Halion 6 vs Falcon

[ChamomileShark]

I was thinking of getting Halion 6 when it was on sale (as it is right now). In the meantime I picked up Falcon which I'm only starting to look at.

I'm wondering if there is anything in Halion, particularly synthesis wise that Falcon doesn't have? I was interested in Halion 6s "next generation wavetable synthesis" but I already have Serum.

thoughts?

[Sampleconstruct]

The resynthesis in HALion 6 is outstanding, so is the wavetable editor. The multi-granular engine is up to par with Falcon's, the synth engine in H6 is ok, it lacks FM and physical modeling.

[ChamomileShark]

thanks Simon. It does seem it's a bit of a faff to get wavetables into Falcon - much easier it seems in Halion 6 and Serum..

[Sampleconstruct]

thanks Simon. It does seem it's a bit of a faff to get wavetables into Falcon - much easier it seems in Halion 6 and Serum..

Whereas resynthesizing samples in Serum often produces garbled and unusable results, in H6 it just works and sounds great, and one can actually determine markers in a sample from which a given waveform is created.

[Sampleconstruct]

Here is a video tutorial I made last year, explaining how the wavetable engine and re-synthesizing/wave-tabling samples works.

[ChamomileShark]

very impressive, Halion and the video. thanks!

[Romantique Tp]

Halion becomes slightly less attractive if you primarily use synth sounds and already own Falcon (because of the overlap in terms of features in this area), but it's still worth considering if you can afford it.

I find Halion a lot easier to use overall, and the window/screenset/docking system is a blessing once you get your head around it.

The synth engines are all pretty good, I think they're overall slightly better than Falcon's. Wavetable is way better. They're also working on a new FM synth engine.

Halion also doesn't require a dongle anymore, and comes with actual factory content. (Halion can be downloaded without the content as of 6.1.0, if needed)

The Halion team is definitely putting a lot of effort into this plugin. They listen to feedback. Almost everything added since Halion 4.0 was someone's feature request, and most (if not all) bugs reported since Halion 6 was released have been fixed.

[dmbaer]

A couple of additional points:

HALion 6 has a wavetable editor, and a very good one, at that. Falcon currently does not.

Falcon has more flexible modulation options. In HALion you cannot set up modulation routings to FX parameters. Falcon has marvelous drag-and-drop modulation setup. HALion just has a modulation matrix. However, HALion's modulation matrix is the best-designed one I've ever seen, so that's not much of a disadvantage, if it is even a disadvantage in the first place.

I think it would not be difficult to construct an argument that one of these instruments is superior to the other ... and it could go either way. They are both the best things around at the moment.

[SJ_Digriz]

Halion also doesn't require a dongle anymore

I thought they abandoned abandoning the dongle? Isn't it still required for now?

They're also working on a new FM synth engine

Is this even semi-officially official? I know it was discussed as one of the obvious engines they could do. But, I don't recall Gerrit saying "we're on it". Would be cool if true.

[SJ_Digriz]

HALion 6 has a wavetable editor, and a very good one, at that. Falcon currently does not.

I think it isn't just the wavetable editor. Halion has far deeper editing all over the place. Falcon has better modulation management and of course effects.

So, if deep editing is your thing Halion will have more. But if using a hybrid synth to design sounds is your thing, Falcon will probably be slightly better.

[Romantique Tp]

I thought they abandoned abandoning the dongle? Isn't it still required for now?

No, new users don't have to use the dongle at all if they don't want to.

It's only required if you're upgrading from Halion 5 or Halion Sonic 2, since you can't convert a hardware license to a software one. Someone from the eLicenser team mentioned that they're trying to make this possible in the future.

Is this even semi-officially official? I know it was discussed as one of the obvious engines they could do. But, I don't recall Gerrit saying "we're on it". Would be cool if true.

Matthias mentioned it a while ago in the german forum, and I think it was brought up a few times after that too. The way it was worded made it sound like they were going to develop either a FM or wavetable engine for Halion 6, and they decided to go with wavetable first. FM is so highly requested that I would be surprised if they didn't include it in the next version.

[ChamomileShark]

I decided to do the thing any right minded KvRer would do and bought Halion 6 so I now have it and Falcon. And Serum. And Kontakt. And...

[husker37]

Here is a video tutorial I made last year, explaining how the wavetable engine and re-synthesizing/wave-tabling samples works.

Great video. Thank you.

[husker37]

I decided to do the thing any right minded KvRer would do and bought Halion 6 so I now have it and Falcon. And Serum. And Kontakt. And...

Oddly enough, I have Halion and was considering getting Falcon. I _really_ don't need another synth though.

[Examigan]

There is an in-depth review of HALion 6 in the latest issue of SoundBytes Magazine:
http://soundbytesmag.net/review-halion-6-steinberg/