So those who have upgraded…
How is the new interface? Is it quicker? Is it like 10% different or like 50% different? Does the FM synth sound “dark”. To me it sounds “darker” than the MODX FM engine. Could be just me.
Was it worth it for you? What do you like best?
Amadeus e.d.p.
I do think they should have added some physical modeling, at least drum synths. The drumgan in backbone is… not very useful to me.
Im lretty sure Falcon already had FM oscs and drum synths, so the peolle who wanted that likely already have acquired it. It has had innunerable sales over the years.
But Steinberg have the advantage of being a part of Yammy and having the original FM sources with true to state indorsement . Not every company can claim that about their DX/X/Montage emulations .
The choices of Op’s , waveforms ,roms and programs and the combinations are nearly endless and in the most easiest FM interface ive used to be honest .
The spectral osc is really remarkable , the sound quality is otherworldly really really good .
I guess you call it “complaining” and I call it a “missed opportunity to shake things up”. It’s not like YOU were on the programing team so stop taking it so personal.
I just wish they would have done more. And I think if we don’t start ASKING for more were ALWAYS gonna get less.
Lets hope for another update in 2 years with some BIG CHANGES! Woooo Hoooo! Go Steinberg!
Amadeus e.d.p.
THIS is what I wanted to hear. The Youtube video are kinda naff. Or maybe it’s my headphones.
Amadeus e.d.p.
I don’t develop audio software, but I have worked as a software engineer. There are always users who expect “everything including the kitchen sink” in the next release, but development tends to be more efficient and releases are more timely when the project is focused. I want HALion to stay as something resembling the HALion I know; it is already very complex. I also want new features to have real quality to them. On both those criteria, I believe HALion 7 has delivered.
The enormity of the changes you wanted seems to be enough for about three releases. If HALion had been in constant development with a release every two years, perhaps we would have got the level of changes you were expecting - but I don’t think most expected it. As I have said, suggesting HALion builds in features from competing products probably doesn’t make sense: adding bloat whilst losing focus on the design paradigm likely does not improve the product and it might leave Steinberg on the wrong side of a patent suit. One advantage of virtual instruments is that you can use, say, HALion, Omnisphere and Pianoteq together if that makes sense for your project.
HALion is nowhere near Steinberg’s biggest product (I believe Cubase is by far the biggest seller in their line-up). HALion 7 has got a solid increment on HALion 6 and users have a lot of new depth to explore.
HALion 8 is likely to be many years away.
Surely one big advantage of HALion Sonic 7 over Sonic 3 SE is that Sonic 7 is the “full” player for free (and now not requiring a dongle) rather than needing all this “buy the full version of Kontakt to play these libraries” business? Perhaps this will encourage more third-party library vendors to start offering HALion Sonic 7 versions of their libraries?
My experience…
It’s worth it. My one complaint is there’s not a VST2 version (that I know of). Ugg…now I have to redo a ton of stuff in something other than HALion because I have to work with some hosts that can’t do VST3 yet (and might never).
My students/clients can no longer get a free player (a key to Sonic 3 SE as a VST2 plugin) that works in hosts that are required for the curriculum at hand (doesn’t matter how ‘outdated’ something is…governments and other stakeholders in the picture often still require using it)!
Time to learn SFZ 
For starters, I still don’t use any ultra high resolution screens. Instead I use 4 smaller screens (One of the few sound design apps I have that supports multiple screens properly). So…I can’t say how HALion looks and performs with the latest and greatest HUGE screens.
Still, my understanding is that considerable effort went into improving support in HALion 7 for modern high resolution screens. Again, for some users, that alone is worth $99!
So, in my particular screen situation, I find HALion easy enough to see and work with. I like dark themes though. I can see where many users might prefer more options to change up colors and such in the UI so it can ‘pop out more’ under various lighting scenarios.
Here’s the thing…H7 seems to have put in more of the ‘ground work’ to someday give users more visual options! Users might not have full access to it yet, but they do need to get the foundations down, documented, and bug free before giving us cart blanch access to go in and muck about with it.
H5 and H6 were snappy and responsive on my computers. In fact, for live-audience performances, I even built special MIDI controller tracks > virtual MIDI port > Cubase Generic Remotes to 'automatically pop open and close HALion and other plugins in real time as the project plays. They came up INSTANTLY. No problem…
Years ago I did find some issues in H5 when attempting to force HALion to do some very ‘legacy’ tasks with 'much bigger content sets). Using a MIDI PC change between LARGE sample based sounds could lag display, or even cause a crash. I reported the issue and it was corrected in the very next H5 service release. In the case, something HALion was supposed to support and be able to do was ‘broken’…so it got fixed right away!
I didn’t get laggy stuff until the last releases of Sonic SE and dongle free content shipped with Dorico 4 and Cubase 12.
When Dorico 4 and Cubase 12 hit my system and upgraded SE and several content packs, I got crazy lag opening UIs. While the plugins sounded fine, it was taking up to 10 seconds for the UI to ‘open and display’ any time I called it up. Suspect it had something to do with the new Licensing system.
Now that I have updated to the v7 generation of HALion plugins…it is way more ‘snappy and responsive’ again. Whatever was causing the delay in opening HALion seems to be corrected now.
As for the UI of HALion…I see complaints about how ‘fiddly’ it is, but personally, it’s one of my favorite things about HALion! It reminds me of Blender.
YOU, the user can shape it to be whatever you want for yourself in building environments, and for end users if you intend to provide content for Sonic users. Set up a few of your favorite UI/display templates and save them. Now it’s only two clicks away have totally different perspectives on your work.
It’s one of the few, if not the only sound design engines that the UI is extremely ‘user configurable’. You can have simple interfaces, or very complicated ones. You can do it in frames, or in multiple windows. It’s easy to pull up any two things you want to ‘compare and contrast’ side by side, over and under, to copy and paste among them, and more! You can use the mouse, the computer keyboard, or your MIDI controllers to get at anything in the program.
Other products ‘force us’ to see it in one universal way. That can be good for collaboration and communication I guess…having one ‘standard’ on what users see and when…but HALion opens the UI up in ways that we the users can customize our workflow depending up the needs and goals at hand.
I’ll go back to Blender for a second…if you go look at Youtube tutorials on Blender…every other one can come across as not even using the same software (Blender) at the core! It is flexible enough that you can configure the entire UI for different types of projects, or for different ‘stages’ of production.
HALion has the same concept going on.
Needs for making samples requires something different from building zones, yet they are ‘related’. What works better for a right handed person might suck for a left handed person…so you can switch it around! Some people love scrolling the mouse or click dragging to enter values…others would rather just click the thing and type in stuff. Some like frames in the same window…others would rather pop that stuff out and have it free floating. HALion has us covered!
On the browsers and database side of things. It’s not pretty, but it is POWERFUL and fast. Always has been, and now it’s even faster and easier to use with H7. On the aesthetic changes for the new media bay…that’s subjective. I liked the old one, but I do think the newer one is easier to see for people who sit/stand further away from their monitors.
This is good to hear. Waiting for the demo!
Amadeus e.d.p
I am not complaining, but feel there is a allso room
for feature request , what halion 7.5 / 8 properly needs, maybe steinberg will listen, they allways listen to their costumers, if the costumers dont say any think, how can steinberg developing team have a feel what the steinberg costumers want, even fought steinberg only looks at what feature is toprated , which they will considering, and not allways do what the costumers want, its a balance really.
What i am trying to
say here, is YES, halion 7 is fantastic , but there is plenty rooms for new improvment, new innovative fresh ideas:yum:
.
Dont get me wrong, is halion 7 bad, hell no, i am as
excited as a kid in a toystore, in a few days, i will buy
the halion 7 update, and its not that expensive.
cant waiiiit….
+1
Payday. Day off tomorrow. 
Hi @David_W , Dorico should behave the same and replace HALion Sonic SE 3 automatically with HALion Sonic 7 tracks.
exactly 
HALion 6 was out for like 6 years. Expectations ma6 be too high, but i think you are ignoring the greater context guiding those expectations…
Halion 7 has lots of great features, plenty of exstremly innovative tools.
I actually mean , what Halion needs in the future, being Halon 7.5 etc….
If you are creative enough, i think one, could possible get away with “emulating” kar plus strong strings, pehaps faking “physical modelling “, abit mix fm-x with additive synthesis, etc, and much more, who knows.
As mentiod before, i am happy with Halion 7, and cant wait to buy Halion 7.
When i bought Omnisphere , i was overweling how much it could do, but i was abit disapointing about omnisphere fm, because its not really true fm synthesis, anyway enough talking, steinberg take my money😂.
So many people commenting on HALion 7 who don’t own HALion 7.
Everyone has the right to say their opinion.
Allso, it is against the forum rule, to affect people in away, that they shouldnt comment on specific subject.
It’s a democracy, every one has right to comment.
Plus, you wouldn’t turn away a medical professionals advise because they never had the condition themselves.
exactly.
There is a lot of users here owning Halion 6, thereby
I asuming its a natural way to ask / comment about Halion 7, this and that, reflection their own opinionen, disgussing Halion 7, i guess it a natural process for most people , before eventually buying a product or not.
i think its a healthy way doing that, and we should embrace the freedom to do just that.
I myself always make a calculating , considering this and that, before i buy any thing, nothing wrong with that.
i allso want lots of your opinionen in this forum, what people have on their mind, regarding Halion 7.
Guys, calm down the meta discussion please.