Steinberg HALion 4 Review
The latest incarnation of Steinberg’s VST sampler has arrived. Was it worth the wait? Keith Gemmell samples the goods.
Price: £349.00
Manufacturer: Steinberg
Website: http://www.steinberg.net
Seven years have passed since we reviewed HALion 3, the last version of Steinberg’s virtual sampler. We found it user-friendly with great-sounding sample content, and summed it up as one of the best software samplers that money could buy. However, much has changed in the interim, with products such as Kontakt 4, MachFive 2 and Independence Pro all expanding both their content and sampling facilities. Steinberg, though, has finally struck back with HALion 4, which has a newly developed engine and an array of new features, including a virtual analogue synthesizer, a new library, MediaBay integration and a FlexPhraser arpeggiator. It also boasts a flexible UI, easy sound-programming features, flexible signal routing, VST 3.5 and VST Expression support. It’s an impressive feature set that on the face of it looks set to place HALion 4 back at the forefront of the sampling elite.
Window shopper
With its predominately grey interface, HALion 4 appears much darker than its predecessor, but the GUI remains very easy on the eye, keeps you focused and is simple to navigate. Managing screen space is easy too, thanks to a customisable window management system. Windows can be rearranged, tabbed, resized and even dragged and dropped outside HALion, which is useful if you have a multi-monitor setup. As with Cubase, screen sets can be saved and recalled.
With the recently released HALion Sonic combining sample playback with virtual analogue-style synthesis (reviewed in Issue 90), it’s no surprise to see the idea developed further in HALion 4, which now features the same high-quality synthesizer, albeit in a different guise. It provides six sound sources: three main oscillators, sub-oscillator, ring modulation and noise generator.
The filter types, though, are more extensive than in HALion Sonic, with six extra types including one from Waldorf and another from HALion 3. Six structural modes and 24 shapes (low-pass, high-pass, band-pass types with selectable octave slopes) are provided as options depending on the selected filter type’s frequencies. It’s a very versatile system, with morphing (for evolving sound textures) available between up to four filter modes. Overall, HALion 4’s built-in synth is an excellent all-rounder, capable of producing many of the analogue-type sounds needed for modern electronic music production. The real fun starts, though, when you switch from the synth section directly to the sample programs, where you can continue the creative process in the sampler section.
Fast start
The focus in HALion 4 is clearly on creativity as opposed to just sample playback and the new features are a direct response to the needs of sound designers who need fast workflow and an intuitive working environment. Importing samples is made easier thanks to various options including automatic mapping, whereby key range, velocity and root key information is extracted from the file names. You can also import complete folders. A wide range of file formats is supported (such as EXS24 and GigaSampler) but, naturally, protected and proprietary formats are not.
The Mapping Editor itself is clear, easy to use and has its own toolbar and zoom controls. Tasks such as selecting and moving zones and setting key and velocity ranges are performed graphically, while crossfading zones can be done automatically if you wish. A feature that struck us as useful is the facility to test the sample mapping. By clicking and holding a key HALion plays that key and all the following keys in succession at the same velocity. You can also have it play each zone ten times at increasing velocities.
Although well-featured as far as standard sample manipulation goes, we were a little disappointed to find that HALion’s Sample Editor doesn’t have any destructive editing facilities. Tasks like editing precise start and end positions, normalising or DC bias removal have to be done offline using an external editor such as WaveLab 7. Neither does it have loop slicing (found in both Kontakt 4 and MachFive 2).
That said, it’s not the end of the world as most DAWs provide decent audio editing (especially Cubase 6, which incidentally, integrates very well with HALion 4). Audio files can be dragged and dropped into Cubase and slices/loops automatically transferred and remapped back to HALion 4. (On the subject of integration, it’s worth mentioning that HALion’s parameters can be automated directly from within Cubase by using its Quick Controls.)
Creative mixing
All of the major samplers have mixing facilities, but HALion 4 now shines in this respect thanks to its remarkably flexible routing options. Like most samplers, HALion’s programs consist of zones and layers, which are loaded, rack-style, into slots and routed to a mixer, where further signal processing and effects can be applied. HALion, however, also allows you to add a practically unlimited number of busses plus insert effects (eight slots) at different stages of the signal path – both to the programs (which contain layers and zones) and to the layers (for creating a zone submix). You can also create aux busses anywhere in the chain (for send effects): to zones, layers, programs and slots. In total, 32 stereo and one surround channel are available.
Of course, with so many inserts and sends available, processors and effects are needed to fill them. Many types are available – reverb, EQ, distortion, modulation, dynamics, panning and routing, plus a healthy sprinkling of effects from HALion 3. Star of the show is probably REVerence, a convolution reverb lifted from Cubase. Unlike that version, though (and, indeed, Kontakt 4’s convolution), you can’t import third-party impulses, but you probably won’t need to given the large variety of spaces on offer. Another highlight is the excellent Studio EQ (also from Cubase).
HALion 4 is undoubtedly a vast improvement over the previous version but there are some caveats. It doesn’t have the scripting depth of Kontakt 4 and professional sound designers who use that program are unlikely to jump ship any time soon (but, to be fair, we don’t think Steinberg is chasing that market anyway). Neither does it have destructive editing facilities or the equivalent of MachFive’s LoopLab for slicing audio. But it does have a slice player and it imports REX files, with sample zones created for each slice.
It’s also a fact that third-party developers have not been producing much content for the HALion format in recent years, although plenty of material is available in REX 2 format, which HALion 4 handles just fine. None of that matters too much, though, if you use HALion 4 as a tool for designing your own sounds. That’s its greatest strength in our opinion, but with such a versatile sound library, it’s no slouch as a pure sample player, either.
Because of their inherent complexity, samplers can be intimidating beasts, but Steinberg has taken this into account by designing an instrument that provides both experienced producers and newcomers with the tools to tackle the often daunting tasks of sampling and sound creation.
Truly creative sound design is never going to be easy even with features like MegaTrig programming, but HALion 4 is ahead of the competition when it comes to clarity and ease of use. Add to that impressive analogue synthesis, a superb sound engine, masses of varied content, VST 3.5 and VST Expression 2 support and you have a real winner. MTM
9/10 Verdict - While HALion 4 lacks destructive editing features and in-depth
scripting, the combination of synthesis, sampling, flexible signal
routing and easy MegaTrig programming makes for an easy-to-fathom,
highly enjoyable sound-design environment.
WHY BUY
Easy to understand and use
Synth/sampling combination
Large, versatile library
Extensive signal routing
Straightforward MegaTrig programming feature
WALK ON BY
No destructive audio editing
No loop-slicing tools
Score: 9/10
This review first appeared in Music Tech Magazine issue 101
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