Import wavetables into Serum and Vital

What you are handing over

Both synths import packed wavetable WAVs: one mono file with frames laid end-to-end. Hyperwave's default single-table export has this layout (mono, float32, frames in wavetable order, clamped to the -1…+1 range). Check frame size, frame count, and the destination's import mode and metadata requirements.

For these two destinations the answer is the default: 2,048 samples per frame, at most 256 frames. The header sample rate (48,000 Hz) does not resample the frames: importers slice by sample count, not by rate.

Serum

Serum (Xfer Records): Packed mono WAV, 2,048 samples per frame, up to 256 frames (~11.9 s at 44.1 kHz); Serum's own wavetable exports are 44.1 kHz mono in 16- or 32-bit, and the sample-rate header doesn't affect frame layout. An optional 'clm ' metadata chunk records frame size and morph mode.

Export from Hyperwave at 2,048 samples per frame with 256 frames or fewer, then load the WAV as a new wavetable in Serum: drop it onto the wavetable editor or import it from the wavetable menu. Keep the file mono and float32; if anything in your chain resamples or converts it, re-export rather than repair.

Serum 2: same idea, one caveat

Serum 2 (Xfer Records): Serum 2's Wavetable Editor imports audio files through its Import menu or file drag-and-drop. Its internal wavetable layout uses 2,048 samples per frame and up to 256 frames (2 MB of 32-bit sample data). Import methods include Dynamic Pitch, Frequency Estimation, Constant Framesize, and FFT; the selected method can change the source data.

Serum 2 accepts packed WAV imports at 2,048 samples per frame, with up to 256 frames. Xfer's manual says to enter 2048 in the Wavetable Editor Formula field before dragging a 2,048-sample-cycle recording to avoid resampling. Check the imported frames and import mode rather than assuming every WAV within those limits stays unaltered.

Vital

Vital (Matt Tytel): Packed WAV (FLAC loads too when dragged in) imported frame-by-frame; Vital assumes 2,048 samples per frame and reads the left channel of stereo files. Its own wavetable exports are 256-frame, 2,048-sample WAVs.

Drag and drop is the fast path: drop the exported WAV straight onto Vital's wavetable display and the table builds itself. Vital reads the left channel of stereo files, and a Hyperwave export is already mono, so nothing is lost in translation there. A 2,048 × 256 export matches the tables Vital writes itself.

If the import lands wrong

These symptoms can help diagnose an import:

• Detuned or warbling on every note: the file's frame size does not match what the importer assumed. Re-export at 2,048 samples per frame.
• Only part of the table arrives: the file has more frames than the destination keeps. Export 256 frames or fewer.
• Clicks while sweeping between frames: adjacent frames disagree where each cycle wraps. That is a build-side frame-alignment or DC-offset problem, not an import problem. See the sample tutorial.