SERUM + SERUM 2 ALTERNATIVE · VST3 / AU
A Serum alternative for producers who'd rather play than program.
Serum 2 ($249) is one of the deepest synths you can buy: wavetable, granular, spectral and sample engines, with modulation on everything. If you love building patches from scratch, keep it. If you mostly scroll presets looking for the one sound that fits the beat, MUTANT. gets you there faster: 300+ ready sounds, stack any four, drag in your own one-shots, then twist the cube.
Hear it.
Straight from the MUTANT. library, nothing added. Tap a sound.
More sounds, the stacks and the cube on the MUTANT. page.
Serum vs MUTANT.
| SERUM | MUTANT. | |
|---|---|---|
| Wavetable, granular, spectral engines | ✓ | – |
| Deep modulation matrix + LFO drawing | ✓ | Basic (env, filter, glide) |
| Ready-made 4-layer stacks | – | ✓ |
| Factory presets | 626 (Serum 2) | 300+ (2,950+ more in the store) |
| Drag in your own one-shot, play it as a synth | – | ✓ up to 4 at once |
| Rubik's cube FX (43 quintillion chains) | – | ✓ |
| Price | $249 · free upgrade for Serum 1 owners | $39 pre-order · $69 after Dec 15 |
Serum is a trademark of Xfer Records. SCRAMBLE isn't made by or affiliated with Xfer Records. Serum 2 facts from its March 2025 launch; price is its list price, Nov 2026. MUTANT. facts are for the Dec 15 release.
Serum-sized sounds, in four layers.
Stack instead of program
Every MUTANT. stack is four sounds with their own level, tune, low and high, so a bass, a body, a top and an air layer sit together without mud.
Your sounds become synths
Drop an 808, a bell or a pluck you already own. MUTANT. rebuilds it as a synth layer in the same key, so you play it across the keyboard.
Bass that hits
808s, heavy bass, Reese and gritty growls up front, with drive, growl, punch and glide on the whole stack.
Mutate it
Hit SCRAMBLE. and the cube twists the stack through a new FX chain. Solve it to get back to where you started.
When Serum is the better pick
- You want to design sounds from the oscillator up, with wavetable editing and a full mod matrix.
- You make EDM, dubstep or bass music where custom wavetables and heavy modulation are the sound.
- You need Pro Tools (AAX). MUTANT. is VST3 and AU only at launch.
We'd rather you buy the right synth. If that's Serum, go for it.
No two stacks the same.
43,252,003,274,489,856,000
Built on a real Rubik's cube, MUTANT.'s FX engine has 43,252,003,274,489,856,000 positions, and each one is a different FX chain. To get through just 1% of them you'd have to make 10,000 presets a day for 118 billion years. That's over 8 times the age of the universe.
MUTANT. is out December 15. Pre-order it for $39.
$69 after launch. Own the SCRAMBLE. Bundle? Yours is $29. One-time payment, key and download emailed on launch day.
Questions
Is MUTANT. a Serum clone?
No. Serum is a wavetable synth built for deep sound design. MUTANT. is a layering synth: you stack ready-made sounds (or your own one-shots) and shape them, and a Rubik's cube engine adds FX chains. Different tools; plenty of producers will use both.
Does it replace Serum 2?
For finding a finished bass, lead, arp or phrase fast, it can. For building a patch from a raw wavetable, no, Serum 2 goes much deeper.
Can I load Serum presets?
No. MUTANT. doesn't read Serum presets or wavetables. You can drag in audio one-shots, including ones you bounced from Serum.
When does MUTANT. come out?
Tuesday, December 15. Pre-order now for $39 (it goes to $69 at launch) and you get your key and download by email that day. Bundle owners pay $29.
What does it run on?
VST3 and AU on Mac, VST3 on Windows, in any DAW that loads them: FL Studio, Ableton Live, Logic Pro, Studio One, Reaper and the rest. It plays from MIDI like any synth.