HALion 7

[FakeNatty]

There is no doubt in my mind that you get a lot for your money with H7 (especially with the cross grade taking it to under 220) but the lack of well integrated MPE is a little off putting (Falcon manages top pull this off and is actually one of my 'go to' synths for MPE) as is the GUI (in my experience, any instrument GUI made by Steinberg). I am definably going to give the demo a go (rumoured for Monday) and I want to like it...I think it will just come down to how 'fiddley' and cramped the GUI is on my (4K) Monitor.

For real, no MPE feels weird and out of place for something so powerful like Halion.

That's not even something I thought Halion would miss, so I never bothered to check if it has MPE. It feels like a standard feature that you just assume something like Halion would have.

[SLiC]

Just looing at it before I can run it (not licenced, just curios) a few comments.

Jez do I really need 'FIVE' programs installed just to run Halion!!! What a polava- Steinberg sucks at some installation and authorisation! At no time did it ask mw where I wanted to install the 35Gigs of content in the installer.

Looks small and quite hard to read before I run it (may be settings inside to scale it up I hope) and what is with those Windows 95 style pop up windows!

[FakeNatty]

Although it took them a long time to release Halion 7, it still feels like they rushed the release of Halion 7.

[SLiC]

This is what is installed if you want to demo or use HALion 7, seems a bit unnecessary.

[Examigan]

Hi guys.
I upgraded from Absolute 5 to Absolute 6.
Halion 6 content is 30.29GB, Halion 7 content is 30.32GB. What's the difference? It seems like some update in a field of FM-like patches not samples content.

More than 35 GB content, 3,700 presets and 15 instruments

Maybe redownload the content file?
In any event, it's on my buy list, but not until the next sale.

I do need to ask if anyone has installed this on their Win 7 system yet and if it's working as expected?

Not sure about that small difference mentioned there , but when upgrading, it mentioned I didn't need to download the original content again. However, the Tales content was seperate (5.32 GB) and had to be dl'ed.

[wvshpr]

For real, no MPE feels weird and out of place for something so powerful like Halion.

That's not even something I thought Halion would miss, so I never bothered to check if it has MPE. It feels like a standard feature that you just assume something like Halion would have.

Absolutely! And no cross-modulation between the engines either. It's frustrating how programmers of those monster synths are not really interested in modularity and expressivity. Why would I need another FM synth that I can't use to modulate the sample engine with? Why no MPE? It's like having a car with a fast engine, but only three wheels.

Luckily, with these "do it all synths", usually they don't do everything well. So maybe it's better to use separate synths that all do that one thing really well. Modularity would still be missing from that approach, however.

[FakeNatty]

This is what is installed if you want to demo or use HALion 7, seems a bit unnecessary.

OOH, 5 in 1 software bundle

[BenfordLaw]

There is no doubt in my mind that you get a lot for your money with H7

Thank God you didn't have to type out 'alion', let's just reduce it to 'H7' from now on.

[BenfordLaw]

That you don't initially see the included DX ROMs presets, without looking for them, tells you Steinberg / Yamaha don't want focus being on the vintage part either. Not because it doesn't do that well but because it would sell the synth's capabilities hugely short..

No, it tells you that they aren't very good at user interface design... Hiding patches and expecting users of a new piece of software to somehow magically know that they have to adjust a different setting to view those patches is idiotic. Just have ALL the patches available in different folders - it isn't difficult.

[Examigan]

That you don't initially see the included DX ROMs presets, without looking for them, tells you Steinberg / Yamaha don't want focus being on the vintage part either. Not because it doesn't do that well but because it would sell the synth's capabilities hugely short..

No, it tells you that they aren't very good at user interface design... Hiding patches and expecting users of a new piece of software to somehow magically know that they have to adjust a different setting to view those patches is idiotic. Just have ALL the patches available in different folders - it isn't difficult.

I'd like to set its default to show All Presets, but I don't think it can do that (?). I tried to rate some of the ROM presets 5 stars and then sort them, but you still have to select All Presets to actually see them.

[Examigan]

One feature I'd like added is to show which algorithm a preset uses, as it is blank (right above the algo display) unless you select a different one to replace it.

FM Lab.jpg

FM Lab 2.jpg

[j wazza]

Why would I need another FM synth that I can't use to modulate the sample engine with?

same here, i don't need yet another fm synth that does the same as all others. I would definitely be much more interested if the fm oscillators could use samples, or even wavetables made using halion's amazing wavetable, spectral and resynthesis engines. Im a bit confused about the difference between fm zone and fm lab, i thought fm zone looked a bit more modular/customisable

[sin night]

This is what is installed if you want to demo or use HALion 7, seems a bit unnecessary.

OOH, 5 in 1 software bundle

Well, it's the Steinberg ecosystem and it's not that different from other brands....

Every big brands have a download manager to download and install their products, it's just a matter of deciding if the licensing and library management functions are integrated in that software (think Arturia or Native Instruments) or if they have dedicated apps (like in Steinberg case)... regardless of the design decision, you'll need those function anyway.


Steinberg also has the legacy eLicenser software because of the need to upgrade/mark the legacy licenses when switching to the new Steinberg Licensing system (Halion 6 was eLicenser based, Halion 7 uses the new system, so when you upgrade your previous license will be marked as "upgraded to 7" on your old dongle). Maybe it's not convenient for new users who don't have any eLicenser based products, but I guess it will still be there untill the end of the migration to the new licensing system (or as long as Steinberg offers an upgrade path for eLicenser based products).

[fmr]

There is no doubt in my mind that you get a lot for your money with H7 (especially with the cross grade taking it to under 220) but the lack of well integrated MPE is a little off putting (Falcon manages top pull this off and is actually one of my 'go to' synths for MPE) as is the GUI (in my experience, any instrument GUI made by Steinberg). I am definably going to give the demo a go (rumoured for Monday) and I want to like it...I think it will just come down to how 'fiddley' and cramped the GUI is on my (4K) Monitor.

You can try Halion Sonic 7 now. It'll be in your Steinberg Download Assistant now. It'll give you a decent look at what the full blown version will be like.

KEv

How do you activate the trial?

[SLiC]

There is no doubt in my mind that you get a lot for your money with H7 (especially with the cross grade taking it to under 220) but the lack of well integrated MPE is a little off putting (Falcon manages top pull this off and is actually one of my 'go to' synths for MPE) as is the GUI (in my experience, any instrument GUI made by Steinberg). I am definably going to give the demo a go (rumoured for Monday) and I want to like it...I think it will just come down to how 'fiddley' and cramped the GUI is on my (4K) Monitor.

You can try Halion Sonic 7 now. It'll be in your Steinberg Download Assistant now. It'll give you a decent look at what the full blown version will be like.

KEv

How do you activate the trial?

I don't think you can trial it yet
https://www.steinberg.net/vst-instruments/halion/trial/