I am struck by the huge amount of presets that there are for Serum and how bad they are.
Being Serum such a capable synthesizer, it is a pity that it is used to make such unmusical sounds. I'm doing preset cleaning in Serum and I need a shovel.
I'm aware that you tend to use some synthesizers to make certain types of sounds, for example, in Omnisphere there are great pads and drones, Spire is usually used for trance sounds, Sylenth and Massive for hardstyle, Zebra is an all-rounder so there are many good sounds, but it seems that Serum has been destined for the "industry" to destroy the essence of music, which regardless of the musical style, has to be beauty. Anyway, it's just my idea of music, of course

 

Last edited: Dec 31, 2018

Totally agree with you ambbe,
For such a capable synth that can produce really warm pads, really nice synth-basses/leads with a vintage twist(Oberheim/Moogy) thing if programmed right.
All I seem to hear is the usual harsh unmusical Dubstep/tropical/sinister Trap sounds, which is a shame as it is capable of much much more.

 

I never ever use any kind of preset for any kind of software when creating my final product. For other things, yes it happens but if you want to reach anywhere you have to create things that no one has ever created or combine things that no one has ever combined thus making whats never been made so don't worry about those presets, go on and create your own, but yes, you are right, they are bad, not as bad as my punctuation tho.

 

Yes, Serum has been destined to that kind of garbage, dubstep / trap noises, driving away the good sound designers, which are reserved for Omnisphere, Zebra, Spire, etc.

 

i can relate to the view on the trend in sounddesign with serum. I'd say use that shovel of yours and clean out al the bad presets and only keep the ones you like. Also, will recommend you to check Out u-he's Diva for some nice sounding sounds.

 

Dubstep is good. You don't like it, good. Serum is capable of growl bass noises that other synths can't produce. That's why there are less warm sounding packs available. Dune or Hive are good for warm sounds.

 

It's an overrated synth. Yeah, you can program some good (warm) sounding presets, but with some effort. If you want to get your hands on some good fat sounds quickly than Serum is not a good choice. If you want to sell soundbanks for Serum it's not profitable to spent too much time on programming good (warm) sounds.
It can sound very harsh, maybe that's the reason why there are so many growling, fart and dubstep presets made for it.
All these programming options in Serum are not always an advantage for quick sounddesign.
I (still) don't understand the hype around this synth; there are so many (better, cheaper) alternatives.
And yes most of the 50.000+ presets made (sold) for Serum are really garbage.... unfortunately....

 

Last edited: Dec 31, 2018

Other synths what? Old FM8 and Sytrus will take a big dump on serum growl noises

 

well just a matter of taste Some prefer harmonic music some prefer trash

 

I am curious, what VST Synth has lots of great 3rd party presets as opposed to garbage?

 

Definitely not AIR's Hybrid and Vacuum Pro. The expansion packs for those are all utter crap.

That said, Serum definitely does have a very distinct, bright sound which makes it sound just too pure and clean compared to other synths. I tend to go with other synths if I want something less edgy.

 

Many: Zebra, Diva, Spire, Omnisphere. Dune... talented sound designers such as Luftrum, Bellatrix, Triple Spiral Audio, Patchpool, Leap into de Void, The Unfinished do nothing in Serum, because unfortunately this synth is associated with the raucous noises of Dubstep and others subgeneres. It's not Serum's fault, but the fact is that most Serum presets are made by amateurs who in a couple of hours have "designed" 50 sounds and set up a website to sell them. They are dry, abrupt and static sounds that do not evolve and that do not have any musicality, pure garbage

 

Last edited: Dec 31, 2018

I don't bother with any downloaded presets for any synth. If you really tweak factory presets of any synth you will know if it fits into your workflow, if it resonates with you....Personally I like more evil, dubsteppy sounds, and these can have both warmth and musicality in the right hands. Serum's modulation, tonal, fx etc possibilities are quick and easy to use, so it has a huge advantage over other synths because of this. You can get a huge pallette of sounds from it although sometimes its better to find something with a warmer, less gritty sound. However, it makes wavetable synthesis very accessible and is open to very creative processing...

 

don't use presets. next!!...

 

3rd Party presets are usually the best... it is rare that a factory bank would actually sound good, we saw that with the first few Factory banks from Spire...

 

I've never used Serum on my releases even if i have it . Serum sounds to me like for excited EDM kids. Any serum preset sounds to me like plastic and so digital (even 3rd party banks) . Avenger works better for me than Serum

 

we all have agreed now that serum seems to have tons of crappy presets out there.
but your question has not been answered yet.

one big reason, why serum has in fact loads of terrible presets out there, is that presets in general have become a PROFITABLE business for many music software companies out there.

they are (relatively) easy and fast to create and .... they are cheap! it is not like you need a team of software engineers who are developing an entirely new vst plugin over a long time.

and now, the 1 million dollar question....why does serum have so many crappy presets?

because serum is arguably the most popular soft synth out there (or at least has been for a while).
Please note, i said popular and not best! this is important.

I mean it is literally everywhere. and popularity means here, that there are many potential customers out there to buy preset packs.
and the best thing is, serum is not only extremely popular, it is super easy to program. you need less time to create presets and can do more.
same goes with wavetables. another source of income.

all of this together means, that serum is the ideal synth if you want to sell presets.
and THIS is the reason, why there are so many bullshit presets out there. its a product and the more we have the more we can sell.
they all (ok not all of them, but most) sound the same and just totally soulless. quantity is the factor, NOT quality.

*cough* Cymatics Halloween Horror Trap Vol. 7 *cough*

 

i think the real reason is that serum is very fun to create presets on. so a lot of people make serum preset packs where they never make presets packs for anything before. at least this is true for me.

 

LOL So you want to know why nobody has made good presets for you to use? If they suck, why not make your own and sell them? LOL Typical whiny ass

 

Guys please tell us how you get "THAT" sound from Serum? If you get "THAT" sound I dare to say that most serum tutorials are garbage too.Since they teach you how to make that metallic shitty sound :|