Is Serum worth cashing out for, when you get Vital for free?

[PieBerger]

Serum was the first vst I bought after taking a 15 year break from music. Great purchase. I just found out about Vital a few months ago but hardly used it yet.

I'm eyeing Serum, but so far I fail to see what it does better then Vital. Aren't they pretty much the same? There are much more presets for Serum available floating around, but apart from that, what's the difference?

A few differences I can think of are modulatable LFO shapes and the ability to convert wavetables into LFO shapes, with those shapes available as remap source for osc warping and as a waveshaper in the distortion.

[flori89]

Serum was the first vst I bought after taking a 15 year break from music. Great purchase. I just found out about Vital a few months ago but hardly used it yet.

I'm eyeing Serum, but so far I fail to see what it does better then Vital. Aren't they pretty much the same? There are much more presets for Serum available floating around, but apart from that, what's the difference?

A few differences I can think of are modulatable LFO shapes and the ability to convert wavetables into LFO shapes, with those shapes available as remap source for osc warping and as a waveshaper in the distortion.

O.K that sounds usefull for sound design, you are right about that. Damn, will have to try Serum after all

[jamcat]

[chk071]

Serum was the first vst I bought after taking a 15 year break from music. Great purchase. I just found out about Vital a few months ago but hardly used it yet.

I'm eyeing Serum, but so far I fail to see what it does better then Vital. Aren't they pretty much the same? There are much more presets for Serum available floating around, but apart from that, what's the difference?

Whenever I read stuff like that, I realize how tired I have become of this forum. It's like browsing a car forum, and the thousandth guy asks whether he should buy a VW for a Ford. They both have 4 wheels, a steering wheel, and a combustion engine. What's the difference?

Seriously. I'm aware that this is offensive towards you, but, if you have to ask such a question, better ask yourself if this is the right hobby or even profession for you. Of course there's a difference. They sound differently. They have different features, and potentially different implementations of these features. They have a different user interface, which could be very important for your (joy of) working with the plugin.

The bottom line is: Better do your homework, then you don't have to ask strange questions which noone is able to answer for you. Because you, and only you matter, because you have to work with your 190 € worth software.

Trust me, I've based a few buying decisions based on other's stupid opinions. It never works. It's like calling for an influencer to make a decision for you, because you have no idea what you want or need. I know that's very fancy these days, but, ultimately, it won' make you happy, or give you a feeling of self-determination. Because you just want to be like all the other sheeps.

[YnJ]

So, why are you here? This is the Getting Started forum, some people would assume that unless you're around to actually help people getting started, you would after 11 years and 29K posts have other things to do than nagging people who are, you know, getting started? Hehe, 29K posts complaining would make anyone tired, take a long holiday. Please?

[flori89]

Serum was the first vst I bought after taking a 15 year break from music. Great purchase. I just found out about Vital a few months ago but hardly used it yet.

I'm eyeing Serum, but so far I fail to see what it does better then Vital. Aren't they pretty much the same? There are much more presets for Serum available floating around, but apart from that, what's the difference?

Whenever I read stuff like that, I realize how tired I have become of this forum. It's like browsing a car forum, and the thousandth guy asks whether he should buy a VW for a Ford. They both have 4 wheels, a steering wheel, and a combustion engine. What's the difference?

Seriously. I'm aware that this is offensive towards you, but, if you have to ask such a question, better ask yourself if this is the right hobby or even profession for you. Of course there's a difference. They sound differently. They have different features, and potentially different implementations of these features. They have a different user interface, which could be very important for your (joy of) working with the plugin.

The bottom line is: Better do your homework, then you don't have to ask strange questions which noone is able to answer for you. Because you, and only you matter, because you have to work with your 190 € worth software.

Trust me, I've based a few buying decisions based on other's stupid opinions. It never works. It's like calling for an influencer to make a decision for you, because you have no idea what you want or need. I know that's very fancy these days, but, ultimately, it won' make you happy, or give you a feeling of self-determination. Because you just want to be like all the other sheeps.

Bro, this is literally the „getting started“ forum. Like the one place in this forum to ask those questions. And I have seen countless people claiming that vital and serum are basically the same, so asking someone who actually owns both is kind of a good idea, no?

Maybe come down of your high horse from time to time, or don’t read the „getting started“ forum.

[crickey13]

...

[Tendou]

my 2 cents about that topic: I tried vital and it didnt click with me. serum on the otherhand is my favourite synth and what it does better in my opinion is that its much more approachable. it has a better gui and its easy to use. very visual without beeing cluttered. the workflow is better but to be fair I didnt spend much time on vital so maybe it has a netter workflow than I felt it had but when I opened it I was turned off immediately. one more important thing is the buttload of presets available for serum. its so easy to change them up and get your own sounds, just use them or learn from the bc its easy to see how they were made. serum is very beginner friendly bc of its visual aspect but can go very in depth down the road. that said - I do techno music where serum is not that popular bc its not analog enough. thats bullshit bc you can make it sound more analog however I mention this bc I own also analog emulations like diva which would be more suited for my genre and I still grab serum most of the time bc I like using it that much. and to be honest. in the end no listener will hear or judge if you used serum or vital or whatever else you enjoy using

[ckoe]

As cold and hard as they are, Serums filters can actually sound very phatt! ...

I second that, the sound of Serum filters is much better in the low end. I compare the two synths for my own with the same wavetables and near the same settings. (Saw, Tri and Square with short Env for Amp and FilterCutoff and Filtertype MG24 on Serum and Ladder24 on Vital)
The sound is very close but there is missing some punch in Vital at some points.

If Vital Filters are sounding better then it could be an alternative for Serum, but today it can't beat Serum in terms of sound.

Vital is a great Synth and very close to Serum.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Serum is nice,high quality synth - very usable if a man need modern digital synth can't go wrong with it.
But...
The price is high already for today market.
If some day have 50% off could consider buying it, otherwise why to spend such amount of money for one synth when i already bought like 20 others discounted for less?
It's about the price to me,not the synth itself,could use it in many project,it has it's own voice in digital corner,but can't justify such amount of money when have tight budget.
If the money is not a problem buy it immediately.
Cheers

[applefrozenyogurt]

I have used Serum for a long time and consider it money well spent, but Vital has really grabbed me and I think it sounds phenomenal. Maybe it's the "new plugin lust" we all have, but I found myself really drawn to Vital and enjoying spending time messing with it and designing sounds. Serum just began to bore me.

[ckoe]

Yes the price for Serum is high(it should cost around 100EUR), I only bought it with rent to own on splice. Vital and also Phase Plant can't give me the sound I get out of the box on Serum in 5 seconds, cause the Filters and FX in Serum sounds soo good and punchy etc. I love to bought one right synth than ten synths with medium filters. Serum is like Fabfilters Q3 in my opinion, all the alternatives are ok but if you start Farbfilter the heart will go on, same with Serum.

But hey for a freeware Synth is Vital a no brainer and my first choice if I had not Serum.

[Biome_Digital]

As cold and hard as they are, Serums filters can actually sound very phatt! ...

I second that, the sound of Serum filters is much better in the low end. I compare the two synths for my own with the same wavetables and near the same settings. (Saw, Tri and Square with short Env for Amp and FilterCutoff and Filtertype MG24 on Serum and Ladder24 on Vital)
The sound is very close but there is missing some punch in Vital at some points.

If Vital Filters are sounding better then it could be an alternative for Serum, but today it can't beat Serum in terms of sound.

Vital is a great Synth and very close to Serum.

Yeah, adding fat and drive help.

[kobal]

if you enjoy using serum yes it worth it.. simple as that . i m not sure but upgrade may be free if a v2 is made one day

[ckoe]

Yep, there is no Synth that fits all tastes. For me Serum is every coin worth and I have not found a wavetable synth which sounds so good as Serum until now. I have tested Vital and Phase Plant for two days and I think that's enough to know which synths goes on top. But it is all a matter of taste.