Halion Sonic

[djanthonyw]

From what I understand it's not an actual 'group buy', just a nice discount with a coupon code and that's fine by me.

[zvenx]

oh ok.......

thanks.
rsp

[quantum7]

30 minutes of HS testing/auditioning, and nothing impressed you ? That says a lot, and it also confirms my first impression of HS after hearing their audio demos. It's not a good first impression so far.

I wouldn't put a decision on only one persons opinion. A vast majority of people who own or have used Omnisphere, for example, think it sounds incredible. There were some people on this forum who supposedly tested Omniphere when it first came out and thought it sounded plain and uninteresting.

I would wait and hear what a lot more people have to say before developing an impression.

[zvenx]

that's fair enough and even better yet, play it yourself in a store or if ever there is a demo download.
rsp

[Muziksculp]

30 minutes of HS testing/auditioning, and nothing impressed you ? That says a lot, and it also confirms my first impression of HS after hearing their audio demos. It's not a good first impression so far.

I wouldn't put a decision on only one persons opinion. A vast majority of people who own or have used Omnisphere, for example, think it sounds incredible. There were some people on this forum who supposedly tested Omniphere when it first came out and thought it sounded plain and uninteresting.

I would wait and hear what a lot more people have to say before developing an impression.

Yes, a first Impression is not a final impression, but, first impressions are quite critical in judging a new product. So, I still have a bit of hope, and optimism, maybe HS is a great VST instrument. Hearing is Believing, so far this has not happened.

All it takes is some wonderful sounding audio demos, and the whole picture could change to a more positive one, but, until that happens, HS is not on my to buy list. There are so many other great sounding virtual synths to choose from, that sound much better than what I have heard in the HS demos. I use a Motif XS7 keyboard, and love the sounds the Motif XS can generate, both acoustic and synthetic, on the other hand, HS has 12 GB of sample memory, with a sophisticated synth engine, but so far it has failed to impress my ears.

[Uncle E]

College student FTW. I assume all I need is a scan of my school id card or my edu email addy.

A scan works best.

What's this group buy about?

Anything in the Group Buy section of our site receives a 15% discount when you enter the 'group' coupon code.

The educational edition is the same as the normal version technically, right?

That's correct.

[Uncle E]

I'm Dave Polich and I was part of the sound design team for Halion Sonic.

Awesome, thanks for being here! I'm sure we'd all love to hear some music you've done with it!

[Uncle E]

will HS2 users be able to upgrade + with the group buy?

I wish we could but Steinberg generally does upgrades directly.

[bobbybland]

Thanks, that's what I was thinking too, preciate the reply

[bobbybland]

More reviews please!! Frank how's your screencast coming out friend? We are waiting for ya

[TiUser]

Good to hear, Dave.

I'm still holding off, though, as I have all the synthesis I need [although what I want is a different matter... and the synth stuff you mention sounds tasty!]. What I'd like to hear is as others have said - the quality of the acoustic stuff and the integration of the 'auto-accompaniment' style features. If they're as good, then I'm sold.

+1 - that's exactly my current state too.

[bobbybland]

By now there are a few folks here that have had a chance to go through the acoustics.I too hope they are up to par with a real motif xs for example. The only way we'll find out though is if someone puts together some nice audio demo's or we get to demo it ourselves.. (bobby's pleading for more demo's) the steinberg website demo's of acoustic patches, we're admittedly not that great - so we wait..

[mbncp]

[..]I too hope they are up to par with a real motif xs for example.[..]

I would hope it to be much better than an XS or an M3. IMO most of the acoustic patches are just terrible on these worksations, at least when you compare with some of the best kontakt, independence, spectrasonics, ... libraries. Not as good as those as I would like quick loads but definitively much better than an xs or m3 as ram is less an issue with vsti.

[Muziksculp]

How about a few HS acoustic guitar audio demos (i.e Nylon Guitar, 6 string, and 12 string Steel Guitar), to compare them to Motif XS Guitars ?

If HS has better sounding acoustic guitars than the Motif XS, I will be quite confident that many of the other HS acoustic instruments sound great, and possibly as good, or better than the Motif XS acoustic sounds. Otherwise, the Motif XS wins !

[bobbybland]

I personally think the acoustical instruments in the Motif XS sound great for a workstation, the Tyros 2+3 sound better, if HS's acoustical instruments are near it, it's a keeper in my humble opinion. For 249.99 to have that sound in the box,I'd feel blessed.

Of course I have huge libraries that can blow them away in terms of realism,but I love the way great romplers sound,for most of my stuff.It's always a treat to me,when the two can party n have a good time on a track..