H5 or 2?

Virtual instruments
#1

I’m ready to pull the trigger on one of the Halion products. I’ve been using SE that came with Cubase 7. I own Komplete 9 … so my questions.

  1. Since I own Komplete 9 do I really need Halion? Will I just be duplicating what I already have with Komplete or are they two totally different products?

  2. After looking at the comparison sheet on Steinberg’s website I’m leaning towards Sonic 2. The only differences I really saw in H5 and 2 were things like number of aux’s and midi channels. I think you can edit samples in H5 where you can’t in 2. Is H5 worth the extra $100? My main use will be just using the standard instrument patches like strings and pads.

Thanks!

#2

HS2 is more of a performance tool. If you primarily just want to automate or manually wiggle settings on patches, then it is the right tool for that job. It is a great tool for that job by the way.

If you want to create your own custom patches using the various engines (grain, synth, drawbar, sample) from scratch, then H5 is the ticket.

#3

and don’t forget if you go to HALion 5 you gonna have HALion Sonic 2 too !
and Kontakt & HALion 5 are completly different stuff !

#4

I own both Halion and Komplete (Ultimate). Anything Halion can do, you can do with Komplete’s tools too (Battery, Kontakt, Reaktor, Massive, Absynth, FM8).
Halion is a nice package to combine sampling and synthesis. Big benefit obviously is its intergration with Cubase (NE, D&D, VST3 etc). But apart from that it won’t bring you anything new over Komplete… just different.
If you will like it, is subjective.

#5

Great replies… thanks guys!

#6

Does Komplete support VST Expressions 2 natively like HALion? If not, I would say that you are wrong, and don’t understand what you are talking about. If it does, cool!.

#7

You cut out this part when quoting.

Why?

#8

I think the poster “Guest” meant, “Anything HALion can do, Kontakt can do, except for the stuff it can’t do…” (I never use sarcasm, except when I do.)

It makes sense to me…
:confused:
Sincerely,
J.L.

#9

(I cut part of it, to point out the obvious.)

“Anything Halion can do, you can do with Komplete’s tools too…”
“…But apart from that it won’t bring you anything new over Komplete… just different.”

The one difference you are trivializing, is one of the most exciting things HALion has. I would even say that it is a defining difference of the products in question.

This also happen to be one of the few things, in a long time, that I believe will advance/transform composing into a better form. So why? Because I think it is a very important difference. (And it cannot be done in Komplete?)

I do, of course, apologize if what I perceived was not intended.

#10

Another thing Halion has over Kontakt is the UI doesn’t suck monkey balls.

#11

LMAO, that really did me laugh out loud!

Thanks to JMCecil and jaslan for making me eventually reply with a chuckle! :slight_smile:

#12

Looking at your post counts and judging on the fanatic responses, its clear you guys are very loyal fans of the Steinberg brand. But maybe actually reading the question and response instead of writing straw man arguments would help future users a lot more.
The OP asked about the extra features Halion would offer him over Komplete. Bashing only Kontakt does look a bit naive in that context. If I where such a fanboy of a company or product I would provide a solid list of extra features and benefits to help a future users decide and eventually tip them over to my brand. Even better, convince future users by sharing video’s and sounds of your achievements with Halion or HalionSonic instead of flaming the competition, that’s too easy.

#13

If you actually read some of my posts, you might find out I’m not nearly the fanboy you are suggesting. Also, I’m an owner of Komplete and have been for many years. I purchased the original Pro-52, B4 Organ and Generator (Reaktor) when they were stand along products.

It’s very simple, the combination of Reaktor and Kontakt can cover most, if not all of the ground in Halion5/HS2. But, it is much, MUCH, easier to develop sounds in H5 than it is in either Kontakt or Reaktor. All of the engines are in one single, consistent interface. There are things that Kontakt does better with scripting. But, it is a PITA to use. The implementation of Megatrig and the other the other MIDI modules are better suited to sound development “for the regular guy”.

#14

Nothing wrong with easy, mate.

Whether I am biased or not, really have nothing to do with anything. I like and I recommend Steinberg HALion. How is that being fanatic, and bashing/flaming the competition?

My first post was a question with some pre-emptive follow up text.
My second post was an explanation to why-did-I-cut-part-of-it. Oh, I also asked that first question again.
My third post was to a different person.