If you have Dorico, CuBase, Nuendo (Any Steinberg DAW that ships with SE) registered on the system, then no, you don’t need the free SE key that you can get via email. It won’t hurt anything to install it, and you can always apply for more SE keys via the email link for free any-time you like, but it’s not necessary if you already have the key for a Steinberg product that shipped with SE.
If you have HALion Sonic, HALion 6, or Steinberg Absolute VST Collection key on the system, then you do not need the free key. Sonic and HALion 6 both come with a ton of content that works in any 64bit host, provided the key is on a dongle or in the software eLicenser.
SE3 does NOT come with any ‘content’, but your Steinberg DAW usually does come with quite a bit of HALion content. With SE3, all of the HALion content will work in any 64bit DAW on the system as long as you have your Dorico key on that system. I.E. I keep my Dorico key on a USB dongle. As long as that is plugged in, eLicenser Control Panel, and the HALion content packs that came with Dorico are installed, I can use SE3 in the latest versions of Sibelius or Finale to access all the HALion sounds that came with Dorico.
The free key is for people who want to install SE to use with any 64bit host you like, but have no SE equipped Steinberg DAW installed. This way HALion libraries can be developed that will work with any DAW, and won’t require the user to purchase HALion Sonic/6. I.E. As a HALion 6 user, I could make libraries myself, and then share or sell them them with anyone through the free player.
The free player also works with the stand alone eLicenser protected libraries that Steinberg offers like HALion Symphonic Orchestra, Steinway Grand, Dark Planets, etc. In some cases the SE3 player is much more flexible and robust than the plugins that initially shipped with the libraries. Again, to use those libraries on any system, they need their respective eLicenser keys applied.
At this time the major benefits to upgrading from SE2 to SE3 are:
- SE3 has a stand alone mode, with a basic built in live MIDI recording feature. Nice to be able to launch this when you just want to play HALion sounds live, and perhaps record what you’re playing.
In this stand-alone mode, It’s also possible to set up Virtual MIDI ports with something like loopMIDI (or redirect via core-audio for Macs) and jackd to use SE with something like MuseScore which does not have a native VST/au/ATX plug-in host.
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Ability to install third party libraries made by any HALion user/developer.
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Works with any 64bit host, where SE2 is restricted only to Steinberg hosts. Can play content that came with Steinberg hosts in other DAWs provided the eLicenser keys are there.
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Ships with a new library manager that makes it easy to distribute HALion libraries and get them installed/removed at will. Not really relevant until you wish to install third party libraries that have been built with HALion 6. Some are now popping for free, and for sale these days, and we can look forward to more in the future.
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There is quite a bit of new HALion engine stuff under the hood that doesn’t mean much to the average user just yet, but in time it will. H6 adds quite a few new synthesis technologies to the bag, as well as advanced scripting possibilities. Users can now build their own Macro screens (Instrument UI), etc. So, as newer libraries that take advantage of all this emerge, S3 will be ready to play them.