Xfer's Serum - new brilliant wavetable softsynth

[ferramus]

This synth... Don't think there's ever been a vst that I liked as much as Serum right now.
Try the demo, even if you don't usually like software.

http://www.xferrecords.com/products/serum/
youtu.be/TYhnSuuVqBE

I could go on with compliments on this forever I think, it's absurd. The presets are glorious, the bass ones especially. The workflow, the interface, it works so well. CPU heavy, but fuck, get more ram. I guess it's because the sound quality is so good and there's indication graphics for everything that's going on.

If you just want to hear some examples, start watching at around 14-15 minutes, it's absolutely fucking crazy. The dark ambient thing at 18:40 will probably be what some of you are looking for.

First person that finds something negative to say about this gets a beer.

[Mono-xID]

Pfff..nothing special to see here. You can make all these stuff with Lazerbass for Reaktor as well. Fuck these EDM/ Brostep basses. I'm so sick of this shit

Where is my beer ???

[qb748t394]

Pfff..nothing special to see here. You can make all these stuff with Lazerbass for Reaktor as well. Fuck these EDM/ Brostep basses. I'm so sick of this shit

Where is my beer ???

ha ha haaaaaa!!

kill brostep


P.S. alls I gotta say is Zebra2

[Planar]

Looks like what I'd imagine massive 2 to be like. I bet it does a good reese...

P.S. alls I gotta say is Zebra2

Zebra is so much more than this. Brilliant synth.

[Hades]

This synth... Don't think there's ever been a vst that I liked as much as Serum right now.
Try the demo, even if you don't usually like software.

http://www.xferrecords.com/products/serum/
youtu.be/TYhnSuuVqBE

I could go on with compliments on this forever I think, it's absurd. The presets are glorious, the bass ones especially. The workflow, the interface, it works so well. CPU heavy, but fuck, get more ram. I guess it's because the sound quality is so good and there's indication graphics for everything that's going on.

If you just want to hear some examples, start watching at around 14-15 minutes, it's absolutely fucking crazy. The dark ambient thing at 18:40 will probably be what some of you are looking for.

First person that finds something negative to say about this gets a beer.

I'll start with the good thing.
The sound at 30:50, that was about the only sound of the whole damn video I was impressed with.
Or at least the fact that it was done with a synth and not some sampling or whatever.

Once again, it amazed me how cheesy people always make their presets.
And in this case, it was pretty much like "hey, if it sounds like gritty, obviously digital and very wobbly, then it will sell".
And when he started the beat and went through his "sequenced" presets, I pretty much laughed my ass off.

Specs-wise, I didn't see anything that really blew me away.
It took a lot of stuff from Massive, and I've seen far more flexible envelopes in other synths, and they were just as easy to work with.

What's the point of the 3D thing ? It's only eating memory, and all you need is 2D view to see how the waveform looks like and where you are in your wavetable.

So what that you have a 2nd filter in your FX section ? Jeezes, it should have had a dual filter anyway. It's freaking SW, for christ sakes.
I have dual filters on some of my HW that is 10+ years old.
And with that setting of the filter in the FX section, you can only run them in series, not in parallel.

Btw, that "dark ambient thing at 18:40", you should hear Omnisphere. It has hundreds of patches like that,
and it's as easy as stamping on little kitten to make your own if you get bored with the onboard ones.

Also, why do they have to try and proove that their synth can do "any" type of sound. What's the fucking point of doing a rhodes or wurlitzer with a synth like that ?
A real rhodes/wurlitzer or rompler/sampler with good samples will always sound better, so who would use that sound anyway ?
Why can't they just focus on whatever part of the sound design palette their synth is good at ?

All in all, I want those 25 minutes of my life back. (thank god I skipped forward from time to time)
This guy has omnisphere patches as well. I see he made several long video's for that.
Maybe I should just call it a day and browse through them. I'm curious why on earth anyone would like to buy his patches for a synth that comes with 5000+ patches onboard,
and is so easy to program and come up with new patches you'd be a real lazy idiot buying patches for it.

Sorry man, not trying to piss you off personally, but I really disliked this video (and the sounds) and wasn't impressed with the synth at all.

[Resin]

All in all, I want those 25 minutes of my life back. (thank god I skipped forward from time to time)

You should have used those 25 minutes to download the demo and fool around with it... that's what I did at least and I need to say it's a nice synth. Nice interface and and verry easy and fast to operate... yes it sounds digital, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - nothing wrong with not replicating analog sounds as long as it sounds good, and Serum did to my ears (own patches though).

[ferramus]

Where is my beer ???

Brand and address?


Yeah, I might have been a bit overexcited, just like I was with the mangle. Hype is a hell of a drug.
I guess that's what I get for trying to be cool on subsekt, but the amount of negativity is a bit over the top here.

The 3d stuff is nice for noobs like me to understand how stuff works better. But I do absolutely love the synth, can't take that back. Maybe it's just more amateur friendly, I can create nice patches with this way more easily than I could with zebra, sylenth, massive, or any other synth.
Massive didn't work for me. I don't personally use omnisphere so I can't say much about that other than that other people seem to love it.

ps. I have to make clear the drum loops he used didn't really go well with me either. It's about the synth.
Maybe this wasn't the best video to show what it does, I've seen other videos that don't go into the cheesy range as much, but explore some great pads and longer lasting effects.
Thinking back, actually couldn't have chosen a worse video for subsekt :')

[qb748t394]

Where is my beer ???

Brand and address?


Yeah, I might have been a bit overexcited, just like I was with the mangle. Hype is a hell of a drug.
I guess that's what I get for trying to be cool on subsekt, but the amount of negativity is a bit over the top here.

The 3d stuff is nice for noobs like me to understand how stuff works better. But I do absolutely love the synth, can't take that back. Maybe it's just more amateur friendly, I can create nice patches with this way more easily than I could with zebra, sylenth, massive, or any other synth.
Massive didn't work for me. I don't personally use omnisphere so I can't say much about that other than that other people seem to love it.

ps. I have to make clear the drum loops he used didn't really go well with me either. It's about the synth.
Maybe this wasn't the best video to show what it does, I've seen other videos that don't go into the cheesy range as much, but explore some great pads and longer lasting effects.
Thinking back, actually couldn't have chosen a worse video for subsekt :')

I would say... who cares if we didn't agree mate

I mean, it is cool looking no doubt... that 3d graphic is totally eye-catching...

[Planar]

I've just spent an hour with the demo and it's verrrry similar to Massive. It's a good synth though. I've got some better growly reesey stuff out of it than I've managed with Massive, which is my go-to for DnB bass stuff.

[Hades]

All in all, I want those 25 minutes of my life back. (thank god I skipped forward from time to time)

You should have used those 25 minutes to download the demo and fool around with it... that's what I did at least and I need to say it's a nice synth. Nice interface and and verry easy and fast to operate... yes it sounds digital, but that's not necessarily a bad thing - nothing wrong with not replicating analog sounds as long as it sounds good, and Serum did to my ears (own patches though).

yeah, I'll download yet another demo even before I have checked out if it's even worth downloading the SW at all...

no offence, but I prefer to check out some video, then decide if it might be worth something, then I might download the demo, and then I might buy it.
I've gone that way of downloading tons of demo's and freeware and never properly doing anything with anything years ago, won't make that mistake again, thank you.
Even today I still have too many softsynths already, though I still (try to) limit myself on a constant basis.

and you certainly don't have to convince me digital can be a good thing.
cause If you take me to be this all analog fanboy, you're totally mistaken, I can guarantue you !
(usually, digital can run many circles around analog on any given day)

First of all anything SW is digital by definition, no matter if it's trying to sound "analog"... and I've worked with enough softsynths. I still love and use many of them.
Second of all, I've been using and loving digital synths since day one since the first synth I ever bought was all digital (analog was not the flavour of the year(s) around the mid 90's).
Nowadays, I still love my Fizmo, K5000r, and still like my XV88 from time to time as a sort of practical swiss army knife (you don't really need it a lot, yet you're always grateful when you do need it that you have it around, plus it's also my main set of keys).
And I love FM (Operator or FM8) for certain purposes (bass, clangy hits, hollow pads,...), just like I love additive (Alchemy or K5000r) for airy, ever evolving sounds.
And of course wavetable (Fizmo) can have this great gritty character, who doesn't like that from time to time ??
I've made my own wavetables a few years ago, was lots of fun, though the results were definitely not as good as when you use wavetables that come onboard most wavetable synths.
But nonetheless, you feel really "artisanal", it kind of makes you feel like you're baking your own bread, so to say.

anyway, I'm only interested in sound, and to me after all these years of using all kinds of synths and all kinds of synthesis, I honestly don't give a flying fuck where a sound comes from,
but I do prefer to see new products, things that offer new ways of sculpting your sounds, and not just refurbished stuff.
I strongly feel like this synth is just a refurbished piece of SW.
Perhaps it sounds good, but I feel it's totally not offering anything new specs-wise.

I mean seriously, what is this synth offering that is new ?
morphing between wavetables ? that was already done by the Korg wavestation since 1990.
except now you can see a flashy 3D image of it, that's totally new, I'll admit...

anyway, don't want to sound offensive, just expressing an opinion, and that video (and those specs) don't make me wanna buy that thing (or download the demo) at all.

This afternoon, I've given mr patchguru another 5 minutes on 1 of his omnisphere video's.
Damn, the guy says "hey, there's no fast attack strings anywhere in omnisphere". What a discovery, better call Reuters !!
So then he goes and makes them.
Jeezes, I guess that's just perfect for those who are too lazy to program the attack and decay parameters...

[Hades]

Where is my beer ???

Brand and address?


Yeah, I might have been a bit overexcited, just like I was with the mangle. Hype is a hell of a drug.
I guess that's what I get for trying to be cool on subsekt, but the amount of negativity is a bit over the top here.

mangle's a fine piece of SW.

and you can send me that free beer !
I have 2 monsters to fight out of my studio on a daily basis. Mono only has 1 (and we're not counting our wives now)

look, it's not because we don't agree that it has to be considered negative.
There's nothing wrong in having a strong opinion, if it can be based on proper facts and there is a genuine and proper discussion going on with respect to each side.
If it's just flaming, then of course that's something else entirely...

Besides, there's no such thing as being cool on subsekt, the best or worst you can get is being called a cunt ! hah !

little side note : hey mono, did you notice there's a preset called "hipster bass" on that synth ??! woopidoo !

The 3d stuff is nice for noobs like me to understand how stuff works better. But I do absolutely love the synth, can't take that back. Maybe it's just more amateur friendly, I can create nice patches with this way more easily than I could with zebra, sylenth, massive, or any other synth.
Massive didn't work for me. I don't personally use omnisphere so I can't say much about that other than that other people seem to love it.

ps. I have to make clear the drum loops he used didn't really go well with me either. It's about the synth.
Maybe this wasn't the best video to show what it does, I've seen other videos that don't go into the cheesy range as much, but explore some great pads and longer lasting effects.
Thinking back, actually couldn't have chosen a worse video for subsekt :')

I agree 5000% seeing something visually really helps when you're starting out with sound design.
When I first started making patches I remember how happy I was seeing the lights move around my modulated Kontakt knobs.
It's such a stupid little detail, but it certainly makes you understand stuff a lot better that seems completely abstract at first.

Did he use drum loops ?
I thought he just started a drum beat to demonstrate the "sequenced" sounds on. And it's those sequenced sounds that were soooo lame to me (just as cheesy as the rest to be honest)
However, I'm NOT going back to check whatever he did or didn't do.

[Mono-xID]

hey mono, did you notice there's a preset called "hipster bass" on that synth ??! woopidoo !

What a surprise....

[Hades]

it's made just for you, no doubt about it !

youtu.be/aGuNsiSZ9RI

[Resin]

@Hades
The analog-digital thing was more a like an overall statement and not based on your post. However, it’s funny: I’m the complete other way around - I can’t be arsed to watch a stupid video if I could get my hands on the actual thing within 5 minutes. When it comes to new synths on the market, I don’t really care about new and innovative features that much. But what I really care about is it’s usability (and sound of course). My main problem with most synths is that they are holding too tight on the hardware workflow and it just doesn’t translate well to software. And while Serums seems to stick to the classical way as well, it feels a bit more loose from it. Drawing envelopes feels super smooth and is done much faster than in Alchemy for example (which is my main synth). Drag and drop feels more natural in a software environment than pulling and plugging digital chords, even though it’s almost the same. The mod matrix is big, neat and works with sliders instead of number charts (unlike Dune for example). And also multi tough works, which is a big plus for me since I only use my trackpad and also a few other nice features. Small things, but coupled with good sound engine it makes a good new synth to me… wont buy it though.

[Planar]

I've put about 4 or 5 hours into the demo and I'm now considering picking it up. The presets are a bit meh, but holy fuck does it do the twisty reese thing well. The wavetables sound miles better than massive, the warp functions are fantastic and the wavetables editing/import gives it more depth than first appears. Very tempting...

[fewture]

Im always wary about videos, anyone can make any synth sound crap especially loading up some EDM preset stuff.

Ive been playing around with the demo, so far I really like it and Im not usually a VST fan as much. Im enjoying making sounds and avoiding the presets which is something I only do with hardware. I love the create wavetable feature and the whole layout has a great workflow and is inspiring/intuitive to use.

I do like the sound, sometimes a lot, particularly with pads, and it will often do a very modern wavetable sound (ie right now modern, not 2 years ago modern) but also seems a lot more versatile than that. There is a clarity to the sound that I really like, perhaps relating to the apparent high resolution wavetable bla bla.

Not sure if I will buy it, but its on the top of my maybe list - the new VirtualCZ however was totally on my buy list and I bought it promptly! Fk that one is good and inspiring.