Well, I am considering halion 6 as my next sampler but I have a problem : I am still using EMulator X3 and this one is discontinued since a while, so I have to think about something to be able to use in the future several years of work with it. I have downloaded the Halion 6 Operation Manual and saw this (p.63/64) :
The following formats can be imported:
…
● EMU* 3, 3X, ESI, 4, 4K, E64, E6400, ESynth, Ultra
…
EMulator X3 saves by default programs/samples banks in .exb files and I guess that this format isn’t supported by Halion 6 but a confirmation would be welcomed. Beside this, EX3 can also export programs/samples banks as .e4b files and, at the opposite, I think that this format matches at least one of the formats listed above, but would like to be sure before any purchase.
So, could someone confirm that Halion 6 can import .e4b files without issue or, it would even be better, has an experience transfering EMulator X3 banks to H6, using this format (or the .exb one directly, who knows…) ?
I admit that I could test this by myself but honestly, I’d prefer to avoid downloading 30 Gb just to test this… . Thanks for any enlightment…
I think you can import fxp files/presets, but not soundbanks. You can then save it in the current Halion format and create or recreate the Emu soundbanks that way. I started converting my H3 libraries this way when H4 came out but never got the job finished as it is very time consuming.
Disclaimer: I might be completely wrong, but since no one else replied…
Not reassuring, to be honest. But I’m still wondering about the .e4b format, though. Who knows ? Maybe someone in Steinberg crew, concerned by an eventual purchase, could shed a light on this.
I know this is old, but the X3 conversion issue comes up from time to time. I had Halion 7 look at Emulator X3 bank files, but H7 do not recognize them. There are several Emulator III (EIII) and ESI CD_ROMs with many of the same patches and samples. They import fine.
However, things are not 1:1 vs the X3 banks, the CD.ROMs are not 100% the same, but there is a lot in there. You can also do a wav export from Emulator X3 (batch export of a whole bank) and then import the samples into H7 and rebuild the patch. Might work if it is just a few.
Yep. I think I’ll have to use the batch export and try to rebuild one patch after the other. The problem I also have is this one : I need a sampler that is able to “crossfade” two samples when the velocity of a note is included in a certain range : I have made a massive use of this in Emulator X3, when working on my patches. Is halion 7 capable of this ?
Page 94 in H7 manual. I haven’t used it yet, but it is described.
I did notice looping is a problem sometimes. After import the loop is not in tune. E-mu often looped a single cycle. Not sure if they tuned it in X3, but retuning in H7 or making new loop points makes batch import very time consuming. I redid the looping in H7 in my experiments and the loops sounded better with my work, just, it takes time. I think I’ll see what Kontakt can do, I think it has to be v5 IIRC as they abandoned sample conversion…
I have not tried Extreme Sample Converter, saw people reporting issues with ESC and .exb.
If you did not know: You can audition the samples in H7 while browsing EII/Roland/Akai banks BEFORE importing. This is HUGHE. Good job Steinberg.
From my understanding, Creative Labs has finally shut down the activation servers so it is now impossible to install Emulator X3 on a new system without notable hacking.
I think the only options (other than rebuilding the banks from WAV files [1]) at this point are to either downgrade to Emulator X2 which uses a hardware interface for copy protection or try to locate the supposedly free Proteus VX. I’ve heard it is capable of loading EXB files so you can still use them even though you will be loosing some of the advanced filters in Emulator X3 [2]. I’ve actually had Emulator X3 running via Wine in GNU\Linux but there were some latency issues [3].
[1] - Rebuilding the banks from WAV files would make for a great project but you wouldn’t be able to legally post your results without a waiver from Creative Labs/EMU and the product you create would likely have to be solely for your own personal use even though I think Emulator X actually encouraged users to rip the WAV files from other synths… (how ironic). So please, everyone, don’t post EXB files or variants thereof on the internet. That might result in men in black suits with dark sunglasses showing up at certain apartments.
[2] - Loosing the filters in Emulator X3 is not a big deal because many modern DAWs like Cubase have VST or other plugins that can morph the sounds. Wave table sample based synth is so “old-school” LOL. Real men use FM Synthesis. It’s the wave of the future (jokingly). You know I’m joking here because FM Synth came out before EMU’s patented wave table synth came out. When wave table synth first came out, it was AWESOME because we had realistic sounds, but we lost the expression we had with the older analog synths so we now have companies like Behringer (and others) using modern electrical engineering and manufacturing techniques to build replicas of old retro synths.
[3] - No, I have never gotten Cubase to run in GNU\Linux even though I heard is was once possible back in the ancient days:
I gave up on Emulator at version X2 but was able to convert content firstly to Kontakt and then import directly in HALion using “Extreme Sample Converter”. Yes, tweaks were necessary but it was worthwhile doing the conversions in my case. It was also goodbye to Creative Labs forever for destroying a great product.
The website hasn’t been updated in years but the demo seems to be still available.
I use ProteusVX from time to time, and if someone needs a copy just let me know. It should be easy to find online, though. E-MU Systems - Proteus VX
It is a 32bit plugin but works with jbridge.
I have used translator to do conversions in the past as it is way more robust but with each bank type things may differ, but support is still active with that program and they do respond.
It’s kind of too bad they ended this line but going this far it would be do-able to do full on recreations of synth modules going way back.
EDIT: Just a note, this plugin doesn’t run as stable as it once does so I haven’t been able to get it to run super stable. There are some jbridge settings necessary but I still found it unreliable, BUT, it is enough to open a project, render, save and it.
Also, it runs perfectly in Stand-alone mode under Windows.
I tried Extreme Sample Converter. You get the sample mapping taken care of. Pretty much everything else has to be re-constructed.
By the way E X3 now works in C13 as of 13.0.30.
A way to crossfade two sample layers based on velocity in H7?
It is described in this video. I could not find this in the manual!?
. Thanks for any enlightment…
