Steinberg releases HALion 7 and an updated version of the free HALion Sonic 7 sample player.
Steinberg’s HALion 7 virtual instrument has been updated, bringing new features that elevate the flagship synth. Those with extra cash burning in their wallets will be glad to hear about the new spectral oscillator and extended FM capabilities.
More price-savvy producers will be delighted to hear that the free HALion Sonic 7 is being launched alongside HALion 7, including several extra goodies under the hood.
HALion is a bit like UVI’s Falcon 2, a do-everything synth with a fair bit of flexibility. HALion Sonic serves as the cutdown preset player version of HALion, so while all the improvements to the sound are there, preset tweaking isn’t on the menu.
HALion Sonic 7 launches with a handful of free libraries, providing fresh sounds for your next production.
Alto Glockenspiel Essential and Guitar Harmonics Essential have niche applications but bring a wonderful texture to productions. Both instruments have a unified user interface, thanks to developer Cinematique’s efforts.
While the available controls are minimal, there is still a fair bit to enjoy with the pair. The harmonics especially are well suited for making reversed swells and pure pads with a little external processing.
LoFi Piano comes with all the dirt, grit, and charm you’d expect of its name. The interface is charmingly dated, evoking a degraded computer terminal. This one is fairly fun and comes with chord pads and a bevy of effects to get the inspiration rolling.
The free HALion Sonic instruments are rounded out by Novel Piano by Sonic Atoms. This library is decidedly more conventional, but you can never have too many pianos.
Novel Piano has a wonderfully delicate sound and sits well in a mix. The included effects, coupled with the core sound, make it an ideal fit for cinematic scoring, video game compositions, or even the odd bit of neo-soul and hip-hop as a harmonic driving force.
BPB reader Numanoid reminded us about Röhrich 12AX7 Synth by Beat Magazine, yet another excellent free library for HALion Sonic.
HALion 7 is available for $349 or €349, depending on your location. HALion 7 Sonic is provided for free and only requires a Steinberg account to register it.
Mac and Windows are supported, with HALion and Sonic being provided as VST3 and AAX with AU as an option for Mac users. Apple Silicon-compatible binaries are also available.
More info: HALion Sonic 7
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21 Comments
Numanoid
onBeat Magazine released a free synth that can be used in Halion Sonic 7 free
bedroomproducersblog.com/2018/04/17/rohrich-12ax7/
Tomislav Zlatic
onThat’s great, thanks for the reminder Numanoid! Adding it to the article.
alex
onI’ve just found out about Tone Projects Basslane. It’s a mono-maker plugin, and a really good one.
https://www.toneprojects.com/basslane.html
Tomislav Zlatic
onHey alex, it’s already on BPB: https://bedroomproducersblog.com/2022/11/03/tone-projects-basslane/
Great plugin!
alex
onOh… I tried to google if there was an article about it, and got no results. Anyways, it was updated last month, so at least that’s new :)
Tomislav Zlatic
onOh, cool! :) I’ll check out the update, thanks for letting me know.
Jay K
onModalics EON-Arp seems to be new and free with coupon: FreeYourArp
https://www.modalics.com
Tomislav Zlatic
onAmazing, thank you so much for the tip!
Gery Zenz
onvery nice, thanks for the tip!
Numanoid
onThere are also included sounds for Halion Sonic in Steinberg Sequel that is now free. Those can be used in Halion Sonic 7, as far as I know. I got it working on an older version.
Numanoid
onYes, this worked out also on Halion Sonic 7 free.
I downloaded and extracted Sequel 3, and went to this sub-folder: Sequel 3>Additional Content>VST Sound
In that folder I clicked on “HalionSonicSE_Content_for_Sequel.msi” to do the install.
This gave me two libraries HS SE Artist (350 presets) and HS SE Basic (185 presets), a total of 535 presets for use in Halion Sonic 7 free
I didn’t have to install Sequel 3 to do this. Just make sure to have the license for Sequel 3 either on soft eLicenser or USB eLicenser
Shreepad M Gandhi
onI did grab my Halion Sonic 7 … Could load it into my DAW (Ableton 10 Intro). How do I move ahead? Where do I get the free libraries to play and try? Please share any tutorial that a beginner like me would be able to try out that. Eagerly interested. Many thanks in advance from Pune city, INDIA
MRG
onMoar free food for HALion? Samplefuel makes some Lite/Free versions of their HALion instruments.
https://www.samplefuel.com/free-products
Darryl Lim
onUnfortunately, the Steinberg Download Assistant refuses to install on Windows 7. :(
A bit disappointed, as those were some beautiful-sounding guitar harmonics & Novel piano!
Numanoid
onI tried to install it on Linux Mint using WINE, but got told it needed at least Windows 8 :-(
MRG
onIf memory serves WINE can be configured to cosplay as Win8 or 10 using “winecfg”. I would try it but my Mint laptop decided to call it quits a few weeks ago… and I’m too lazy to find an alternative right now :/
Numanoid
onWINE is a bit confusing, it seems it has been let to lag behind Windows latest releases.
Maybe I will also try to install Steinberg on a laptop running Zorin, that has WINE built in from the get go, and is said to be among the best Linux distros for those who want a Windows like enviroment.
Numanoid
onLooks like Steinberg will put more effort into Halion Sonic 7 free. Which is good.
Yesterday they released Colors Free “Classic analog synths meet vintage keys” a free HALion instrument, filled with sampled analog synth sounds, dusty lo-fi textures and colorful vintage keys. With Colors Free, users can also build new sounds from scratch with four different layers, shaping tools and a modification engine.
Yara
onI heard about Halion 7 and their new free instrumento Colors Free… But I was unaware of the rest. Always the best with the complete news you guys from BOB
Yara
onI meant BPB you damn nosy corrector 😂😂
Rafael
onI dont receive serial number after registration. Can you help-me?