Steinberg HALion 7 (download)

General

Halion 7, finally! It is the package from Steinberg that is the counterpart of that other well-known package from that other German manufacturer. And although that other package has become the de facto package for library makers, there Halion is a bit more fun to make your own libraries with. And let it be clear that Halion is actually a comparably good package, and if you want the best in your studio, then you really just have both packages. However, if you don't have anything yet, and mainly want to tinker yourself, for that person Halion 7 is a very strong candidate!

Features of Steinberg Halion 7

It is a virtual sampler, but it also contains an extensive synthesis engine. In short, if you want to start with a sawtooth and then filter it, you don't need to create a sample of a sawtooth first, that kind of sound source is just in the engine. Indeed, with Halion 7 you also get an extended FM engine. It's by far the most important addition to Halion 7, and a hefty competitor to the other company (whose FM engine hasn't been updated in a very long time, shucks!). FM-LAB is the name of Steinberg's package, developed together with Yamaha. Besides the list of algorithms, you can also design your own, and the latter is actually the way to learn to understand FM properly. Eight operators, extensive modulation options, effects, filtering, you can go wild!

Further news

The 'Spectral Zone' includes time-stretching and resynthesis, formant-shifting and more, complete with a nice viewer! Modulating parameters (linking them) has been greatly improved. The user envelope has been greatly expanded with all kinds of tools to design the most complex envelopes and link them to your DAW's BPM. Many other minor and major fixes are present. Another important thing, for people not yet familiar with Halion, is LUA. This scripting language is supported so you can shape your own instruments fairly low-level. The other package also has its scripting signature, of course. However, LUA is a generic language, chances are you can do things with LUA that are a bit tricky in the other package. In short: Halion 7 is really there for the tinkerers, and take heart that in that particular area it might be a player that can't be beaten!