Upgrading HN2 to Synfire
Before you consider an upgrade, you should understand what distinguishes Synfire Sparks from Express and how they compare to HN2 Advanced Edition and HN2 LE.
With the second generation of Synfire, the features of all editions have been carefully rebalanced in order to make every edition as useful as possible for their envisioned target audience and at the same time allow us to offer more affordable options as an alternative to the flagship Pro edition.
- The Sparks edition is a great entry into the world of Music Prototyping. It helps you understand music theory, write and arrange songs and create instrumental phrases for export to your DAW. Its intended audience is songwriters, students and teachers.
- The Express edition offers additional creative tools, increased capacities and more control over the details. It is great for home producers that don't yet need the advanced features of the Pro edition.
- The Pro edition includes all prototyping features ever made for Synfire, offering the most comfortable and productive workflow for professionals and music enthusiasts.
Harmony Navigator has been discontinued as a standalone product. All of its features are now integrated with the Synfire family. You have two options to upgrade from HN2 to Synfire 2.
Upgrade To Synfire Express
This is a real upgrade from Harmony Navigator 2 (Advanced Edition). Express not only includes all features of HN2, it is also a lot more powerful in every regard. If you are looking for a solid feature upgrade we recommend this step.
- More powerful tools for collecting phrases and arranging songs.
- Much improved user interface that is easier to use.
- Detailed phrase editing.
- Snippets (Live Loops).
- Compatibility with latest macOS and Apple Silicon.
- Host your VST3/VST/AU audio plug-ins.
- Host plug-ins in Drones in your DAW.
- Save more than 250€ compared to a new purchase (circa).
Switch To Synfire Sparks
If you consider moving from HN2 to Synfire Sparks, you need to know that some features and capacities were moved to Synfire Express in order to rebalance the new product family. Depending on what your priorities are, you may or may not miss some of these features.
- Much improved user interface that is easier to use.
- Detailed phrase editing and rendering.
- Compatibility with latest macOS and Apple Silicon.
- Host your VST3/VST/AU audio plug-ins.
- Library accessible from sidebar.
Limitations Compared To HN2
- The catalog is not editable and includes 576 chords (24 different chord types). You can still enter any possible chord into the input fields of the app. On a palette however, they will only show up when you add them to the layout yourself.
- Supported parameters are limited to Harmony, Figure, Interpretation, Volume, Pan, Pause, Take. That's more than enough to do great stuff, but if you have previously used other parameters with HN2 you may miss them.
- Sparks supports up to eight instruments. HN2 files with more instruments can still be opened.
- The palette and progression editors are integrated with the arrange window. Palettes and progressions can not be opened in a standalone window.
- The Online Repository is not included.
Sketches
With HN2 you could select a Sketch from a menu to use as the basis for a song. This feature has been replaced by the ability to convert any Sketch to a song (arrangement) and edit that as you need. You can also replace the phrases in the root container now to achieve the same effect.
Detailed Comparison
For the most informed decision, please check out the complete comparison of all Synfire editions.
How You Can Arrange With Synfire Sparks
How You Can Arrange With Synfire Express
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2022-11-01