What is Xfer Serum?

Now if you are unaware of what Serum actually is or just getting started, then don't fret! This comprehensive guide to installing your Serum presets will cover all bases, to avoid any confusion.

Do you want your sounds to come out looking extremely professional? Are you interested in emulating complex and modern sounds in your music production? Then the Xfer released plugin Serum is your answer. This wavetable synth is a new age weapon of every music producer whether beginner or professional. Due to its undeniably amazing features, Serum has replaced another popular wavetable synthesizer plugin, Massive by Native Instruments.

    •    It is the wavetable synthesizer of choice for producers of all skill levels.
    •    Efficient workflow and premium quality sound library and presets.
    •    Extremely useful to create intricate and every imaginable sound that you can think of.
    •    Sophisticated level of sound mix is offered in wavetable synthesizers as compared to simple oscillators.
    •    Whether you want to create a unique sound design or use the wide range of available presets, Serum offers something for everything.
    •    The highly intuitive user-interface makes the sound production process extremely easy and interesting.

An Insight into Serum Presets

The Serum feature that interests producers the most is the wide variety of presets that are available for the plugin. Basically, Serum presets are pre-created sounds for the synthesizer. These presets are allow the user to have instant access to an amazing sound someone created that normally would have taken hours to make. You can then add some customization where needed. While the Serum VST already includes 144 wavetables and 450 presets, you can also download and install any compatible presets available on the web that tickles your fancy (such as our famous packs you can get for free here).

How to Install Serum Presets?

Now that you are acquainted with Serum VST and its many factory presets, the next logical step is to install them and unleash the new sounds in your creative studio. Therefore, for your easy understanding, the installation guide is organized in a step-by-step procedure.

Installing your preset pack in Serum

    •    Find the preset of your choice and download it on your PC. Nowadays, there are many different presets available free of cost or at a nominal price.
    •    Once you have downloaded the preset that you want to use, you will find that the files are in rar or zip format.
    •    The next step is to unzip these files to the proper location so they can be accessed via Serum.
    •    Once you have unzipped the file, you will have to access the Serum folder from your computer.

    •    Open the XFER folder in the drive that you have saved it in and access the subfolder ‘Serum Presets.’
    •    You can either drag & drop the unzipped file on the subfolder or add a specific preset category and save it there.
    •    The location path of accessing the Serum Preset in windows is as follows; C:\ Users\ Documents\ Xfer\ Serum Presets\ Presets\ User
    •    If you are a Mac user, the default Serum preset folder will be found in the Library section. Open the audio folder and then click presets subfolder. This is where you will find the specified Xfer Records folder and you can drop the extracted file in the 'Serum Presets' folder.
    •    The location path of accessing the Serum Preset in MacOS is as follows; Library/ Audio/ Presets/ Xfer Records/ Serum Presets/ Presets/ User

    •    Note: The location path of the Xfer folder is subject to change, depending on which folder or drive the user has saved the VST plugin.

Launching the Installed Presets in Serum

Since you have successfully integrated your desired preset into the serum preset folder, the next step is to make sure that you find your required samples in the directory.

    •    Once you launch Serum on your DAW, access the MENU with a right-click to find the option (Show Serum Presets Folder) and select it.

    •    It will open an expanded section of the file directory, where you will find the loaded preset of our choice.
    •    When you see the specified file in the preset directory, then select the option of ‘Rescan Folder on Disk’ from the Menu. This step will ensure that the presets are available and installed successfully within Serum.


 

How to Organize Third Party Serum Presets?

Serum already has about and above 400 built-in presets, yet with so many more options available on the web, you just cannot have enough. So, it is inevitable that the producers will install some presets of their choice using the method described above. But the organization of third-party presets becomes a difficult task to maintain with so many options.

In such a case, it is recommended to store the saved presets in specific categories. For instance, you can organize the saved presets under different folder categories of genres and moods. This will save the users time and effort.
Also, you must remember that while the personalized and externally procured preset are saved in the ‘User’ subfolder under 'Serum Preset.' However, you must know that Serum cannot reach folders within the subfolder. Therefore, you must try and drag the presets individually in the specified folder if the preset pack has various subdivided folders.

Free Serum Preset Packs That You Can Download Right Now

There are as many useful free of cost presets for Serum available as there are the paid versions. What’s amazing is that whether free or paid, the Serum presets are high quality and have optimal performance. Here are a few options of free presets that you try and install in your Serum directory.

1. 150+ Free Serum Presets From Youtube Tutorials: Download Here
2. Ultimate Serum Pack - 121 Presets: Download Here
3. Riot For Serum Pack - 242 Presets: Download Here

Conclusion

Serum opens a whole new wave of experimental soundscapes to bring a new life into your music. One way to achieve that is through the array of built-in and external presets. However, most users find the installation process of Serum presets difficult to understand. Therefore, in this easy guide, we've made sure that you can easily add the presets into your Serum directory and use them to their full potential.