As you already know, some Serum 1 presets(.fxp files) work on their own, while others require additional files like wavetable or noise files.

After Serum 2 was released, I picked up several new preset packs. I noticed that the preset file extension had changed from .fxp to .SerumPreset, and none of the packs included any separate wavetable, noise, or LFO files.

Do these new .SerumPreset files contain all the necessary data internally, so that no external wavetable, noise, or LFO files are needed anymore?

I searched online but couldn’t find any official or reliable information. Has anyone come across something helpful?

 

theres an option to save the tables, samples, noises etc with the preset. which is great, but also annoying.

 

They can, sure. You can look at the Xfer Records/ Serum 2 Presets/tables folder and see one exists. There is also a /User folder inside /Tables

Many of the newer packs are probably just using the factory wavetables.

 

There an option to save the preset with all sounds, so if the preset maker don't forget to clic it, every sound should be included in the preset.

It show when you use external sound ("embed in preset") in the wavetable/sampler/granular/multisample, and also in the noise section and in the convolve section. I'm not sure if there's an option to save automatically or if you have to clic everything each time you save a new preset (I didn't make that much preset yet using my own sound).

For the LFO it is a new format but it's just position information so no need to include a separate file for this. You can still import/export LFO curve, like in S1, it's just a different format, but format from S1 is compatible so you can use them, but like noise or wavetable (and unlike preset) it doesn't show them in the LFO preset selection so you have to manually move your LFO from S1 to the LFO path for S2 (you can do that aswell for noise, but if you don't copy but move them, older project with S1 preset will have issue loading those noise).

 

yup. in terms of convenience, it's great. in terms of disk space, it's not super ideal (because the same noise file might be stored by multiple presets, for example.) but wavetables and noises are small files anyways so it should be fine.

 

Thanks for all your comments.

Yeah... it seems possible that all the preset packs I have (about 10?) are using the factory table files.

Since Serum 2 was only released recently, I guess I should wait and see how more preset developers make their new packs going forward.

Maybe many Serum users still want to keep the separation function, although I personally prefer all-in-one style.




P.S.

A few weeks after the comment, I got another preset pack which had no .SerumPreset files but just one .SerumPack file.

Installing the .SerumPack file, Tables, Samples, Impulses, Presets were unpacked to thier proper paths automatically.

So, It looks like commercial Serum 2 preset packs could still contain additional files, but manual install is no longer required anymore.



P.S.2

I got another Serum 2 preset pack, and it contained various types of files that had to be installed manually just like a Serum 1 preset pack.

So it seems there's no standardized format for Serum 2 packs. Some include only preset files, others come as a single packaged file that installs automatically, and some have separate file types similar to Serum 1 packs.

 

Last edited: Jun 2, 2025