Halion 5 has four separate sound generation engines: a highly capable sample player unit, a three-oscillator (plus) subtractive synthesizer, an organ device that produces the sound of a classic drawbar organ, and finally a granular synth engine.Ĭomparisons to two other high-end instruments beg to be made, those being to Kontakt and to Omnisphere. Now let’s take several major steps back and look at the overall capability. There is an abundance of well thought out design in this instrument. I could go on, but I suspect you’re getting the idea. For example, any place there is a key-follow control (and there are quite a few), you also have the opportunity of specifying the center key … no more guessing or needing to do experimental calibration measurements. Superior design choices like this are found everywhere in Halion. A few other synths have equivalent level of control, but rarely is it so straightforward to harness. Again, this is as good a scheme as I’ve seen anywhere. The range of modulation is right there in front of you and you have the option of using other than linear response curves. A classic example is an LFO modulating pitch with the mod wheel modulating the LFO depth. For each entry (there are thirty two available), we not only get a source/destination combination, but also an adjacent slot to designate another modulator controlling the depth of the primary source. Again, the interface clearly illustrates the function. All in all, this is as complete an LFO implementation as I’ve ever encountered, and it’s all completely straightforward to use. We not only get separate delay and fade-in settings, we also have a fade-out parameter. Five different envelope modes are provided, such as Sustain and Fade Out. For example, with one of the sample and hold choices, it varies the response between abrupt and smooth. The function of the Shape control is dependent upon the wave selected. In addition to the usual collection of wave forms, there are two sample and hold random shapes and a log shape. All the typical LFO capability is there and then some. Much of the function of the LFO, of which there are two polyphonic units per zone, can be gleaned from just looking at the interface. Two (of Many) Fine Detailsīefore we look at the overall instrument, I want to substantiate the above assertion about excellent details with two specific examples, the LFO and modulation matrix implementations. For others, however, this may be a show stopper. For users who already have one in place (a group that includes owners of Steinberg’s Cubase DAW) this won’t be an issue. We’ll take a close up look at Halion 5 in this review.īefore I go further and say nice things about Halion (and I will be saying many nice things), it’s reasonable to point out up front that the instrument requires an eLicenser dongle. The details in Halion are uniformly elegant and impeccable. If this sentiment is correct, then it’s fair to surmise that the design engineers of Halion, Steinberg’s powerhouse hybrid synth/sample-player, underwent a profoundly religious experience when creating this instrument. Noted 20 th century architect Mies van der Rohe famously stated: “God is in the details”. If “God is in the details”, then it’s fair to surmise that the design engineers of Halion underwent a profoundly religious experience when creating this instrument.
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