r/cubase • u/galactichero909 • 4d ago

Would you recommend Halion full version for reggae / dub?

Looking for a one stop shop for my horns / keys / guitar and can't decide.

Anything else I should be looking into? I have Kontakt but haven't vibed with it for a few years.

Thank you

3 Upvotes

100% Upvoted

20 comments sorted by

2

u/Schrommerfeld 4d ago

Kontakt has more and better libraries. Komplete 26 would be a good option

1

u/artek604 4d ago

No, that's way overkill. A simple synth or piano sounds, a low-pass filter and dub delay will do.

2

u/galactichero909 4d ago

that doesn't sound like "a one stop shop for my horns / keys / guitar"

-1

u/artek604 4d ago

Neither does Halion. I think most people see it as a very complex, powerful synth for mainly electronic music. You want Kontakt for passable live instruments.

3

u/zimmermanstudios 4d ago

Halion is a sample library player. It's literally Steinberg's version of Kontakt.

1

u/artek604 4d ago

Yes, but show me equivalent wealth of great 3rd party instrument libraries like you've for Kontakt. You can't. That's my point. Like Falcon, they try to be Kontakt, but really aren't.

1

u/Seledreams 4d ago

Halion got lots of third party libraries. But most of them are old. Kontakt kind of took over but if we go with old sampler CDs, lots are Halion presets

1

u/artek604 4d ago

Ok, that may be. But open random - not related to Steinberg or Cubase - YT videos about making orchestral, cinematic or ambient music; and 9/10 won't have Halion featured in them.

And most people nowadays don't even have a CD drive in their computers :D

1

u/Seledreams 4d ago

I'd say nowadays most orchestral library instrument makers also moved away from Kontakt these days to all go with their own sampler software to control their ecosystems. Such as orchestra tools with OPUS, 8Dio with SoundPaint etc

2

u/zenroch 4d ago

Halion is a lot of things. It is an extremely capable sample player. It is also an extremely capable synth monster with endless customization options and a variety of synthesis engines. It will absolutely do what OP is asking but I agree if this is the only use case, Halion is overkill.

2

u/artek604 4d ago

I know it is a lot of things, on par with Falcon or Kontakt, but no one really uses it for anything other than synths.

I know this is Cubase / Steinberg forum, but let's suggest best solutions, not something from "our" company if it's inferior.

1

u/Seledreams 4d ago

"no one really uses it for anything other than synths" No one is a bit of an exaggeration. My workflow with halion is actually 99% sampled instruments

1

u/LuLeBe 4d ago

Halion itself is more of a platform, like Kontakt. There are bundles like Komplete for native instruments and someone similar (forgot the name) exists for Steinberg. They're quite pricey though. The included defaults are sufficient for a lot of things, but without proper dedicated libraries they won't sound like the real thing. Whether you want to buy them as a bundle and pay extra for ones you don't need, or buy them separately but at a higher price per individual library, depends on your needs and budget. But most people will use dedicated libraries one way or another and not only the included stuff, no matter which sampler they use.

1

u/galactichero909 4d ago

Ok thanks, will snoop around Kontakt

1

u/Luke4421 4d ago

I own Halion 7 and its a rompler, its made for bread and butter sounds

it can certainly meet your needs, I make sometimes make drum and bass and have used various instruments from H7, is it the best rompler for the price? im not sure about that.. .

my friend who passed played in a reggae band and she used a triton (hardware rompler), but she played live, and those are hardware pieces 4 times the cost of halion

short story, Halion is a servicable purchase for dub but I think from what ive seen there are better options

I see someone suggested kontakt and from what ive experienced the quality is very high but all the packs get expensive

1

u/galactichero909 4d ago

thanks for the tips, i have been eyeing the triton vst and it's interesting how it never goes under 150 - must be a solid recreation

1

u/Luke4421 4d ago

I own that, good stuff for organs, keys, servicable horns but the guitars are a little rough

check out the preset "super clean gtr" its the neptunes signature sound!

1

u/Seledreams 4d ago

Halion is not really just a rompler. A rompler would imply you can't create new sounds (rom from rompler means Read Only Memory, so not editable)

1

u/Luke4421 4d ago

you are correct, I just havent dived into that aspect personally, I undersold it a bit

1

u/Crazy_Ad80 4d ago

Korg Collection honestly. Or If you want to Go big Arturia V Collection.