Halion Sonic

[Liero]

Well, our disagreement simply stems from your use of "traditional", then, which makes me think of just about everything but those horrible 90's attempts at realistic brass. A matter of taste.

[djanthonyw]

Omnisphere doesn't have any realistic brass at all, just synth brass with slow attack.

[Uncle E]

With Vst expression,many things are possible.

That's an excellent point. Hopefully that will emulate the Tyros Mega Voices and Super Articulations to some extent. Also, while I've personally heard some truly spectacular things done with Mega Voices and Super Articulations, I have to admit that I've never been able to pull it off myself.

[Uncle E]

The problem with HALion 4 is that Kontakt is now a de facto standard. If Steinberg wants to make any real impact it's not going to be enough to bring out a me-too product - HALion 4 has to offer something new and significantly better than Kontakt. That's a pretty tall order.

The fact that you can drag 'n drop files between Halion and Cubase always seemed huge to me, I don't understand why people don't make more of that. Also, integration with the VST Expressions has a lot of potential.

[Uncle E]

Why didn't they add FM and VL technology into this workstation? Just plain vanilla VA and ROMpler?

Doesn't it offer FM of samples, the same as what was on the SY/TG synths? In many ways, Halion Sonic does seem like a virtual SY99 so I'm not terribly surprised that Yamaha hasn't built all their technologies into this one workstation, though it's really a shame they haven't released individual FM and VL synths yet. I would love to see their entire PLG range ported to plug-ins.

[Uncle E]

Goliath sounds good, but still doesn't totally capture the vibe of a classic workstation. It seems to be too 'realistic' sounding if that makes sense.

That's an interesting point. I always thought the price is what turned people off to Goliath but even the current 50% discount hasn't generated any interest in it.

[Uncle E]

WTF is a "specialized instrument"? There is nothing specialized about Omnisphere, the very name conveys that it is an all-around workstation tool that tries to do supply tools for everything.

You're correct in terms of sheer capability but not in terms of execution. While Omnisphere excels at synthy stuff, it's almost completely lacking in workstation-type sounds.

Ominsphere and Alchemy are both romplers. They are other VA's too, just like Halion Sonic. What exactly is so different about them?

The presets and included sample sets are different. Somebody could release a workstation soundbank for Alchemy that would very likely be fantastic but it hasn't been done yet. Also, many of us are interested in the Motif-ish aspects of Halion Sonic, which are entirely missing from Omnisphere and Alchemy.

[djanthonyw]

Somebody could release a workstation soundbank for Alchemy that would very likely be fantastic but it hasn't been done yet.

Yep, if this was done I would purchase Alchemy or Omnisphere again in a heartbeat. It's really a niche that hasn't been filled properly in software and there's hardly anyone taking advantage of this fact.

[Uncle E]

Yep, if this was done I would purchase Alchemy or Omnisphere again in a heartbeat. It's really a niche that hasn't been filled properly in software and there's hardly anyone taking advantage of this fact.

An Alchemy bank would be really special. No one's ever done anything like that before. An Omnisphere bank wouldn't be unique like that but I'm sure Eric would do a tremendous job with the sounds.

[bduffy]

The problem with HALion 4 is that Kontakt is now a de facto standard. If Steinberg wants to make any real impact it's not going to be enough to bring out a me-too product - HALion 4 has to offer something new and significantly better than Kontakt. That's a pretty tall order.

The fact that you can drag 'n drop files between Halion and Cubase always seemed huge to me, I don't understand why people don't make more of that. Also, integration with the VST Expressions has a lot of potential.

I was just thinking that earlier, how at this point you should be able to just drag files from, say, Kontakt into Cubase. Strange.

[Compyfox]

I am a tiny little bit dissapointed that, once again, you can't "crossgrade" from it's initial engine "Halion" - which is misleading once more as well, too.

Being a Halion user since v1, I wish I would have been able to get it at a discounted price (since it seems to tbe the "next" Halion for the time being), but I guess that won't happen soon. If ever.

Same with Halion Orchestra 16bit Edition - you can't "upgrade" to the "full" version, or "crossgrade" yet again. At least not via the Shop (didn't see anything like it). This is IMO one of the (many?) dissapointing things with Steinberg...

But it's good to see that the Hypersonic fans (including those that wanted to become fans) and userbase finally have access to a more modern toy. Interesting to see how this turns out in the end.

[Caine123]

i luv hypersonic 2, but somehow im not impressed by those demos and i think i wait for more material and reviews.

[zouki]

Just what I'm thinking... Write this too in the Steinberg forum, just to show your disapointment, not because you believe in Santa Steinberg *<|;-}

Zouki

I am a tiny little bit dissapointed that, once again, you can't "crossgrade" from it's initial engine "Halion" - which is misleading once more as well, too.

Being a Halion user since v1, I wish I would have been able to get it at a discounted price (since it seems to tbe the "next" Halion for the time being), but I guess that won't happen soon. If ever.

Same with Halion Orchestra 16bit Edition - you can't "upgrade" to the "full" version, or "crossgrade" yet again. At least not via the Shop (didn't see anything like it). This is IMO one of the (many?) dissapointing things with Steinberg...

But it's good to see that the Hypersonic fans (including those that wanted to become fans) and userbase finally have access to a more modern toy. Interesting to see how this turns out in the end.

[djanthonyw]

The thing is the demos hardly show what the acoustic material sounds like. If I want synth stuff I'll use the million different software option that I already have.

[Ben [Camel Audio]]

Ominsphere and Alchemy are both romplers. They are other VA's too, just like Halion Sonic. What exactly is so different about them?

I don't agree that Alchemy is a rompler - to me that implies that you can't import your own samples and you can't create your own sounds. As SOS said in their review: "Alchemy provides more scope, flexibility and synthesis options than I've ever seen in any soft synth" which to me doesn't fit with the concept of it being a Rompler. Having said that, I do agree that Alchemy can fulfill the role of a Rompler thanks to the large amount of presets and samples it comes with, and the expanding library of add-on Sound Libraries.

Somebody could release a workstation soundbank for Alchemy that would very likely be fantastic but it hasn't been done yet. Also, many of us are interested in the Motif-ish aspects of Halion Sonic, which are entirely missing from Omnisphere and Alchemy.

Providing a workstation type bank is certainly something we will think about. I think part of my problem is that I'm not entirely clear on what workstation sounds are Are there any sounddesigner(s) who've worked with Alchemy whose sounds you would characterise as being workstation-esque - perhaps John Lehmkuhl? (I know he's done a lot of sound design for many HW keyboard manufacturers). Which categories of sounds would you most like to see? Which genres of music would you most associate with workstation sounds - pop..?

Thanks
Ben