What can Serum do that Vital can't (and vice versa)

[swilow11]

I've never used Serum and have a sort of pointless aesthetic desire not to. But I find myself really tempted by the Splice rent to own. I've got Pigments 4, Massive X, and Vital so feel like my wavetable needs are more than covered. But, I also love playing with great quality synths, which the aforementioned 3 (and especially MX) certainly are. Of those 3, Vital seems to be the closest in terms of GUI and general concept to Serum and so I wanted to compare the two.

I understand that Serum has a mammoth amount of tutorials, presets, etc. But what features does it have that Vital doesnt- and vice versa?

Thanks in advance

[DJDJ]

I’m not really an expert on either, so I’ll defer to the hardcore nerds of these synths to lay out the differences in features, which there are a few of. But I wanted to comment on the difference in sound (which some might find controversial). Serum to my ear is distinctly more sharp, precise, and even a bit “stiff” sounding when compared to vital, which while also clean and precise, is a bit rounder and less sharp in its sound. I actually prefer vital. I find it more versatile and capable of pads that are more to my liking.

Since their architecture is so similar, they’re capable or more or less the same sounds. I personally find them pretty redundant. But I do think Serum’s efx are slightly better, and if you want a really sharp, aggressive, precise sounding synth in your collection, Serum is an ideal choice. Honestly, neither Massive X nor Pigments has that same quality. To my ear, they’re both a bit softer and phasier. But if you’re happy with them and Vital, you may not really need Serum

[billinder33]

Vital is very close to Serum in terms of user interface and workflow. I personally think Vital's modulation assignment system is better. Serum's wavetable manipulation is better, if you're into that kind of thing.

IMO, Serum's innate low end tone is punchier for creating bass instruments. Vital I prefer more for tops like pads, plucks, etc. YMMV.

[pdxindy]

Serum is also much better wavetable editor as far as export for other software and hardware wavetable synths.

[swilow11]

Vital is very close to Serum in terms of user interface and workflow. I personally think Vital's modulation assignment system is better.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What about Vitals modulation systems is better in your opinion?

[billinder33]

Vital is very close to Serum in terms of user interface and workflow. I personally think Vital's modulation assignment system is better.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What about Vitals modulation systems is better in your opinion?

In Vital it's visually easier to see what and where the assignments are.

[YesYeah]

Not eating 1GB of RAM per instance
I like to think that's a bug. The (second) worst I've seen is Pigments @ 700MB, but that kind of makes sense given all the modules and graphics. Nothing in Vital suggests it should consume that much memory
Unfortunately updates have been glacial so I might already have picked up Serum/something else by the time it gets patched

[Stopani]

I listened to some patches on Vital by Das Glitch. They were 8x oversampling but actually sounded like they could have come from Soundmorph.

[OzoneJunkie]

Haven't read the other replies, but 2 things stand out to me:

Vital has 2 filters.

Vital has 3 oscillators. Although Serum technically does too, with its sub osc, but there's a difference - see my next item.

Vital can technically do more FM between oscillators. While Serum can use the sub osc for FM, there's a key difference - Vital can use the 3 osc and FM between 2 of them (OSC3 FM OSC1, OSC2 FM OSC1) AND modulate pitch... and with Serum, using the sub osc as an FM source, you cannot modulate the pitch of the sub (you can, but only the octaves). Why does this matter? My best growl I've created uses OSC3->FM->OSC1, OSC2->FM->OSC1, and pitch change OSC1, OSC2 (if I recall), and this sequences you cannot do in Serum (because you can't modulate the fine tuning of the pitch of the sub osc).

Probably meaningless to everyone, but there's some merit to this for me.

[pdxindy]

Vital is very close to Serum in terms of user interface and workflow. I personally think Vital's modulation assignment system is better.

Thanks for sharing your thoughts. What about Vitals modulation systems is better in your opinion?

In Vital it's visually easier to see what and where the assignments are.

Serum also only has the little curve modulator.

In Vital, every destination has a full MSEG to control the curve over time. In this regard, Vital is just about the most powerful modulation system available

[vertibration]

With what serum has, while it may seem less than Vital, Serums wavetable editor smokes Vital. Serums wavetable editor alone is worth the price of admission. Dont sleep on Serum, its damn good

[swilow11]

I'm so tempted and especially by the thought of Serum being less CPU intensive than Vital.

[dayjob]

i don't own either of them but which one is better supported/more frequently updated/has a more active developer?

[idoru97214]

i don't own either of them but which one is better supported/more frequently updated/has a more active developer?

Serum.

[idoru97214]

Serum is the only synth I've ever sold (though they don't let you do that anymore - they changed their policy on re-sale) and then re-bought.

It has a unique sound signature that I have not been able to replicate. Aggressive - CLEAN - beautiful digital. Love the OSC and filters on it