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Hypersonic

Sound Module Plugin by Steinberg
MyKVRFAVORITE66WANT6
No Longer Available
Hypersonic
Hypersonic by Steinberg is a Virtual Instrument Audio Plugin for macOS and Windows. It functions as a VST Plugin and an Audio Units Plugin.
Product
Version
2.0
Product
Version
2.0
Instrument
Formats
Copy Protection
eLicenser (USB)
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30-Day: 1721; 7-Day: 1579; Yesterday: 4084

Hypersonic 2 Music Workstation contains thousands of sounds in a package programmed to spare resources. Boasting four sound engines, 1.7 GB of samples, and 1,800 factory presets, Hypersonic 2 offers an all but inexhaustible pool of sounds, effects and instruments.

Features:

  • Phenomenal sonic variety courtesy of a combination of different synthesizer engines (analog, FM, Wavetable) and a sample player.
  • Vast sound pool with patches, combis, drum kits and loops for almost every musical style from dance to classical.
  • Polyphonically playable bar with up to 1,024 voices, 32 stereo outs and 16 MIDI channels per instance.
  • Intuitive sound design using Hyperknobs for vital sound parameters, with MIDI learn included.
  • Polyphonic arpeggiator and an extensive effects section.

Latest User Reviews

Average user rating of 4.00 from 7 reviews
Hypersonic

Reviewed By MaliceX [all]
March 6th, 2007
Version reviewed: 2.0 on Windows

It's no secret Hypersonic 2 was kept on the down low to most people, but for those that have heard of this, because it's a ROMpler it wouldn't appeal to them due to the lack of sounds that would live up to a certain standard.

To me, Hypersonic 2 is actually one of the most versatile synthesizer workstation plugins (now standalone since v2) I've ever used. It was my first VSTi to ever touch and the upgrade has actually made a huge leap forward in terms of usability.

Everything on this synthesizer works out of the box. Comes with over 1800+ presets at your disposal, around 5 different synth engines (Sampler, Analog/US-1, Organ, FM, and Wavetable.) that can layer on top of each other. On TOP of that, it comes with a plethora of user-editable effects and parameters that just make things so much better and versatile, it's pretty much a sound programmer's dream in my opinion.

I will have to agree some of the samples provided for some of the more acoustic instruments (Strings particularly) aren't exactly fantastic, but the majority of them (Piano, Guitar, Woodwinds) do a much better job than any other sampler I've seen out in the market.

That lazy man's auto-mastering-hype thing on the config menu didn't make sense to me. Shove that on the low and use an external EQ as it makes HS2 in general tinny/unbreathable.

Aside from that, version 2 introduced the capability of making your own presets from scratch rather than editing an existing one. The edit interface is a bit touchy, however the workflow and its behaviour on output of sound implies endless sonic possibilities. It actually would be possible to simulate a Roland D-50 or any of the vintage Korg synthesizers with Hypersonic alone, only you have better samples to use than what they originally had. My personal favourite effect is the distortion amps. That's character there.

Too bad this didn't come with an FX VST, it would've been nice to be able to use its inbuilt effects elsewhere, but otherwise it's pretty much THE virtual Korg Triton (poking the hoax last year) availabie in the form of a VST instrument.

Well done Steinberg/Wizoo, though with Wizoo's disappearance it's unlikely there'll be anymore to do with this grand prince. :( Best value for money (shop sells for almost AU$600 bucks, beats buying a professional keyboard synth in my opinion), but not for the sample-enthusiast in mind, more for the synthesizer programmer enthusiast.
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Hypersonic

Reviewed By Fhangor [all]
January 30th, 2007
Version reviewed: 2.0 on Windows

Many people are pissed of Steinberg because of their synths. Maybe they have reasons (I own the virtual guitarist and The Grand 2 and I'm not sure if I should like them). But Hypersonic is really a great piece of work! Version 1 was a really amazing workstation, but version 2 hits the top of all synths around in my opinion. Just ask, why I use it as my main workhorse in all of my songs!

The most convincing fact about Hypersonic is the sound and the presets. There is nearly no synth which comes near it! Instruments like brasses, woodwinds and ethnics are amazing! The sound is clear and realistic. But not only the real instruments are the strength of this workstation. The synth part of Hypersonic is although convincing.

Compared to version 1 Hypersonic has been opened to sound creators in any point. You can touch all parameters, have access to many effects, all neccessary tools like an great arpeggator are included. In short words: a great place for sounddesigners to play.

Let's go through the sections:
USER INTERFACE:
I think it looks great. Maybe it's not the taste of everybody, but I like it.

SOUND:
Unbeatable. Would double the 10 if it would be possible.

FEATURES:
There is as far as I have seen nothing left you can't do with this workstation.

DOCUMENTATION:
It is rather good I think. The box comes along with a booklet which contains all you need to know.

PRESETS:
What shall I say! They are unbeatable. And the loading times of sample sets are really low!

CUSTOMER SUPPORT:
This is maybe the weakness of Hypersonic. There are even rumours that Hypersonic will not be supported in next times. But who needs support if all runs stable... :)

VALUE FOR MONEY:
I think the price is more than fair, cause you need no other synth!

STABILITY:
It never crashed my system until now. I would say, it is ROCK SOLID.

I really can recommend it to everybody. It will boost your creativity!
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Hypersonic

Reviewed By benjamind [all]
September 25th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1.12 on Windows

Hypersonic is the definitive one-for-all sound and synthesis bank if you're after a bit of everything.

It is a jack of all trades, master of a few. The rich assortment of synth leads, pianos and string sounds really are powerful for any sort of arrangement.

The user interface is good, there isn't much that could be improved and the miniature keyboard is great for trying out presets and the lovely legato/glide mode is brilliant with the right presets.

The sound quality is good, there are some great quality piano and string sounds, and most of them are good quality. The drum kits are of decent quality too.

The amount of features with this instrument is incredible, with legato and glide mode for flawless screeching lead and synth sounds.

Documentation is good, with an emphasis on those who have not used an instrument of a similar kind.

With at least 1000 presets and more if you love mixing sounds for more variation, it really is the most effective instrument for any MIDI arrangements that you want to get sounding right. There is just about everything covered.

I initally had trouble with the copy protection and the customer support was very good and emails were answered promptly with plenty of suggestions. I got it working very quickly.

Overall it is great value for money especially considering the enormous amount of presets and sounds to cover almost everything from A to Z.

Stability is great, it does crash every now and then but crashes are very rare.

A brilliant VST and it's worth every dollar. Even at $399 it is a brilliant concept - a fully fledged workstation system in your PC for a mere fraction of the cost of the hardware equivalent.
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Hypersonic

Reviewed By tchibo [all]
April 23rd, 2004
Version reviewed: 1.1.1 on Windows

I really like some of the sounds of HS (e-pianos, percussions, pads, accordions, nylon guitar). I dislike others (acoustic pianos without GP-2, brass sections, acoustic steel guitars, acoustic drums in the presets not clear enough because of the filter, I'll explain this later). Sound is always a question of personal taste, so it may be the best to listen to the demos on the Wizoo website.

HS has many many patches but just a few 'real' Combinations; that's a pity because they are really good. Most of the Combi sounds delivered are starter kits for multitimbrale arrangements, but not layered sounds. Some layers are included with the patches already; but I would really have liked to have more Combis. One big advantage: Wizoo released a free GM module (GM-4, ~100MB!) in Juli 2004. Great service.

The HS sounds are not fully editable; since version 1.1 it's at least possible to change samples to other ones of the same sound section. The filters are ok; what I personally dislike is the fact that active filters cut the hi edge of the sounds, even when CutOff is set fully open. Especially the preset acoustic drums sound a lot better if you turn off the filters (default: On).

Wizoo calls HS a 'workstation', and there really are some similarities to today's keyboard workstations (expandable, 16x multitimbrale, master and insert effects, many many patches), but there are also some issues that make it difficult to call this babe a 'workstation' (patches not fully editable, only few real combi sounds).

The performance is really great; on a today's computer (2 GHz and above) you can do a whole complicated arrangement without hitting the 50% CPU mark. Switching between patches is very fast compared to SampleTank for example.

The usability is great, too. The user interface is very straight forward, and six screen knobs called the 'hyperknobs' always control the most important parameters of the current patch, and can be controlled by external gear via MIDI CC - very useful.

I think the HS is a bit too hi-priced; the retail price is 399 Euro ATM, street price ~320 Euro. For 200 Euro, this one would be a real killer app.

I recently bought the GP-2 expansion module for Hypersonic (79 Euro), which gives you two new piano sounds: A natural piano using approx. 100 MB of your memory, and a really nice pop piano (70 MB). I like both sounds very much, found only two issues: The natural piano has one a bit 'darker' sample around C3 that's audible; that's a shame because the keys around C3 are some of the most used ones. The second issue: The hammer release noises on both piano models don't follow the stereo pan of the played key, which is a bit unrealistic (on the other hand: How many piano VSTi do you know supporting hammer release noises?). Apart from that: Good money to value for the GP-2.

Stability: Since GM-Module (1.1.1) some effects are not selectable anymore when editing; I hope this will be addressed soon.

The rating represents the plain HS without GP-2.
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Hypersonic

Reviewed By CadeBryant [all]
January 13th, 2004
Version reviewed: 1 on Windows

No one workstation is going to meet everyone's needs - nor was I expecting Hypersonic to do so. I own other synth-sampler plugins. I primarily wanted a "scratchpad" with which I could have immediate access to my creativity. In this regard, Hypersonic is more than satisfying. I can always go back and substitute sounds from other VSTis later.

User Interface: very intuitive and easy to learn. sounds are categorized by type, they load quickly, and it's easy to set the mix for each patch. Many commonly-tweaked parameters such as attack/release can be adjusted on the fly via "dials" on the bottom of the display. And any changes that you make to a sound are saved when you save the host sequence file.

Drums: there are some good drum sounds, and the way the kits are programmed makes it easy to set pan, effects, etc. for each sound group (kicks/snares/etc.) The "Drum Kit Constuctor" is the coolest and most intuitive method I've seen for customizing your own drum set: you can use the wheels to dial in the sound you want for each drum on the fly.

Synth sounds: a lot of good synth pads and bells. Not a loser in the group. Huge selection.

Pianos: the grand piano is very usable and works well within a mix. The sound may be a little bright for classical, but it works well for pop....definitely a cut above the pianos found in the average hardware workstation. The electric pianos, however, I was not as impressed with; they lack dynamism.

Strings: the ensemble strings have a realistic "body" - but the ensemble sound is a little too small and thin for my taste (I prefer rich, lush string pads). In addition, the abrupt attacks and releases sound Mellotron-ish (this problem can be mitigated somewhat by editing the envelopes). But within a mix, these strings work well.

Unfortunately there are no solo or section strings.

I wasn't too impressed with the harp....sounds more like a new-age "synth harp" than a real concert harp.

Woodwinds: unfortunately this was disappointing. The flute seems to have too much of an octave overtone, and if you strike a note hard it does an octave pitch leap (which is not always what you would desire). In addition, there is no oboe or english horn; the double-reeds are represented only by a fuzzy-sounding bassoon.

The alto sax is excellent - but the bari sax sounds like the alto sample tuned an octave lower....not cool. Where's the buzzy edge, the bottom-end kick?

Percussion: some good sounds here (particularly the ethnic percussion), but the "tubular bells" aren't realistic at all.

(In all fairness, most "workstation" keyboards don't have great orchestral sounds either. Since I have GPO and SR's "Symphony Strings" on order, the lack of good orchestral sounds in Hypersonic doesn't bother me).

Bottom line: a good all-around workstation for expanding your palette and sketching out your ideas. For $300 you can't go wrong. Have a look at it before buying SampleTank.
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Comments & Discussion for Steinberg Hypersonic

Discussion
Discussion: Active
pcf
pcf
20 December 2011 at 8:32pm

I would love to buy a copy of this, if anyone is selling. I am on a Mac and it's impossible to find a used copy. Please contact me if you know where to get one. :)

BlackImpact
BlackImpact
7 June 2012 at 1:45am

Buy Halion Sonic and you will obtain a legal license for Hypersonic 2.

Romantique Tp
Romantique Tp
29 January 2018 at 12:48am

Halion Sonic has new higher quality versions of almost every acoustic instrument sample added in Hypersonic 2, as well as several HS 1 instruments.

Don't waste your time with Hypersonic.

The Halion Sonic versions have every note sampled, many more velocity layers and multiple articulations. The weakest sounds from Hypersonic 2 have been replaced with sounds from the Yamaha Motif XF.

luvisyours
luvisyours
2 April 2012 at 9:11pm

how do you load sounds in H2,are there soundfonts or wave?

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