HALion 7

[Sampleconstruct]

Is there any other synth that does something similar than that HALions spectral synth thingie?
Really like how you can take a single note synth sample and re-synthesize it like that...

Avenger 2 has a good spectral oscillator, so does Alchemy (Logic).

[dionenoid]

And the Library Manager is inside Halion 7?

The Download Assistant did NOT let me specify where to install.. it's just incredibly dumb and installs it all in the download directory.

The Library Manager is a separate program, a small utility that is installed when you first install anything from Steinberg.

After you first installed Halion and its libraries, you can freely move any library to any location using the Library Manager. And it does all this without having to be online or log-in or something. It's very straightforward to use, and moves even huge banks within an instant.

And then when you open Halion it's all there in one place in your instrument browser. Without having to search thru various locations, like with other brands.

[IvyBirds]

I'd appreciate if you could compare the FM to the Digitone, which you also seem to own? I find the Digitone to be the best sounding FM device on the market, especially with regard to what its Feedback parameter sounds like (very smooth, not harsh). How does Halion compare?

Owned a Digitone for a a long time, but I am now pretty much all ITB and the only hardware I own is my Montage that I gig with

On Digitone you get a simplified 4 op FM engine. The entire premise is designed to be subtractive. You use FM to create rich harmonic content that you then run through a subtractive synthesis model to filter and sculpt that content

On Digitone you don't get quite the same options you do with the Yamaha FM Paradigm used in the various Yamaha FM Synths from the 1980s, those Synths didn't have filters

With HALion7 you get both paradigms and a whopping 8 operators and you can go crazy crazy deep with FM programming

But you don't have to use all 8 operators or even get super deep

It's very easy to keep it quite simple and just use a subtractive model, you can even turn off say 4 or 5 operators and just use 3 or 4, but use an algorithm where none of those have modulators and all of them are connected to the amplifier. You can then use any of the presets waveforms or sculpt your own and treat it like it's a 3 or 4 oscillator analog style subtractive synth there is just a ton of options to make it as simple or as complex as you want

[mothra]

Nope. Maybe you guys use PC and it works differently there but at least on my Mac, with the latest version of Download Assistant, you only can specify a download folder and a "target" folder but that one is also the download folder. It's really really weird and is not at all explained.. and also the instructions on Steinbergs own website list a completely different install experience which doesn't happen.

I don't think the PC folks are actually paying attention to how the installation is being done.. On the Mac (and PC) the Download Assistant downloads everything to the DOWNLOAD folder first, after it has everything it needs then it will move your libraries to the location you specified separately in the Library Manager app.

It never goes straight to the library location, the installers/libraries go to the Download folder set in the SDA first, and are THEN distributed where they're supposed to go, just like all of the application installers, read me files,etc. Occasionally you'll get some libraries it wont move for whatever reason (X-treme didn't move over for me). In that case, just manually copy the files to your library location, and then double click them. The Library Manager will open up and re-register everything where it is.

[SLiC]

I think whichever way you looking at it its a hot mess for someone new to Steinberg. You have to install 4 separate programs just to install HALion, that cant be good!

[Examigan]

I noticed something weird when I was checking out X-Stream presets when using Halion 7.1. I loaded the one called All Aboard the Feels Train. I turned up the speed setting at the upper left and can hear it sounds like some sort of vocal track.

I dragged a different Wav file I have of a sampled pick slide on a guitar in to the space for that, and can see the spectral view of it does change there.

If I click the Play arrow at the upper left, it plays it OK with my sample's sound.
If I click on a key on the buit-in keyboard at the bottom, it plays a blend of the previous vocal type of sample from the original preset and the guitar wav file I dragged there.

[Sampleconstruct]

There is probably a second layer playing, many of the X-Stream presets use two layers.

[BBFG#]

On my PC systems, they do not go to Downloads at all. Everything goes to a portable drive under the Steinberg folder I have set up and set to. It does however always creates a subfolder it automatically names as "WIN64". And if you do more than one download/install, then it overwrites the previous one(s). Which means to save it, I have to rename that folder or move the file in it to another. It is a PITA. Also the library can be set to my preference, but it's not always automatic as it seems to prefer them under the C/ProgramData/Steinberg/Content folder and even resetting them to a secondary drive propagates a list of shortcuts on the C drive. And yes, the convoluted way of all this is the major consideration of removing because of the relationship fatigue I get from it.

[Examigan]

There is probably a second layer playing, many of the X-Stream presets use two layers.

You're right...I didn't notice the 2nd layer was there.

[bmanic]

or instance there is no way to modulate the envelope depth for the filter.

Each modulation has it's own depth and any modulation in the matrix can be affected by any other modulation source. Just use the drop down to choose a source. You can even use buses and determine nonlinear response curves, as well as min max range:

Hmm.. I still don't get it. Can you show me exactly how I would assign keyboard tracking to the filter envelope amount knob?

[bmanic]

I think whichever way you looking at it its a hot mess for someone new to Steinberg. You have to install 4 separate programs just to install HALion, that cant be good!

It would be a little more tolerable if there was a simple PDF file or webpage that shows exactly how you should do it.. but that is not the case. The information on Steinbergs website is 100% wrong, at least for Mac install. So a new user like me literally needs to do the whole trial and error thing and look up information on various forums. For such a large company with a few highly prestigious products spanning more than 30 years, it is a complete embarrassment. It absolutely boggles the mind that they don't seem to have a single person hired at their company that looks after these kinds of things.

I'm pretty tech savvy so it wasn't really a problem, more of a big nuisance.. but I'm sure they've lost quite a few sales from the quiet ones who just don't bother after the first try.

[Gam456]

or instance there is no way to modulate the envelope depth for the filter.

Each modulation has it's own depth and any modulation in the matrix can be affected by any other modulation source. Just use the drop down to choose a source. You can even use buses and determine nonlinear response curves, as well as min max range:

Hmm.. I still don't get it. Can you show me exactly how I would assign keyboard tracking to the filter envelope amount knob?

My guess. In the mod matrix
add filter enveloppe as source 1
key follow as source 2
cut off as destination

[Examigan]

or instance there is no way to modulate the envelope depth for the filter.

Each modulation has it's own depth and any modulation in the matrix can be affected by any other modulation source. Just use the drop down to choose a source. You can even use buses and determine nonlinear response curves, as well as min max range:

Hmm.. I still don't get it. Can you show me exactly how I would assign keyboard tracking to the filter envelope amount knob?

My guess. In the mod matrix
add filter enveloppe as source 1
key follow as source 2
cut off as destination

I think they want the target to be the envelope amount, not to be a source of modulation.

[bmanic]

I want the Envelope Amount to be the target and the source to be key tracking. But the issue is that Filter Envelope Amount is NOT available as a target anywhere to my knowledge. There are many more knobs within the various sections of HALion that are not listed anywhere as modulation targets, many of them really useful and often found in other synths as targets.

This leads me to believe that HALion is rather restricted in it's synthesis capabilities.

However, there may be a workaround. I could use the user envelope and set it to cutoff, then use key tracking to modulate the amount of this. Will investigate.

[Gam456]

Many synth doesn't have the env depth as a destination
It's just a choice