom vibrato, as a knob, that you could drag and drop onto an 'adjacent' additional gui space. Additional overlay controls. Perhaps another customisable dial specifically for staccato samples so that you could craft your staccato for more/less attack phase, more or less tail. I am a dreamer, but something... along these lines...

Kontakt 'scares' most people, including me (and I code) drag and drop is easy and visually satisfying. I remember Access Database designer programmes that did this - decades ago.


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## ZeroZero (Jan 25, 2017)

Brian2112 said:


> Yea. Those are probably the worst strings I've ever heard.
> Brass sounds almost as bad.
> Don't need more frickin pianos.
> Tired of wavetable vomit.
> ...



 I second that emotion...


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## InLight-Tone (Jan 25, 2017)

d.healey said:


> HISE is what developers should be looking at. Much more powerful scripting that any other sampler - http://hise.audio/


That's very interesting and ambitious but I never trust open source projects over the long haul as developers burn out. I trust that UVI will continue to develop Falcon so I'm going to stick with it and you have the Lua language embedded for scripting or even algorithmic midi manipulation ...


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## d.healey (Jan 25, 2017)

InLight-Tone said:


> That's very interesting and ambitious but I never trust open source projects over the long haul as developers burn out. I trust that UVI will continue to develop Falcon so I'm going to stick with it and you have the Lua language embedded for scripting or even algorithmic midi manipulation ...


It's a commercial project so hopefully that will provide incentive for long term development and as it's written in a very standard language with JUCE for UI and well documented it won't be difficult for other developers to fork it or take it on in the future should the current developer lose interest.

I can think of many long lasting open source projects - Linux is a good one  I can also think of wonderful proprietary software that the developers neglected (like Kontakt actually) or that was bought up and never seen again like KeyMap Pro. I rather know that if a developer gives up or goes bust I can grab the source code myself and either work on it or pay someone to.

HISE has OOP javascript and it exports directly to VST or AU (including Linux native VST) so doesn't require customers to purchase something like UVI or Kontakt which opens the market up to anyone with a DAW.


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## InLight-Tone (Jan 25, 2017)

I hear you and you make good points. I spent a lot of time in Linux myself trying to do in Micro$oft but all that wore me out over time so I caved in to Windows to get some music done...


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## d.healey (Jan 25, 2017)

InLight-Tone said:


> I hear you and you make good points. I spent a lot of time in Linux myself trying to do in Micro$oft but all that wore me out over time so I caved in to Windows to get some music done...


Yeah that's the problem with Linux, not good for more specialized tasks like music production, hopefully it will catch up one day.


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## Geocranium (Jan 25, 2017)

Are you telling me this isn't the most realistic sampled big band ensemble that's ever graced your ears?


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## ZeroZero (Jan 25, 2017)

OMG that is awful!


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## novaburst (Jan 25, 2017)

I have Halion 5 not really anything there that will push for a change, it is all colourful and a few things for the EDM guys.

not sure why they don't open up for library integration or is this a script thing, all in all for 2017 it does seem like a lot of fire works and pops and bangs, but nothing really different.


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## Jaap (Jan 25, 2017)

ZeroZero said:


> OMG that is awful!



I can only second that...

I do love the Steinberg team for making Cubase and Nuendo and never really got into Halion, but for sure this is not getting me warmed up.


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## Brian2112 (Jan 25, 2017)

Jaap said:


> I can only second that...
> 
> I do love the Steinberg team for making Cubase and Nuendo and never really got into Halion, but for sure this is not getting me warmed up.


Despite my earlier mocking, Halion really is pretty cool. Yes the highlighted "libraries" are hideous, but I thought they were in Halion 5 as well. The thing is, very much like UVI Falcon, you can do really sick hybrid stuff. You can mix sampling, analog, granular, FM, and now wavetable all in one patch. It's pretty powerful if you think of it more as a sampling synth than a Kontakt rival. Don't think we'll see CSS on Halion anytime soon but depending on your needs, it's very useful.


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## heisenberg (Jan 25, 2017)

ZeroZero said:


> OMG that is awful!



EDIT:

Just listened...oh dear.

It is possible they will have a thirty day e-Licenser trial on it, so we might be able to determine if the app is truly useful.


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## ZeroZero (Jan 26, 2017)

heisenberg said:


> EDIT:
> 
> Just listened...oh dear.
> 
> It is possible they will have a thirty day e-Licenser trial on it, so we might be able to determine if the app is truly useful.



FYI they often do have a thirty day trial of VSTs, but only a couple of months after the launch.


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## ZeroZero (Jan 26, 2017)

Geocranium said:


> Are you telling me this isn't the most realistic sampled big band ensemble that's ever graced your ears?




This brass typifies the "Engineering/Musical" divide for me (no dig to engineers here). The engineering approach is all about frequency cut offs, eqs, envelopes and the like, but the musician - the guy that plays the sax never thinks about these things and when they learn to play their instrument they never encounter these terms. They think about embroucher, attack (of the reed) vibtrato (no not the mechanical engineering type) , phrasing, and musical things. 
This is why I don't think these 'synthetic controls' have any truly significant meaning for a sax section beyond warping it. Reverb possibly excluded.


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## Pschelfh (Jan 26, 2017)

I was excited at first, but the strings, brass, piano and wavetable demos tempered that quite a bit. I will stick with Halion 5 atm and will take a good look at Falcon, seems the way to go for an hybrid synth/sampler.


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## Jimmy Hellfire (Jan 26, 2017)

The library demos are indeed surprisingly terrible.

But wouldn't that be the wrong way to judge a sampler anyway? Who cares about what libraries it ships with. It's as significant as the Kontakt Factory Library.


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## ysnyvz (Jan 26, 2017)

Jimmy Hellfire said:


> But wouldn't that be the wrong way to judge a sampler anyway? Who cares about what libraries it ships with. It's as significant as the Kontakt Factory Library.


What makes these libraries ridiculous to me:
1. These libraries are getting released in 2017 (they are unacceptable with today's standards)
2. They are made by Steinberg (one of the best music software companies in the world)
3. The guy in the videos keeps saying how incredible they are (which means he has no idea about realistic samples of today)
4. They named the brass library "Hot Brass"

If I were boss of Steinberg, I would fire the sampling team. Because they are hurting Steinberg's reputation.


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## Musicam (Jan 26, 2017)

ysnyvz said:


> What makes these libraries ridiculous to me:
> 1. These libraries are getting released in 2017 (they are unacceptable with today's standards)
> 2. They are made by Steinberg (one of the best music software companies in the world)
> 3. The guy in the videos keeps saying how incredible they are (which means he has no idea about realistic samples of today)
> ...



Friends, great truth. Something wrong between Dorico and Halion 6. Steinberg have to think this marketing. Horrible! For me is better Club Cubase, amazing videos!


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jan 30, 2018)

I agree 100% that the HALion 6 strings and brass are pretty terrible, and of course I'll never use them. If you're looking for a sampler/hybrid that has great libraries that comes with it or you can buy--HALion is not for you. 

What makes HALion 6 special is that it has tools to automate making your own sampled instrument. For example, you hit one note, pause, then the next note, pause, etc. and HALion makes all the files, names them and arranges them on the keyboard to build your (basic) instrument. And if you want to share that instrument, HALion also comes with a host of knobs, sliders, buttons, etc for you to make your own interface. Very intuitive--drag them into place, and then assign their functions in a way similar to using MIDI learn. You want a picture? Drag one on.

These instruments can be exported and played by anyone in the free HALion Sonic SE player available on the Steinberg site. 

For those who don't know, HALion a hybrid sampler/synth that allows you to combine 4 layers into a "program" (preset/patch) There are 5 possible layers--synth (including typical analog, but also wavetable & granular), sample, instrument, drum, and sliced loops. You can then assemble up to 64 programs into a multi. So when you're judging, for example, the two pianos that come with HALion 6, perhaps it makes more sense to think about how they can become elements in complex hybrid sounds, rather than to compare them with your favorite Kontakt piano libraries (where they probably lose). They are decent, but they shine in preset multis and the multis you make yourself. 

There are also many synths in HALion that I think are quite good, particularly the wavetable synth Anima, the granular synth Auron, and the moog-style Analog synth Voltage. You're meant to layer this stuff up in HALion 6. 

I haven't been exploring HALion that long, but the third thing that has my attention is a very intriguing arpeggiator-thingie called the Flex Phraser. If you have Cubase, you may have noticed it in HALion SE instruments like FlexPhrased Folk Nylon. In fact, every guitar sound that involves strumming, arpeggios, or finger-picking in HALion SE uses the FlexPhraser. With HALion 6 you have an enormous amount of flex phraser arps available for guitar, piano, bass, strings, drums, etc. in various genres.






All of these can be assigned to any instrument or layer and can be adjusted. The flex phrasers work in two ways. If you hold down one key they play something like a strum or a riff or an arp. But if you play chords it follows your playing, no matter what you play (no limitations on chords). Although I have many guitar apps, I find the flex phraser strumming and picking to be the most playable I've ever found. As a guitar player I tend to be constantly changing chords and a lot of libraries choke and stutter unless I make changes on the measures. The HALion stuff is the first time I've ever got a guitar VI to play the way I want it to. And there are adjustable dynamics built into them which make them more realistic. If you don't like the HALion guitars, the Flex Phrasers can be saved as MIDI files and used with any instrument you like. 

If you have Cubase, try the Halion SE guitar picking and strumming and see what you think.


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## germancomponist (Jan 30, 2018)

I am sure that Halion can sound very good when very good sample libraries are done for this sampler. Why not?


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## Reid Rosefelt (Jan 30, 2018)

germancomponist said:


> I am sure that Halion can sound very good when very good sample libraries are done for this sampler. Why not?


Perhaps I didn't explain myself well, and I apologize for that. I love Halion 6 and think there are many, many reasons why people should get it.

There's no reason why very good sample libraries can't be made for HALion 6. It's just that obviously very few developers are doing that yet. If what you are looking for today are already-existing products by Spitfire, Cinematic Studio series, Bohemian Violin, Embertone, Impact Soundworks, Heavyocity, and a hundred other companies, then HALion 6 isn't the best choice today. You may have a very long wait.

HALion is not a sampler, like Kontakt. It's a hybrid, more like Falcon, and has some characteristics of Omnisphere too.

I was trying (failing I guess) to spotlight that there are wonderful things that you CAN do with HALion 6, and you can't do with as well or as easily with any other product. People were putting down the string and brass sounds in this thread, and I wanted to speak up for what I feel are some of the strengths I am discovering as a new user.

Using HALion as a guitar strummer is like using my Omnisphere box as a doorstop. It represents less than .0000001% of what it can do. It is a very, very deep instrument. But all the same I've spent hundreds of dollars more trying to get the very satisfying results I've found using HALion as a guitar-pickin VI.

If you own Kontakt or Omnisphere it's only $249 for the crossgrade and you get a hell of a lot for that.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 14, 2018)

For the record, Halion 6 is 50% off until February 19th. $175. 

https://www.steinberg.net/en/promotion/valentines_day.html


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## EvilDragon (Feb 14, 2018)

And a further 25% off if I order via my VAT registered company...

Yeah I think I'm gonna do it. 140€, nice!


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## Reid Rosefelt (Feb 14, 2018)

I just paid $249 for it recently.  That's the crossgrade price available all the time if you have Kontakt or Omnisphere. 

But I'm getting a lot of use out of it.


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## germancomponist (Feb 14, 2018)

It seems that I have to buy it, because I became curious, and I love experimenting.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Feb 18, 2018)

the bus routing shines in H6.


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## Synthmorph (Mar 12, 2018)

*Steinberg HALion | Behind-the-Scenes Developer Interview*
A behind-the-scene *interview *with the head of the Steinberg instrument development team, where he explains the story and vision of their hybrid sound creation system: *HALion*


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## Zoot_Rollo (Mar 12, 2018)

Synthmorph said:


> *Steinberg HALion | Behind-the-Scenes Developer Interview*
> A behind-the-scene *interview *with the head of the Steinberg instrument development team, where he explains the story and vision of their hybrid sound creation system: *HALion*



excellent!

thanks!

from the article,

"Besides that, we are working on some pretty cool new ideas. Some of them will already be part of a bigger maintenance update this summer."

WHOOT!


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## Sample Fuel (Sep 19, 2018)

Since we seem to be the only developer making a real splash in the Halion platform at the moment (hopefully more developers will pop up) I thought I would point you all to a post for our 4th instrument coming October 16th...

https://vi-control.net/community/threads/sample-fuel-announces-revolution-reverse-instrument.75045/

Please check out our other instruments at www.samplefuel.com


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## givemenoughrope (Sep 19, 2018)

TigerTheFrog said:


> What makes HALion 6 special is that it has tools to automate making your own sampled instrument. For example, you hit one note, pause, then the next note, pause, etc. and HALion makes all the files, names them and arranges them on the keyboard to build your (basic) instrument. And if you want to share that instrument, HALion also comes with a host of knobs, sliders, buttons, etc for you to make your own interface. Very intuitive--drag them into place, and then assign their functions in a way similar to using MIDI learn. You want a picture? Drag one on.



Is this possible in Halion 5? Is there a tutorial on this or is it pretty easy to do?


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## sostenuto (Sep 19, 2018)

Sample Fuel said:


> Since we seem to be the only developer making a real splash in the Halion platform at the moment (hopefully more developers will pop up) I thought I would point you all to a post for our 4th instrument coming October 16th...
> 
> https://vi-control.net/community/threads/sample-fuel-announces-revolution-reverse-instrument.75045/
> 
> Please check out our other instruments at www.samplefuel.com



Will HALion Sonic SE 3 continue to be adequate for Sample Fuel growth and creativity?
Is HALion 6 a likely move in _near_ future ??


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 19, 2018)

givemenoughrope said:


> Is this possible in Halion 5? Is there a tutorial on this or is it pretty easy to do?


Those two things are new features in HALion 6. You can read about them HERE and there are tutorials.

There's a video on making an instrument in HALion 6 HERE.


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## Reid Rosefelt (Sep 19, 2018)

sostenuto said:


> Will HALion Sonic SE 3 continue to be adequate for Sample Fuel growth and creativity?
> Is HALion 6 a likely move in _near_ future ??


What's great about all the instruments that anybody can create in HALion 6 is that they can be played in Sonic Free player, which you can download from the Steinberg site.

It's similar to the free UVI player and Falcon. You can play all the instruments through the Sonic free player, but if you have HALion 6 you can do a lot more with them.


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## Zoot_Rollo (Sep 19, 2018)

Halion update was rumored earlier this year.


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## Sample Fuel (Sep 19, 2018)

sostenuto said:


> Will HALion Sonic SE 3 continue to be adequate for Sample Fuel growth and creativity?
> Is HALion 6 a likely move in _near_ future ??




2 posts up is correct about the HALion Sonic SE FREE player.....you will not need to buy HALion 6. What is cool about the FREE player is that it has almost every function of HALion 6 built into the hidden engine. We as developers bring features to the surface allowing the amazing capabilities for the FREE player. So no you would not have any major advantages of using our instruments in HALion 6 vs the FREE player.


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## Patryk Scelina (Aug 10, 2019)

Amazing sounds. Great job. I really love Halion 6 and I just think it's only a matter of having much more cool libraries like your on the market to make it more popular. Most people don't like Halion because it's factory library is mostly trash. At least when deep sampled instruments are concerned. Good luck


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## Zoot_Rollo (Aug 10, 2019)

d.healey said:


> HISE is what developers should be looking at. Much more powerful scripting that any other sampler - http://hise.audio/




how did i miss this?

thanks - checking it out now.

still waiting for HALion 7 - mentioned last year.


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## shawnsingh (Aug 13, 2019)

Where was it mentioned, can you please provide a link? Anything about what features it might have?

Thanks!


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## Zoot_Rollo (Aug 13, 2019)

shawnsingh said:


> Where was it mentioned, can you please provide a link? Anything about what features it might have?
> 
> Thanks!




link is long gone, didn't save it.

all i remember is it was planned to be released by end of 2018.

no mention of features.


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## Sample Fuel (Aug 14, 2019)

Patryk Scelina said:


> Amazing sounds. Great job. I really love Halion 6 and I just think it's only a matter of having much more cool libraries like your on the market to make it more popular. Most people don't like Halion because it's factory library is mostly trash. At least when deep sampled instruments are concerned. Good luck



I have always liked the Halion platform and consider it and UVI the best for a "hybrid" sample/granular/synth approach to sound design. Steinberg is finally putting a bit more effort into promoting the platform. They obviously did a a pretty good orchestral library with Orchestral Tools recently and now they are slowly rolling out 3rd party instruments. We have quite a few instruments that have all had major updates lately. There are also FREE "LITE" versions of all our Halion Sonic SE FREE platform instruments now. You can grab them at www.samplefuel.com if you want to check them out.


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## Patryk Scelina (Aug 14, 2019)

Sample Fuel said:


> I have always liked the Halion platform and consider it and UVI the best for a "hybrid" sample/granular/synth approach to sound design. Steinberg is finally putting a bit more effort into promoting the platform. They obviously did a a pretty good orchestral library with Orchestral Tools recently and now they are slowly rolling out 3rd party instruments. We have quite a few instruments that have all had major updates lately. There are also FREE "LITE" versions of all our Halion Sonic SE FREE platform instruments now. You can grab them at www.samplefuel.com if you want to check them out.


Yes I saw that. I actually downloaded one already. I'm coming back home this weekend and will play around with those for sure.


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