Steinberg VST Workstation Halion Sonic Operation Manual

Heiko Bischoff, Masahiro Eto, Pierre Schaller
Thanks to: Matthias Klag, Michael Ruf
The information in this document is subject to change without notice and does not represent a commitment on the part 
of Steinberg Media Technologies GmbH. The software described by this document is subject to a License Agreement 
and may not be copied to other media except as specifically allowed in the License Agreement. No part of this publica
-
tion may be copied, reproduced or otherwise transmitted or recorded, for...

Table of contents 

4
5Welcome
5Key command conventions
6How you can reach us
6Installation
8Getting ready to play
10About multis, programs and layers
12HALion Sonic interface
15Plug-in functions section
17Multi Program Rack
20Mix page
20MIDI page
21Editing programs
23Editing layers
24Voice page
27Pitch page
28Oscillator page
30Filter page
32Amplifier page
34Envelope pages
39LFO pages
42Step Modulator page
44Mod Matrix page
46Modulation Sources
47Modulation Destinations
48Modulation Modifiers
49Inserts page
50Instrument...

5
HALion Sonic
Welcome
Congratulations and thank you for purchasing HALion So-
nic by Steinberg.
HALion Sonic breaks new ground in terms of perfor-
mance, versatility and ease of use: you can now work 
more productively than ever before. HALion Sonic offers 
over 12 GB of first class synths, hybrid and acoustic in
-
struments, covering almost any conceivable style. With 
the purchase of HALion Sonic you have chosen the ulti
-
mate VST workstation, which is actually a joint venture 
project on its own:...

6
HALion Sonic
How you can reach us
Clicking the Steinberg logo in the top right corner of 
HALion Sonic opens a pop-up menu where you find items 
for getting additional information and help:
• On 
this menu, you can find links to various Steinberg 
web sites. Selecting one automatically launches your 
browser application and opens the page.
On the web sites you can find support and compatibility information, an -
swers to frequently asked questions, links for downloading new drivers, 
etc
 . This...

7
HALion Sonic
System requirements
To use HALion Sonic, your computer must meet the fol -
lowing requirements:
Windows
• Windows Vista and Windows 7 (64-bit version natively sup -
ports 64-bit versions of Vista and Windows 7)
• Pentium/Athlon 2.0 GHz dual co re mobile or 
 dual core 2.0 
GHz processor
•2 GB RAM
• Approx. 12 GB of free hard disk space
• Display resolution 1280  x 80
 0 pixels recommended
• Windows DirectX compatible audio hardware (ASIO compati -
ble audio hardware recommended  for lo...

8
HALion Sonic
Getting ready to play
The following sections describe how to use HALion Sonic 
as a plug-in in different host applications, or as a stand
-
alone instrument.
Setting up HALion Sonic as a VST instrument 
in Cubase
ÖThe following information refers to the use of HALion 
Sonic in Cubase. We assume that you have correctly set 
up Cubase as well as your MIDI and audio hardware, and 
that Cubase receives MIDI data from your external MIDI 
keyboard. If you want to use HALion Sonic in another VST...

9
HALion Sonic
HALion Sonic standalone
HALion Sonic can be used as a standalone application, 
independently of any host application. In this case, you 
can connect HALion Sonic directly to your audio hard -
ware.
• To
 retain your HALion Sonic settings, you must save 
them as a preset (click the disk  symbol to the left below of 
the HALion Sonic logo).
The Preferences dialog
When running HALion Sonic as a standalone application, 
you can configure the application in the Preferences dia -
log. To open...

10
HALion Sonic
Missing content
There may be situations in which a content file becomes 
unavailable. The reason can be a closed encrypted parti
-
tion or a detached removable hard drive, for example. In 
these cases, you will be prompted that a specific VST 
Sound Library cannot be informed.
To access the content again, proceed as follows:
1.Click Ignore.
HALion Sonic is loaded, containing the content that could be found.
2.Quit HALion Sonic.
3.Reattach the removable hard drive or reopen the en-
crypted...