The second incarnation of Absolute presents Steinberg's best VST instruments in one extensive collection. Absolute 2 includes more than 5,500 presets and spans nearly 60 GB of top-quality sounds.
Inside, it houses Steinberg's latest VST technology, which lays the foundation for some of the most sophisticated VST instruments available today. With HALion 5, Absolute 2 includes an extremely powerful sampling and sound creation instrument used by demanding sound designers and producers around the world.
Other instruments in this collection are HALion Sonic 2, the Groove Agent 4 virtual drummer, The Grand 3 with numerous piano emulations, HALion Symphonic Orchestra, the Padshop Pro granular synthesizer and the Retrologue virtual analog synthesizer.
In addition, Dark Planet, Hypnotic Dance, Triebwerk and Zero Gravity add even more content to the immense arsenal of sounds. HALion 5 is Steinberg's latest VST sampler, featuring a multitimbral audio engine with disk-streaming sample playback, a tonewheel organ simulator, and virtual analog and granular synthesis.
With an extensive sound library and numerous high-end audio effects such as the REVerence convolution reverb, HALion 5 offers a wide range of sound creation tools. HALion Sonic 2 is a powerful music production workstation with numerous synth sounds and hybrid and acoustic instruments covering practically every musical style, plus a wide variety of sound shaping, effects and filter options.
Groove Agent 4 is the latest drum studio and virtual drummer for producers and composers, and includes a huge library of drum sounds and patterns. Its three Agents specialize in acoustic drums, electronic beats and percussion. The Grand 3 offers the realistic sound of three concert piano models: Yamaha C7, Bösendorfer 290 Imperial and Steinway D.
The Yamaha CP80 Electric Grand electric piano and an upright piano from Nordiska Pianofabriken are also included to offer a greater variety of quality piano sounds. HALion Symphonic Orchestra offers a complete symphony orchestra. The samples are well organized into groups and programs for Solo, Tutti and Ensemble instruments, including various playing techniques and articulations.
Padshop Pro is a cutting-edge granular VST synthesizer that lets you work with two individual layers of granular textures, mixed and processed with a dozen filters, modulation and high-quality delay effects.
Retrologue is a virtual analog VST synthesizer featuring two oscillators, each with up to eight tunable voices, a sub-oscillator and a noise oscillator, a dozen high-quality filter types and 300 presets.
Dark Planet comes loaded with loops and instruments for leads, basses and percussion, as well as high-quality samples, and is perfect for film scores.
Hypnotic Dance offers unique synth sounds and step modulator presets for creating solid bass lines and atmospheric pads dedicated to classic trance and rave productions.
Triebwerk features seven drum kits, additional percussion kits, hundreds of synth sounds, HALion FlexPhrases and numerous beats and loops for “four-on-the-floor” dance floor fillers. Zero Gravity offers 250 presets and a SoftGrain Wave ROM with 150 samples to expand the Padshop Pro library. “The second edition gives our customers the content to produce and create at an industry level,” says Matthias Quellmann, Head of Marketing at Steinberg. “Absolute 2 represents the highest quality and offers unbeatable value for money.”
Availability and pricing
The full version of Absolute 2 is available through resellers and the Steinberg Online Shop for €499, including German VAT. The boxed version contains a USB 3.0 flash drive with the full software.
The update from Absolute version 1 is available as a download through the Steinberg Online Shop at a suggested retail price of €199, including German VAT.
Key features
• HALion 5 is an extremely powerful sampling and sound design instrument and the heart of today's sound design and professional production environments.
• HALion Sonic 2 offers the latest sampling and synthesis technologies, an excellent sound library and a smart user interface, and is ideal for both studio and stage.
• Groove Agent 4 combines three specialized instruments to create authentic drums, hard-hitting beats and groove-laden percussion patterns for virtually any musical genre.
• The Grand 3 offers five sublime piano models with overwhelming sound quality, different mic positions and much more.
• HALion Symphonic Orchestra puts the incredible emotional power and majesty of a full symphony orchestra in your hands. • Padshop Pro introduces a new form of granular sound design. Get ready to experience otherworldly atmospheres and effects.
• Retrologue delivers classic analog sound combined with expressive sonic building blocks, perfect for creating lead sounds and fat, funky basses.
• Hypnotic Dance is a real treasure for music producers, with its solid bass lines, cutting lead sounds and pads with astonishing textures.
• Triebwerk is the perfect choice for producing dance tracks with fat synths, "four-on-the-floor" drum kits and unsettling vocal samples
• Dark Planet comes loaded with eerie sounds, disturbing loops and ghostly instruments, and is perfect for film scores.
• Zero Gravity is an exceptional expansion pack for Padshop Pro with 250 presets and a new SoftGrain Wave ROM with spectacular samples.
