OT: Something like HALION for Sonar?

Dim Pro?

Halion is available for around $350, Native Instruments' Kontakt for around $400 ,and MOTU MachFive for around $260. For Cakewalk to spend the effort required to create a plug-in up the standards these instruments have set would increase SONAR's price dramatically. The beauty of plug-ins is that you have a choice on how to accessorize your core DAW.
 
That said, there are expansion packs for Dim Pro and even though Kontakt is my "main squeeze" for samplers, don't overlook what Dim Pro can do. I have many tracks where Dim Pro came through when others didn't.

VSampler will be sorely missed since he shutdown this month. I always hoped that he would eventually come out with a 64 bit version but it's gone now. R.I.P.

I think if Sonar were to introduce a sampler , it would need to be so tightly interwoven with Sonar that it made ease of use offset any power advantages of more established products. Using the sampler on a basic level in Logic, Fl Studio or Ableton is very intuitive versus third party solutions. Creating advanced multi-sample intruments with proper articulation is a challenge on any sampler for the novice, but that is already the case.  If it is simply another rompler with some sample manipulation features, like an expanded Dim Pro, it will just result in status quo.

I don't think it requires Cubase, just a VST2/3 host see https://www.steinberg.net...c/specs_downloads.html

Cool thanks scook and TD75 - I will check it out further...does it need a USB dongle to run?
 
@TD75  does it indeed have the guitars and basses from the motif line?

joden
Cool thanks scook and TD75 - I will check it out further...does it need a USB dongle to run?
 
@TD75  does it indeed have the guitars and basses from the motif line?

It does require an eLicenser to run - I bought the Absolute VST instrument collection (for no much more than the price of Halion Sonic 2 itself) and it came with an eLicenser included.  Regarding the guitars and basses - I'm not that familiar with the motif line to be of help here.  I did look at the packaging and website to see if it was stated and most I could find was that Halion is based of Yamaha's motif technology - none of the included sound patches list motif in their name.  Sorry I can't be of further assistance.  Hope that helps.

TD75It does require an eLicenser to run - I bought the Absolute VST instrument collection (for no much more than the price of Halion Sonic 2 itself) and it came with an eLicenser included.

 
It needs to be noted right now that Halion Sonic 2 by itself DOES NOT include the dongle. That's what I'm assuming since I bought the first one and it didn't come it. The cool part is that you can use you Halion Sonic 1/2 license with Hypersonic 2 (if you can find the installation files/discs). Hypersonic 2 is easily one of my all time favorite VSTi synths.

You could check out the E-Mu soundsets for Dim Pro on digitalsoundfactory.com. I got the complete set for a hundred dollars a few years ago and I use it all the time, especially the PX-7 kits.

I owned Halion Sonic from steinberg, i also had the IK Multimedia Sampletank 3SE
both is junk along with most of ( 85%) of emulations or synth's........not good enough
nasty mids, lack of treble, detail , bad sample(s) and recording ( EQ, mic, image, frequency and so on )

Junk sound in +  ( EQ, compressor, Limiter and hours of work ) = better junk out ( but still junk )

I gave away both for free...

A test you can do is to take an instrument  and play it loud
if you feel it is an unpleasant sound, and after a while even worse, then its no good.
( our ears is one of the finest instrument's there is )

When you can listen to an instrument at louder volume for some time
and after a while still like the sound, then it's all good. 

A song / mix ( this should be enough )
If the sounds used are good enough you can actually be satisfied
by just adjusting the volume and pan all the tracks..... maybe with just a little eq
like a band playing using a simple mixer.... and that's it.

Do we need to reach for EQ, compressor and tons of plugins to make " huge adjustments "
then there's something wrong with the instruments, sound, technique or recording.
start all over / redo the recording / use other instruments, mic's or whatever.

one of the usable " Instrument " that may be and is good enough
is Native instrument Kontakt 5 sample player and the libraries there
but it wont be cheap... we get what we pay for...

I want it myself, but can not afford it now.

I agree that cakewalk should make, a good GM Instrument within sonar
that's good enough, so the user can release his song, sounding professional
not midi or like child toys music instruments.

I buy less and less, now..... its mostly about money now these day's
tons of product's at a mid ranged quality.. , but it wont help.

They actually made better sound in the earlier years , lets use Roland D-50 as an example
old but excellent sound and detail, for many years. 

I use Mach Five mainly these days - have you considered the Uvi engine (Mach Five is based on this), which is Free, then adding a "Bread and Butter" library such as Plug sound Pro?
http://www.uvi.net/en/composer-tools/plugsound-pro.html
 
The MAXIMUM you would pay doing it this way is $149 - that's full retail - but there are often sales and if you purchased from Jrrshop you normally get a minimum of 15% discount.
 
Nigel
 
 

Joden
No problem.
The other thing I meant to ask is have you ever dealt with Steinberg before?
If not, be VERY careful.
I have personally had dreadful experiences with them - Cubase was one of the first fully featured DAWS I purchased - at the same time I purchased things like Groove Agent 1, and then subsequently paying for upgrades to versions 2 and 3, NONE of which ever worked correctly. A couple of synths I really liked that they just dropped and stopped supporting with little or no notice, D'Cota and Xphrase and of course they dropped over night The Virtual Guitarists,  Electric and Acoustic and Virtual Bass.
So I have a large collection of unusable Stinkberg products that they simply walked away from.
I stopped using Cubase and switched to Sonar permanently!!
I mention this as I have no idea whether or not Stinkberg have ever cleaned up their act. Personally I doubt it......
Nigel