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About Halogen Configuration Files

For the HAL System to properly operate your audio system, you must, of course, configure it first—specifying your system's hardware components, inputs and outputs, processing blocks, control links, audio flow, and so on. You have two options for configuring your system—one option that absolutely requires saving the configuration to a file, and the other option where saving to a file is highly recommended:

Create a configuration file and then apply it to the appropriate device.

This is the recommended approach, especially when initially designing and installing a system. You can create this configuration file without having the hardware on hand, which makes this approach convenient for the designer. When you apply the file to a HAL device, its settings are actually saved to the device. The saved configuration file then serves as a backup in case you want to restore the device to a known configuration at a later time. The file also comes in handy if you are configuring the same audio system for multiple locations. You can simply create one design, save it to a file, and apply the file to the HAL device at each location.

There are two ways to get your configuration file onto the HAL: apply it or load it. You can also, of course, save the configuration on a live HAL to a file.

Configure the HAL device directly.

Using Halogen, you can view and directly edit the current configuration of a live HAL device. Any changes you make to a live HAL's configuration are immediately saved to the device (but not to a file). The changes take effect immediately.

warning! There are certain changes that, if made on a live HAL device, cause a recompile of HAL's DSP configuration: Wiring changes, addition or deletion from the Processing Map of I/O Processing or DSP Processing blocks, changes to the maximum delay value in the Delay DSP Processing blocks. If a recompile is required, Halogen disconnects from HAL. We recommend avoiding this situation unless you're sure it is what you want to do!

tip: When making changes on a live device, it is certainly possible to inadvertently make changes that you did not intend. Been there before? Therefore, we highly recommend that you always maintain a backup configuration file containing the desired settings for your HAL.

note: Halogen configuration files have an extension of .hal and, by default, are stored in C:\Users\<user>\Documents\Halogen Configs.

note: A Halogen configuration file includes a single HAL device (HAL1x, HAL1, HAL2, HAL3, HAL3s, or HAL4) that you choose when creating the file. Once you have created a configuration it is not possible to change the HAL model.

note: HAL automatically mutes its outputs whenever a new configuration is loaded or applied.

The HAL Configuration Viewer

The Halogen software installer includes a small application that allows you to view basic information about HAL configuration files without requiring you to open them from within Halogen. This application displays the filename, its location, the HAL Model and the Halogen Version for the configuration file.

To run the HAL Configuration Viewer, first open the Halogen Configs folder:

Windows 7

Open the Documents window by clicking on Start Menu, then Documents. Next, view the HAL configuration files by double-clicking on Halogen Configs.

Windows 8 or greater

In Windows 8 or greater, right-click on the Windows logo icon in the lower left corner of the screen and select File Explorer from the menu. Next, in the window that opens, double-click on the Documents folder, then double-click on the Halogen Configs folder.

Now, view the information for any configuration file (.hal extension) by right-clicking on it and selecting View HAL Information from the context menu that appears:

The HAL Configuration Viewer will run and display a window with information about the configuration file: