I’d like to see the full list of 3rd party sampler formats supported by H4.
Page 17 of the manual states: “[Import tab] allows you to import external sampler formats like Apple EXS, GigaSampler, Kontakt and others, see “Importing and Exporting Samples” on page 55”, but the given page only mentions that Akai CD’s and protected formats are not supported. Page 63 further mentions that .gig files and REX 1 and 2 files are supported. That is all the information I was able to find in the manual.
Any news regarding my question?
Good thread “el-russo”!
[Placeholder Posting for a List of Formats] (for a singular place of reference)
“HALion only reads files from standard file systems and not from proprietary formats like Akai CDs.”
Which means, that the source media to be imported has to be readable using standard media access.
“Programs that are saved in a protected format cannot be imported.”
I do not know which “protection” this refers to. (Maybe some sort of Program flag that some formats support?)
Supported formats: (many thanks to Marcus [site admin])
Apple EXS (.exs)
GigaSampler (.gig)
Kontakt (.nki, .nkb, .nks, .nkm)
Kurzweil (.krz, .k25, .k26)
REX 1/2 files (.rex, .rx2)
SoundFont (.sf2)
Various ISO formats (.iso, .nrg, .bin, .toast)
According to KVR Audio it also supports the following formats:
Akai
EMU
LM-4
Roland
SDII
Thanks for the info, Elektrobolt.
I wonder where KVR got it from. Interestingly, it says H4 contains H3 sound library, while saying nothing about the actual library, which is much more than that of H3, I suppose. I wonder why the manual doesn’t state these things in a concise and clear way.
I suddenly realized, what you see at KVR website is HALion 3 product details page, where the picture of H4 is inserted, while the title still says “HALion 3”, hence description of H3 sound library. So, my initial question remains unanswered unfortunately.
Yeah, there is a newer HALion 4 specific page (Steinberg releases HALion 4) but it does not mention any formats per se, though one would think the H3 compatible formats would still be valid (unless discarded of course).
Thanks for the pointer, I should pay more attention. 
No worries. Had this information been clearly shown, we wouldn’t have to do the guessing.
A bit silly from the guys at steinberg to forget to put this information anywhere
The Only format we know for sure that it doesn’t support is Akai CD
I Like to know if SF2 is supported By H4
Hi @ all,
these sampler formats can be used in Hallion 4:
Kurzweil (krz, k25, k26)
Soundfont (sf2)
Giga Sampler (gig)
EXS 24 (exs)
Kontakt (nki, nkb, nks, nkm) (
Various ISO formats (iso, nrg, bin, toast)
Thank you for the information, Marcus.
I suppose HALion 1-3 files are also supported, aren’t they?
Could you post the list of supported audio file formats as well?
Thank you in advance.
Unfortunately it seems FXP, HSB, FXB from Halion 3 CANNOT be read in Halion 4 until they are imported/converted over. Unfortunately as well you cannot read Akai from Disc which Halion 3 could also do. It is seeming like Halion 4 is taking some serious steps backwards here on the compatibility of file formats.
Unfortunately it seems FXP, HSB, FXB from Halion 3 CANNOT be read in Halion 4 until they are imported/converted over. Unfortunately as well you cannot read Akai from Disc which Halion 3 could also do. It is seeming like Halion 4 is taking some serious steps backwards here on the compatibility of file formats.
I got my HALion 3 Libary imported as well as my older HALion 3- 3rd Party Libraries. You just need to do it once.
I find all my older Presets in the normal Cubase 5- AND in the HALion 4 Mediabay. When I double click on one of these presets; HALion 4 starts to load the preset and samples.
But sometimes HALion 4 needs to find the folder with the samples.
This will be improved and our developer are working on it.
Here is a screenshot of one loaded HALion 3 preset:
Thanks a lot for sharing this Marcus. I have not been able to obtain a copy of Halion 4 within Canada yet, so cannot relate first hand as to what you are explaining, but I will surely keep it in mind for when I do get my copy in hand.
I am glad the developers are looking into any issues related to sample finding, should solve a lot of headaches for users imported big foreign libraries.
BTW, will your developers ever add in DISC support for the Akai format like Halion 3 had? I have no clue why that would be omitted in H4 to be honest.
hello there ,
can you do this with halion sonic ? , i upgraded from from halion 3 player and it would be very good to be able to import halion 3 player library into halion sonic .
cheers for your time !!
Sorry if this sound like a redundantly stubborn or plain stupid question, but does that mean that these formats (from the H3 manual) are no longer supported, at all?
- Akai S1000/S2000/S3000
- EMU 3/3X/ESI/4/4K/E64/E6400/ESynth/Ultra
- Roland S770
- Zero-X Groove files
(The EMU one in particular, since I got tons of E4 CDs.)
It’s seems to be steinberg recode all from the core, I think the rewrote the import code too.
I would intrested that some of my old AKAI cds the conversion will be better or not.
Especially with velocity -x ( not crossfade, only switch at least…) libraries.
I have not tested it yet, but that fact that I can’t read directly from cd is real pain.
Regards,V
Hi @ all,
my information is, that the support of AKAI is working.
A Work-a-round for AKAI- CD- Rom:
- Use a tool ( CD- Extract )to build an ISO from the AKAI- ROM
- And now you can import the ISO into the HALion 4
The big problem is not the import of AKAI- Samples, the big problem is the reading of the old AKAI- CD ROM in Windows OS. As far as I know Win7 is not capable of reading these AKAI CD- ROM Libraries, so this feature has to be implemented in HALion 4. Our developer team is working on it & it will be integrated within the next patches, but I can not say to with which Patch it will come.
Hi Marcus, thanks again for the reply.
I don’t buy at all that Windows 7 cannot read these discs. I read them in Halion 3.5 just fine. I also read them in CDXtract just fine. It has everything to do with proper implementation in Halion 4. I am EXTREMELY glad to hear your developers are working on this, and although no time line is set I look forward to seeing the capability of reading Akai CD’s from WITHIN Halion directy in the future.
While we are on the topic, what about E-MU CD? I have lots of these from the days when I had an E5000 Ultra hardware sampler in use. I am sure the concept will be the same to get these proper implemented and read from within Halion 4.
This is excellent, though it doesn’t really apply to me (not an old Akai guy). How about EMU CD’s? Can this be done in the same manner? If so, absolutely fantastic! If not, will there be, or is there, something coming?
Thanks for great information, it really is appreciated.
I don’t buy at all that Windows 7 cannot read these discs. I read them in Halion 3.5 just fine.
Yes that is correct, that the HALion 3.5 is able to read the old AKAI- ROMs, because in HALion 3.5 is an Import- Engine that is capable of reading AKAI- ROM- Libraries.
Win7 is not able to read the AKAI- ROMs for its own, so an Import- Engine has to be integrated in the HALion 4.
Maybe you misunderstood me or I answered a little bit confused.
Sorry 4 that guys.