At the Frankfurt Musikmesse 2003, Steinberg unveiled the new 2.0 version of the acclaimed HALion VST sampler. Deliveries of HALion 2.0 begin today, with the good news that instead of the announced EUR 449.00 price, HALion 2.0 will be available slightly cheaper at only EUR 399.00.

Among the new features included in HALion 2.0 are brand new filters by the synthesizer specialists at Waldorf and the new 5.1 surround functionality. Because HALion 2.0 includes an impressive array of surround sound material by Wizoo, producers of the acclaimed high-end Urban Atmospheres surround library, users can start producing their own surround tracks straight away.

The new 32-stage envelopes can not only be synchronized to the tempo of the host software, they apparently also set new standards in user friendliness. Favourite settings can be stored as a preset and loaded again for each envelope. Also new in HALion 2.0 is the Step Envelope functionality, a freely configurable modulation source that is especially suited to rhythmic sound progressions.

HALion 2.0 offers exemplary support of a vast range of sample formats, featuring superior import of GIGA sample libraries; Roland S770 import is now also available.

The new Waldorf filters (12/24 dB Low Pass, 12/24 dB Hi Pass, Band Pass and Notch), the practically unlimited number of layers per program and the unsurpassed modulation capabilities also help put HALion 2.0 "into a class of its own".

Because the powerful disk-streaming engine allows the loading of sample libraries far larger than the RAM available, HALion 2.0 allows users to build even the most complex arrangements with their audio data. The sound management system also offers useful new archiving options.

HALion supports VST and DXi under Windows 2000/XP and VST when running on Mac OSX.