Samplers: Halion 3 vs. Kontakt 2

[smueske]

It's become more and more apparent to me that I need a better sampler than what comes in the standard synth workstation packages. The question is, does anyone here use Halion 3 or Kontakt 2? I'm looking for the pros and cons of both programs. Kontakt 2 is nearly 200 dollars more and I'm wondering if it is worth it. I've been using Reason's NNXT but it has several limitations that are kind of annoying (like not being able to set volume levels on individual samples, for example). As a workaround, I've been using the Sonar's Cyclone player during the writing process and only loading the sounds into the sampler when I'm sure of where I want it to sit in the spectrum.

 

[smueske]

Okay, so I bought Halion 3 (it was, after all, 200 dollars cheaper). While the overall sound quality is excellent, it does have a few nasty bugs.

1.) It doesn't load as a DXi in Sonar Cakewalk (even though the documentation says it does -- believe me, I've tried everything). It loads as a VST plug-in.

2.) It doesn't have a sync to host feature for sample play back. You'd think that something as basic as this would have been included -- you can sync nearly everything else (delay, LFO, etc.) but not tempo. This is a huge disappointment, as it means I have to edit the loops in an external editor before loading them in the sampler.

3.) The interface is buggy in Sonar. In addition to number 1 (above), it doesn't rerender the bottom half of the interface when switching from the macro view to any other view. What this means, basically, is if you want to use the macro functions, you need to offload all the samples into another patch before switching views.

4.) You can't assign effects to individual keys in the same program. To do this, you must layer sounds in different programs and assign the effects there.

5.) Once the module is loaded in the DXi rack, it cannot be removed without crashing Sonar.

6.) I have yet to hear back from Steinberg on any of these problems. Cakewalk, on the other hand, have been responsive.

If I had to do it over, I would not purchase Halion 3. However, it uses a conservative amount of RAM, sounds great, and is easy to use. Its flaky nature is really problematic but once you learn what the problems are, there are usually workarounds.

 

[Jeff]

Sounds like something to avoid. I am a picky guy, and am not interested in workarounds. So Halion wouldn't cut the mustard.

When I was working on my own, flakey stuff was somewhat acceptable, because time was at my side.

But getting a band started, and working with other people, it's aggravating to have shit not work as expected, especially when you drop some serious coin on it.

 

[widdly]

Kontakt 2 all the way. The interface is heaps better, the libraries are more usefull, the imports are nicer and the macros are cool if you are a geek. The only thing I don't like about Kontakt is a bank of patches uses loads of cpu and ram when it doesn't need to. I have a midi pickup (on my 6 string) and like having a bank of sounds to scroll through but in kontakt, loading 128 patches into a bank is not really doable on my PC.

 

[smueske]

Yeah, I finally ended up getting Kontakt. Kontakt is a bitch to figure out but it's miles ahead of Halion in terms of quality.