Official Serum thread!

[Greg Houston]

Doesn't that increase the effective polyphony a lot, with the accompanying processing overhead? Just because no sound is coming out doesn't mean the voice isn't active, that's the point.

Yeah, it's not CPU efficient, but likely the best option at the moment.

[Kain]

Doesn't that increase the effective polyphony a lot, with the accompanying processing overhead? Just because no sound is coming out doesn't mean the voice isn't active, that's the point.

Yeah, it's not CPU efficient, but likely the best option at the moment.

Not for me, limited on CPU power. To long of a release and on some patches I made I can't even play one note. I am couple of releases behind though, will update to the latest version today.

[Trance Euphoria]

Hi All

Brand New Serum Sound Set - Epic And Uplifting Trance For Xfer Serum Now Available.

https://soundcloud.com/trance-euphoria- ... xfer-serum

Two Versions Available - Full Pack & Sound Set Only

Trance Euphoria are proud to present 'Epic And Uplifting Trance For Xfer Serum' containing 128 x Professional Trance presets for Xfer Records exciting super synthesizer Serum.

Inspired by the biggest trance festivals and trance artists from around the world this Serum pack will be your go to tool box for your next trance anthem.

Included in the full pack :-
128 x Professional Serum Presets
10 x Trance Construction Midi Kits (4 x Midis Per Kit & Presets Used For That Kit)
40 x Midis In Total

Patches Brokendown:-
10 x Acid
25 x Basses
35 x Leads
20 x Pads
30 x Plucks
8 x FX

Buy And Details Full Pack @ $30 - ... :HERE: ...
Buy And Details Sound Set Only @ $22.50 - ... :HERE: ...

Also advertised on Xfer Facebook Page with permission of Steve.

Thanks TE

[NatLife]

Hi All

Brand New Serum Sound Set - Epic And Uplifting Trance For Xfer Serum Now Available.

https://soundcloud.com/trance-euphoria- ... xfer-serum

Two Versions Available - Full Pack & Sound Set Only

Trance Euphoria are proud to present 'Epic And Uplifting Trance For Xfer Serum' containing 128 x Professional Trance presets for Xfer Records exciting super synthesizer Serum.

Inspired by the biggest trance festivals and trance artists from around the world this Serum pack will be your go to tool box for your next trance anthem.

Included in the full pack :-
128 x Professional Serum Presets
10 x Trance Construction Midi Kits (4 x Midis Per Kit & Presets Used For That Kit)
40 x Midis In Total

Patches Brokendown:-
10 x Acid
25 x Basses
35 x Leads
20 x Pads
30 x Plucks
8 x FX

Buy And Details Full Pack @ $30 - ... :HERE: ...
Buy And Details Sound Set Only @ $22.50 - ... :HERE: ...

Also advertised on Xfer Facebook Page with permission of Steve.

Thanks TE

10 samples in one with almost same sounds (i can hear a bass/ plucks - they all are same lol) And all this same 64 plucks and same 64 basses is calling soundset?) hmm...i made a 64 sounds - every sound is'nt similar, yeah its not 128 but it's where i did alot of work to do every sound specific. Here is a same sounds in every sample...

[DJ Warmonger]

I fail to see why people insist of making uplifting trance patches for Serum, since it is very different than typical trance synths. Guess people still buy these no matter what?

[Yorrrrrr]

I am loving this synth sound and possibilities, but the CPU usage is just too much, and quickly becomes unusable for me (and I have a pretty powerful system i7 4790K at 4.4 GHz, 16 GB DDR3 2400 ram, Samsung 850 Pro SSDs, an RME Babyface audio interface, an optimized for audio Windows 8.1 OS, etc..). I always end up using DUNE 2 instead in a production. But for messing around with the synth alone, Serum is good.

I made a little, quick and easy test on FL Studio, using same settings for all synths: a 7 voice unison (density in DUNE 2) saw wave, 16x polyphony, longest amp envelope release possible and filter activated...

1. Serum drove my system close to 30 to 35% CPU load with all voices playing, and if I mess with the detune knob, ugly spikes drive it to 50-60%. High CPU load, unstable and spiky performance;

2. DUNE 2 is 3-4% CPU load and it stays stable no matter what. Even if I bump up the DUNE 2 unison voices to 8 (that is, 8 copies or layers of the same sound playing at the same time), I still can't reach the 30% Serum demands for its single layer!.

3. Sylenth1...6-7% CPU load...(this was a surprise to me, DUNE 2 even outperforms Sylenth1, the gold standard in sound/cpu usage ratio..).

4. Spire...15-20% CPU load..(this one is also considered a CPU hog, not as bad as Serum, though)

Not a super scientific test by any means, and certainly not indicative of a real world performance for everybody, but it could give a very rough idea of the CPU load situation (as of the time of this little test, with Serum version 1.04b3).

IMHO, Serum seems like an unfinished product and it needs optimization. But it is one fine sounding synth (not better or worse than DUNE 2 or Sylenth1 in this respect, just different) and it deserves better. I guess those fancy animations come at a price

[bitcrusher]

Your test might not be really fair, as with a long release you might be driving an absurd number of voices on Serum (look at the fraction in lower-right) where some synths cap you, e.g. Massive caps at 64. A much better test would be to use no release and just sustain long notes (or make sure poly cap is the same on all test synths, but I would think sustained notes / no release is the way to properly do a comparative measure).

More optimization + CPU options are coming. The CPU on a per-voice basis is comparable (here) to Massive, which I think it a more accurate comparison. I chose quality over CPU on every decision.

If you're trying to make super-unison-stacks then I understand it's totally overkill. Using Serum for pads or bread-and-butter poly synth needs isn't ideal in the CPU department right now. There's corners that could get cut in those situations, which right now I don't. It wasn't my focus for Serum going in, I wanted to make a synth which complemented others on the market by having its niche. For better or worse Serum has received a lot more attention than I anticipated (despite spending years on it), I knew and I've been devoting most waking hours since release to support and coding (and I have no plans to change that). Updates are always free and I do recommend to make sure you're on the latest in the Serum forum as there have been many improvements already including some recently and more this week.

CPU use is becoming my biggest priority now that things are rock-solid for all platforms/hosts. However there's pretty extensive SSE2 intrinsics at play already, so to go further requires simply doing less processing (cutting corners) or looking at adopting other optimizations for the latest CPU's.

Fancy animations, the 3d waveforms do soak some RAM but not CPU. You can close the GUI to pretty easily compare that for yourself (and I'm doing an extensive GUI overhaul for performance at the moment).

-Steve
Serum | Xfer Records

[Yorrrrrr]

It's OK Steve, I'm really enjoying Serum, as well as many other people. I have the CPU power to back it up. Not as a bread-and-butter kind of synth, though..more like a niche synth to make some special kind of sounds that Serum excels at.

Of course I know the test I did it's not the best way to test the performance and it may be flawed; it was really to get a very rough idea. I'm going to test again following your advice.

You have crafted an excellent piece of a synth with Serum and I am glad it's going to receive various optimizations. It really needs it. Thanks.

EDIT: I did the test again, with same settings on all synths. Settings as suggested. Sawtooth waves, long sustained notes in the piano roll (FL Studio), no release at all, 16x polyphony, 16 notes playing at the same time, filter enabled. The results are:

1. Serum: 34%
2. DUNE 2: 3%
3. Sylenth1: 6%
4. Spire: 15%

Pretty much the same results!

[Sampleconstruct]

Your test might not be really fair, as with a long release you might be driving an absurd number of voices on Serum (look at the fraction in lower-right) where some synths cap you, e.g. Massive caps at 64. A much better test would be to use no release and just sustain long notes (or make sure poly cap is the same on all test synths, but I would think sustained notes / no release is the way to properly do a comparative measure).

More optimization + CPU options are coming. The CPU on a per-voice basis is comparable (here) to Massive, which I think it a more accurate comparison. I chose quality over CPU on every decision.

If you're trying to make super-unison-stacks then I understand it's totally overkill. Using Serum for pads or bread-and-butter poly synth needs isn't ideal in the CPU department right now. There's corners that could get cut in those situations, which right now I don't. It wasn't my focus for Serum going in, I wanted to make a synth which complemented others on the market by having its niche. For better or worse Serum has received a lot more attention than I anticipated (despite spending years on it), I knew and I've been devoting most waking hours since release to support and coding (and I have no plans to change that). Updates are always free and I do recommend to make sure you're on the latest in the Serum forum as there have been many improvements already including some recently and more this week.

CPU use is becoming my biggest priority now that things are rock-solid for all platforms/hosts. However there's pretty extensive SSE2 intrinsics at play already, so to go further requires simply doing less processing (cutting corners) or looking at adopting other optimizations for the latest CPU's.

Fancy animations, the 3d waveforms do soak some RAM but not CPU. You can close the GUI to pretty easily compare that for yourself (and I'm doing an extensive GUI overhaul for performance at the moment).

-Steve
Serum | Xfer Records

Great post! Honest, sincere, transparent, you got my support whatever you do next.

[Phase47]

I chose quality over CPU on every decision. Serum | Xfer Records

I bow to you, my king, for this answer pleases us. We (Ascendant) opened our gig last weekend with what was mostly a single Serum patch, and boy, it was a glorious sound. Really set the tone.

[Greg Houston]

I chose quality over CPU on every decision. Serum | Xfer Records

I bow to you, my king, for this answer pleases us.

Agreed. I'd much rather see if optimizations could be made with something like the AVX instruction set before resorting to global settings that reduce quality.

This page needs some eye candy.

[Ah_Dziz]

Doesn't that increase the effective polyphony a lot, with the accompanying processing overhead? Just because no sound is coming out doesn't mean the voice isn't active, that's the point.

It could, but if you set your max voices to a reasonable amount you will achieve your goal and since the synth engine is already silent you won't notice the voice stealing.

[Sampleconstruct]

This page needs some eye candy.

Quite a trip if you stare at it long enough

[Caine123]

I fail to see why people insist of making uplifting trance patches for Serum, since it is very different than typical trance synths. Guess people still buy these no matter what?

me too, thats why i didnt get Serum yet. Massive has a lot more diverse presets so far.

[penguinfromdeep]

I love Serum, actually I was bit sceptical at first since I'm not much into Massive and such synths but I had to immediately buy Serum after demoing it. The sound is very good, very 'hi-fi' I really hope the developer doesn't deliberately 'worsen' the sound to make cpu usage smaller. I would not like that one bit