Steinberg HALion 7 – Sampling and Synthesis Workstation (VST/AU/AAX) Steinberg

HALion 7 is a groundbreaking, premium-quality software instrument, developed to help you create world-class music and sound design. Delve into the iconic sound of FM synthesis, harness the power of spectral synthesis, embrace a new approach to modulation, create and customize unique envelopes, be inspired by new effects which enhance creativity for bass players and much more.

HALion gives you everything you need to create all the sounds you have ever imagined — and many you have never thought of. With six different forms of synthesis, a high-performance sample engine, scripting, a groundbreaking time-stretch and resynthesis algorithm, plus fast and easy assignable modulations, HALion delivers new inspiration every time you open it.

Features:

• More than 35 GB content, 3,700 presets and 15 instruments
• FM, spectral, wavetable, virtual analog and granular synthesis
• High-performance sample engine for large libraries
• More than 70 effects, plus countless modulation and MIDI options

FM Zone: Developed together with Yamaha
HALion 7 features the completely new FM Zone, developed in co-operation with Yamaha, the company which created some of the most iconic FM synthesizers in history. Freely combine up to eight operators, use them as carriers or send them to feedback loops. Together with the powerful Algorithm Finder, a comprehensive and easy-to-use algorithm designer, you can create everything from classic DX7 tones to the most contemporary FM sounds. And if that is not enough, HALion now also supports DX7 and TX81Z SYX file import in the FM Zone.

Spectacular: The new Spectral Zone
The HALion spectral oscillator features our newly in-house developed time stretch and resynthesis algorithm, which sounds amazing even at extreme settings. It not only allows you to change playback speed in real time without affecting the pitch, but you can also transform samples into completely new sounds. The real power comes with features like formant shift, spectral filter, purity, inharmonicity and the ability to hold the previous spectrum functions if a sample’s start or end is reached. In addition, the new FFT view offers a precise and clear insight into the spectrum itself.

Modulation reimagined
Shape, tweak and animate your sounds more easily than ever with HALion’s new modulation concept. Click on a parameter in the zone and instantly assign a new modulation to it with the new modulation rows. Jump directly to the modulation destination or source to do further edits with just one click. You can also assign modulation sources by drag and drop. Combined with the new visualization feature for any modulation signal, you have the perfect overview of what is happening.

New Shaper Envelope
The User Envelope now has brush, pen and eraser tools for intuitively drawing and customizing envelopes. You can choose from a great selection of pre-designed shapes or save custom shapes for future sessions. Furthermore, the new Shaper mode for envelopes allows you to cycle through shapes in synchronization with your host DAW’s tempo, giving you a brand-new variety of customized LFO.

FM Lab: A full-blown, eight operator FM synthesizer
Enter the lab to find all the ingredients you need to design FM sounds from the ground up, in an ultra-modern, intuitive workspace. FM Lab features algorithms from the classic Yamaha DX7, FM-X and TX81Z, 20 high-quality effects in a five insert rack, many modulation options and an arpeggiator which allows you to create evolving sounds. Assign modulations via drag and drop, use different oscillator presets or design complex algorithms in a fun, easy way. Worried about programming? No problem — FM Lab comes with hundreds of cutting-edge presets, ranging from classic sounds with a new twist to some of the most contemporary and progressive FM sounds ever produced.

Tales: An open-tuned guitar
Ready for every story you want to tell, Tales is a beautifully captured guitar, layered with additional acoustic and synthesized textures. The guitar strings were individually sampled as open notes and then tuned to a different pitch, giving each one a very pure and intimate sound. In addition to the open strings, we recorded articulations like muted notes and harmonics. Whether you´re writing ballads, looking for contemporary colors for underscoring or want to uplift your next acoustic pop production, Tales delivers instant inspiration from every note you play.

A fresh new look and feel: Updated interface and workflows
Everything in HALion is now less complex, has more space and is designed to get you into your creative flow and keep you there. Fewer clicks, improved menus, zones and icons, optional auto-size for macro view, innovative tools like the Shaper envelope, plus preconfigured screen sets for different use cases, all helping you to focus on the important things: making music and designing sounds.

New pitch-shift and time-stretch algorithm
This new algorithm was developed from the ground up with musical content in mind. The result is a high-precision tool which sounds very natural and beautifully accurate, even at extreme settings. You can use the algorithm in the spectral zone for creative experiments or in the sample zone as a new warp mode to adjust samples, without them sounding artificial. Phase locking, transient detection and channel correlation help to restore the natural sound of stereo samples, even while working creatively with the sound.

Advanced wavetable synthesis
Bringing a new dimension to wavetables, now you can create your own with up to 1,024 individual waves. If that is not enough, you can load multichannel files of up to 5.1 surround and work on the sum or individual channels to get all the details. The best part is that you can setup the new fully customizable Spectral Filter for each wave individually, while the automatic interpolation makes sure the fades between the previous and next waves sound extremely smooth.

New wavetable tools
You can also work with the wavetables in an extremely dynamic way, thanks to the new Acceleration and Target Speed parameters, which are also available for modulation. Plus, the new Hold function freezes the spectrum if the start or end of a wavetable is reached. Combined with additional new tools like sub-sample precision loop, Overlap Add and the Spectrum Analyzer, you get the maximum control and accuracy for wavetable editing. All these features make HALion 7 the perfect tool for composers, sound designers and any real wavetable geek on the planet.

Decompose samples for unique sound design
You can now split every sample into its tonal and noise components directly in HALion, opening the door to a whole new world of sound design. Combine the tonal part of an electric piano with the attack of a guitar sample. Separate the noise part of a recording and send it through a unique effects chain, while keeping the tone as clean as possible. This is not only great for creating unique sounds, but also a complete tool for building new kinds of libraries.

New X-LFO
Enrich your sounds with spectacular movements. The new X-LFO can modulate two-dimensional parameters for wavetable, FM, granular and the spectral zone. Create everything from wobbly basses to complex, animated FM sounds.

Redesigned MediaBay: Easy access to everything you are looking for
Find the sounds you are looking for faster than ever. The MediaBay in HALion has been completely refreshed, with a clearer, uncluttered structure, context-sensitive search, and an improved user experience. This makes browsing for the right samples, layers, programs, presets and multis much more efficient.

Oscilloscope
Visualize audio signals directly in HALion 7 with the new Oscilloscope module. You can adjust the displayed timeframe and switch between the left and right channels or the summed signal. This is especially helpful for analyzing your audio or, for example, to visualize how modulation is changing the signal.

Load new impulse responses and import your own
Make room for all your creative ideas by loading your own impulse responses from recordings of halls, studios or legendary hardware units into HALion and use these in the REVerence reverb. We have also added several IRs from iconic chamber, spring and plate units like the EMT 240 “Goldfolie”, Lexicon 224, AKG BX5 and RE-501.

New tools for designing outstanding instruments
The Macro Page Editor is packed with incredible new features, like the spectral view in sample displays and many more tools to help you build extremely creative instruments. HALion now allows you to connect bitmaps and SVGs with external editors. You can also load SVG resources directly in HALion and animate these by using Lua expressions. With new appearance and color options, you can design controls even faster and more flexibly. Combine all of this with the new vector graphic controls library and you can be sure the instruments you design will look simply amazing.

More new features:

• Chord export
  Drag and drop MIDI chords to your favorite DAW from trigger pads.
• Native Apple silicon support
  One of the fastest HALion experiences on Apple Macintosh, ever.
• Steinberg Licensing
  Use HALion on different machines with new Steinberg Licensing — no need for a dongle.
• New mixer
  The mixer has been refreshed, with improved handling of effects.
• Bipolar/unipolar switch
  Pitch and user envelopes allow you to switch polarity.
• User icons
  Assign your own user icons to programs.
• SVG import and color editing
  Create macro pages with animations or color switches based on SVGs.
• Section and module presets
  Navigate through presets using the new previous/next preset buttons even in the chord pads.
• Spectral view in the Sample Editor
  Switch from sample to spectral view for analyzing your samples.
• Improved program tree
  There is now a text filter to search for elements and a pre-listen section for samples.
• Move ranges
  Move the sample or loop start and end markers together.
• … and much more
  To discover every new feature and improvement in HALion 7, please check the “New” section in the manual.