Hi there,
Has anybody compared the two?
Does the Halion 4 Synth sound the same as Prologue?
Are the raw waves the same?
Is it virtually the same synth but with a different GUI??
If anyone has compared the two i’d love to know the outcome! (I hope it sounds different)
Any feedback would be appreciated.
Kind regards, Codsworth 
Two entirely different animals.
Prologue is a VST emulation of subtractive synthesizer circuitry…originally 1/3 of Steinberg’s old standalone/plug-in: “D’Cota” (the other two thirds being Spector and Mystic). It does not use samples.
Halion 4 is a sample playback unit only capable of playing and manipulating pre-recorded audio samples.
This is incorrect. Halion has its own built-in oscillators and synth section, allowing for synth as well as sample manipulation.
This is incorrect. Halion has its own built-in oscillators and synth section, allowing for synth as well as sample manipulation.
Whoops. Yes indeed, it is incorrect. I guess I should read the promos more carefully. Still thinking in terms of H3.5. Apologies.
Well, I guess to answer these 3 questions:
Does the Halion 4 Synth sound the same as Prologue?
Are the raw waves the same?
Is it virtually the same synth but with a different GUI??
…the answers appear to be:
• Probably not for presets using the more esoteric Prologue waveforms.
• Yes and no. There are 16 waves available in H4. Aside from the standard Sine, Triangle, Saw and Square, the rest are variations of those 4 basic waveforms. There are 64 waveforms available in Prologue. Sine, Tri, Saw, Parabolic and Square along with 6 others categories with variations of same.
• Highly unlikely. Similarities, yes, but there’s no accounting for filter variations (many more selections in H4) and most importantly: the linearity/non-linearity of envelope slopes/timing between the two products. Makes a big diff to me.
I would like to add that I do use HalionSonic’s synth and according to the info, H4 is using the same thing. As far as versatility is concerned, the HS/H4 synth has a lot more to offer as a subtractive synth than Prologue beyond the oscillator differences. A lot.
Hope this makes up for that first uninformed answer.
I have not, and why someone would want to I do not know, though I am sure someone has… lol
H4 has the capability of sounding much like the Prologue.
No, but the basic waveforms are available (plus more).
E.g. All waveforms (Sine, Triangle, Saw and Square) are available (as basic oscillators) in forms of sync, cross modulation and xor. I.e. without the need to use additional oscillators, each oscillator can produce sync-sounds, FM like sounds and ring modulation like sounds, respectively.
No, it is not the same synthesizer with a different GUI.
The complexity of HALion 4 goes way beyond that of Prologue.
As mentioned above H4 has more filter modes (single, serial, parallel, various morphing) and shapes (24 currently), envelopes with 128 nodes (compare to a traditional ADSR envelope which equals 4 nodes), polyphonic LFO’s (i.e. calculated per triggered note), each voice (a.k.a. zone) has three oscillators, a sub oscillator, a separate ring modulation and a noise generator, up to 8 voice unison, etc. Furthermore, a program is virtually limitless in the amount of these zones (voices) you can have.
Well, from the above you should get a few hints to the difference. If you want more, you can download and read the Operation Manual, which is available under Steinberg support for HALion 4. Tons of information in it. 
Thanks all for your replys.
What i’d really like to know though is, are the basic waveforms that are in both instruments the same?
For e.g. does the basic saw wave of Halion 4 synth without effects or any modulation sound the same as the saw wave in prologue without any effects & modulation etc?
Just wondered if they had changed the basics to give it it’s own character or just taken it from prologue??
Cheers for any replys, Codsworth
Bingo!
‘Inquiring minds want to know’
And should it? Is there a standard of sorts?
Should a basic sine wave sound exactly the same
regardless what is generating that wave?
Even from different developers. etc
And if so,
how about a basic saw wave, a triangle wave, a square wave etc etc
Should all these basic building blocks measure exactly the same or
is the difference in the basic wave(s)
(as well as filters/modulators/lfos etc) what makes
one vsti sound with its own character?
{‘.’}
I do not know this of course, I am not a programmer for Steinberg. But as I understand it, that some of the previous synths (I am not sure which ones) were not programmed by Steinberg itself, but were made by invitation. If this is indeed the case, then I would jump to a conclusion of no, they are not “just taken”. 
On the other hand, one would think that a sine is a sine, a saw is a saw, etc. But that would depend on waveform resolution and other potential requirements needed. In the end, I would venture to guess that at the most basic level, the “intrinsic” synthesizer waveforms are always “the same” in newer VA synths, and then having influental algorithms applied to try and re-create specific RA (real analog) replicas or just to create a different feel altogether. (Many are of course generated and don’t exist in “static” form.)
We could speculate forever, but the only ones that can answer are the HALionic team from Steinberg.