Steinberg Halion 4 vs. IK Multimedia Total Worksatation 2 << Your Opinions Please

[DaKillaB]

Im looking to upgrade my sounds and I'm looking for something thats going to give me the most for what I spend...

I've been looking at these two packs...

Steinberg Halion 4: Start*:**|*http://www.steinberg.net/

IK Multimedia Total Workstation 2: IK Multimedia Total Workstation 2 | Sweetwater.com

What I like about the IK Multimedia pack is that it comes with good effects, but my main goal is to get the best sounds... bread and butter hardware replacement type of stuff... something thats as close as possible to the sound quality of a motif....

I plan on using this stuff with logic...

Have any of you tried either of them and how would you rate the sounds and your experience...


I've used Komplete before and I really didnt like the sounds, they seemed uninspiring to me.... guitar rig and battery were the best thing in that pack in my opinion but yeah, thats a different discussion I guess...


I plan on trying the demos out when I get a chance but I think i'd benefit from getting feedback from someone whos been using the plugins for a while as well...
any info would be appreciated...


thanks

[iDBeatz]

well, im pretty sure halion is all-in-one workstation. ik multimedia total workstation gives u all VSTs i have sample tank,sonik synth, and philharmonik & there all pretty goo but i think halion would be alot easier to use.

[DaKillaB]

well, im pretty sure halion is all-in-one workstation. ik multimedia total workstation gives u all VSTs i have sample tank,sonik synth, and philharmonik & there all pretty goo but i think halion would be alot easier to use.

i mean i've used sampletank.. the free versin they have online is pretty easy to use..
the sounds seem pretty good...

but thats what im saying, i wanna be able to say the sounds are amazing as opposed to pretty good you know...

i've been reading at other places and people have been really cosigning Halions sounds...

i wanted to see if anyone on here felt that way too..

have u had a chance to play around with halion 4?

[Xabiton]

I've never used Halion but I really do like the IK bundle. One thing I will mention is that the IK has a lot more sounds 28 gb vs 15 for Halion. Halion appears to have a more powerful sampler if that is what you are into. Sampletank hasn't had a major update in a long time which also bothers a lot of people and its still 32 bit which again bothers a lot of people. Halion also requires the Elicenser dongle and IK is dongle free if that matters to you. Overall I really like SampleTank but I do not think you can go wrong either way.

Also make sure your host can do vst 3.5 most are still on 2.4 and from what I understand most Steinberg vsts are 3.0 or higher

---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------

well, im pretty sure halion is all-in-one workstation. ik multimedia total workstation gives u all VSTs i have sample tank,sonik synth, and philharmonik & there all pretty goo but i think halion would be alot easier to use.

The IK vsts are all based on Sampletanks engine and can all be loaded to Sampletank that is how I use it.

---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 PM ----------

well, im pretty sure halion is all-in-one workstation. ik multimedia total workstation gives u all VSTs i have sample tank,sonik synth, and philharmonik & there all pretty goo but i think halion would be alot easier to use.

The IK vsts are all based on Sampletanks engine and can all be loaded to Sampletank that is how I use it.

[DaKillaB]

I've never used Halion but I really do like the IK bundle. One thing I will mention is that the IK has a lot more sounds 28 gb vs 15 for Halion. Halion appears to have a more powerful sampler if that is what you are into. Sampletank hasn't had a major update in a long time which also bothers a lot of people and its still 32 bit which again bothers a lot of people. Halion also requires the Elicenser dongle and IK is dongle free if that matters to you. Overall I really like SampleTank but I do not think you can go wrong either way.

Also make sure your host can do vst 3.5 most are still on 2.4 and from what I understand most Steinberg vsts are 3.0 or higher

---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:30 PM ----------


The IK vsts are all based on Sampletanks engine and can all be loaded to Sampletank that is how I use it.

---------- Post added at 07:45 PM ---------- Previous post was at 07:45 PM ----------


The IK vsts are all based on Sampletanks engine and can all be loaded to Sampletank that is how I use it.

i didnt know IK was giving almost twice the sound content, but I mean thats not a big deal as long as the quality is there... if I can get one of these to sound as close to a motif or fantom or w/e straight out the box then I'd be good...

I'm not liking the thought of the dongle, but if they came up with sounds that are amazing out of the box, then I'll live with it, its cool...

from using IKs free version so far I really like the fact that you can import your own samples and it'll stretch and pitch it for you automatically... its dope for pitched drums...

buuut looking at the knobs on the plugin and all the other plugins that come wiht it, it doesnt look like it wud be able to do nearly as much when it comes to tweaking sounds.... sooo I mean Halion might come with less sounds but Im pretty sure it'll let u make allot more of your own sounds too... Im pretty sure Halion would beat IK at synths/pads.... Im not really into designing my sounds like that like that, but if theres knobs right there infront of me, i'll at least tweak some here and there and play around with it, lol

but youre right about the fact that IK hasn't been updated for the longest time, i remember watching beatmaking vids on youtube a bunch of years ago where people were using sampletank and it looks the same...

I know theres that one IK rep who posts here, I wonder if he can tell us how old the sound library is and if they plan on updating it any time soon...


its kinda weird though, Halion 4s been out at least a year (if not longer) and no ones really posted about it to give any reviews or anything, and hardly anyone talks about IK either....

[Xabiton]

i didnt know IK was giving almost twice the sound content, but I mean thats not a big deal as long as the quality is there... if I can get one of these to sound as close to a motif or fantom or w/e straight out the box then I'd be good...

I'm not liking the thought of the dongle, but if they came up with sounds that are amazing out of the box, then I'll live with it, its cool...

from using IKs free version so far I really like the fact that you can import your own samples and it'll stretch and pitch it for you automatically... its dope for pitched drums...

buuut looking at the knobs on the plugin and all the other plugins that come wiht it, it doesnt look like it wud be able to do nearly as much when it comes to tweaking sounds.... sooo I mean Halion might come with less sounds but Im pretty sure it'll let u make allot more of your own sounds too... Im pretty sure Halion would beat IK at synths/pads.... Im not really into designing my sounds like that like that, but if theres knobs right there infront of me, i'll at least tweak some here and there and play around with it, lol

but youre right about the fact that IK hasn't been updated for the longest time, i remember watching beatmaking vids on youtube a bunch of years ago where people were using sampletank and it looks the same...

I know theres that one IK rep who posts here, I wonder if he can tell us how old the sound library is and if they plan on updating it any time soon...


its kinda weird though, Halion 4s been out at least a year (if not longer) and no ones really posted about it to give any reviews or anything, and hardly anyone talks about IK either....

They are working on SampleTank 3 I was talking to them on twitter about it. They are just doing a lot of different things. IK has a lot of different products and they mostly focus on their modeling stuff for Amplitube. As far as can it sound like a Motif/Fantom I honestly feel any software workstation can do that and beyond if you know how to do it. I think SampleTank is right there with its simple layering and fx which makes it close to any workstation I have used. Keep in mind as well old doesn't mean bad it just means old. I personally use SampleTank on just about everything I do these days. I jump between that, Kontakt player and Reason. A lot of big records have been made using their stuff too. The main string from I am not afraid by Eminem came from that bundle. Some of the strings on Jeezy's My President did too to name a couple off the top of my head. So I think its a matter of picking one and running with it. Of course nothing is stopping you from maybe later grabbing the other if one doesn't suit or if you really just want both.

---------- Post added at 09:54 PM ---------- Previous post was at 09:50 PM ----------

Oh and if you want to grab something that everyone is on and uses for more standard sounds it may be a good idea to grab Kontakt player or the full version and grab libraries for it. Everyone makes libraries for Kontakt. That said I still love SampleTank and it is probably my most used plug in.

[mwandishi]

I'm gonna have to disagree with xabiton a little. I have a motif-es rack and the total workstation, but I would not trade my rack for the workstation. Just like a person that knows how to program synths could design all kinds of stuff with IK, there are even more possibilities in programing a motif or fantom. But obviously 200 is much cheaper than 500-1000 for a fantom or motif. I think I like Ik better than Halion, but keep in mind your basically getting about 50% of the stock yamaha sounds when u get the halion. Your call my 2 cents.

[stillfunkin]

there is no comparison between IK bundle and Halion... or any software workstation that has been released in the last 2 to 3 years... the beauty of the the IK bundle sale is you get a lot for a little... but as far as quality goes... there is no comparison between IK Bundle and Halion... just read the specs of the products... then listen to the content... there are also "some" cases... if you own the Sonic Reality Refills... you the have the same samples in the IK Bundle...

about Sampletank 3... IK has been working on Sampletank 3 for years now... more than 5 years...

plus... in my opinion... IK is milking the IK bundle for every drop of cash it can produce... IK knows that 1000s of producers/music makers are born everyday... now if IK has a group sale... the bundle for $200... and if the group sale reaches 2000 individuals... that is $400,000 clear profits... Sampletank has not been updated/developed in 7 years or so... there has not been any development cost for the same time period for the current version of Sampletank... so... these group buys can generate millions over the course of the year... why invest funds in a new product when the current product is still profitable? i.e. 100% profit at this point... because Sampletank has paid for itself multiply times...

the talk of Sampletank 3 is for the long time users of the product... basically... to keep them interested in IK... i.e. Sampletank 3 is coming... in the mean time go to the website and purchase some other IK products and build up your IK points...

back to the OP... it all boils down to budget... for the budget minded individuals... IK bundle is ideal... you do get a lot for the money... no doubt about that... but if you have the funds... Kontakt, Halion, Halion Sonic, Mach 5 3, etc are better products... hands down!!!

last point... when i read... Sampletank is my most used vsti... and that individuals has brought more vsti products since February 2012 than anytime in their lives... i would take what they have to say with a grain of salt!!! i believe that individual wants to be a IK rep too!!!

---------- Post added at 06:53 AM ---------- Previous post was at 06:39 AM ----------

I'm gonna have to disagree with xabiton a little. I have a motif-es rack and the total workstation, but I would not trade my rack for the workstation. Just like a person that knows how to program synths could design all kinds of stuff with IK, there are even more possibilities in programing a motif or fantom. But obviously 200 is much cheaper than 500-1000 for a fantom or motif. I think I like Ik better than Halion, but keep in mind your basically getting about 50% of the stock yamaha sounds when u get the halion. Your call my 2 cents.

Xabiton vsti background is limited... last year this time... Xabition would say... "Reason can do any and every things product X could"... i would say to X... if you had computer power you would think otherwise... February X "finally" got computer power... and now wants to sounds like an expect on the subject matter... ask him what vsti(s) he owns... mostly LE i.e. Limited Edition (lounge lizard, dim pro), brain busting deals and group buy products... Halion, Mach 5 3, Halion Sonic, Kontakt does not have group buys or brain busting deals...

remember X's Diva video... he was claiming "all" hip hop producers should have Diva... question... does he own Diva?

[youngjboy]

Personally, i like the Motif sounds, but I was uninspired by the Halion Demos on Steniberg's site. They have horrible demos for their products. They really need to get Bert Smorenburg that does the Yamaha demos to do some of their's since they Yamaha and Steinberg are now together. I haven't really listened to either set of sounds in Guitar Center, but when Halion first came out with the advertisement of Motif sounds, i was excited, then i heard the online demos, and i was not impressed.

Even though you said you didn't like it, i would probably roll with Komplete. I have only really used the elements version of the sounds while playing around with Maschine in Guitar Center and from what i heard, i liked it, not to mention they have good demos.

[Xabiton]

Here is a good deal that started today on Sonik Synth 2. Its from the IK bundle and gives a good idea of what the rest of the bundle has going on if ST free doesn't give you a great idea anyway.Buy Krazy Deal! Sonik Synth 2 + 2 Free SampleTank Libraries. (Downloadable sounds)