Future Music magazine have reviewed Steinberg’s HALion Player sampler. They review it largely from the point of view of a HALion 3 user, so they notice the cut-down (“minimalist”) interface and the lack of flexibility. However, they also point out that it is cheaper than HALion 3, and it is meant to be used by people who want the specific sounds in the package, rather than those who are looking for a full-on “power sampler”.

There are a number of effects availalbe, but the reviewer laments that fact that these are essentially hard-wired. Each patch has a particular set of effects available for it, and these cannot be changed. Even worse, if you use HALion Player to import sounds to create your own samples, you can’t use the built-in effects at all.

Despite these limitations, they like HALion Player in its own right as a simple sampler with excellent built-in patches — the lack of control and flexibility actually leads to more of a “fun factor” than more complex packages. They give it a ten out of ten rating for ease of use, and at least seven for their other criteria. Their overall verdict: “HALion Player is nowhere near as powerful as SampleTank, Kompakt or Intakt. However, it’s incredibly easy to use and cheap too, delivering the goods sonically.”

Buy HALion Player at SameDayMusic.com