Where to Buy Trance Presets: The Best Trance Preset Sites

September 11, 2020

Search "trance presets" and you'll find thousands of packs, most of them EDM leads with "trance" added to the title for the search traffic. Real trance sounds are harder to find: pads that breathe, plucks that sit in a rolling bassline, supersaws with the right amount of detune, made by people who actually write the music.

So here's where we'd go. We've included ourselves, because we make trance presets and it would be daft not to, but we've tried to be straight about what each shop does well and where it falls short.

What makes a good trance preset?

Three things. It should be playable, with macros or the mod wheel mapped to something useful like filter or detune. It should sit in a mix without you rebuilding it, so leads leave room for the vocal and pads don't swamp the low mids. And it should come from someone who knows the subgenre. An uplifting pluck and a progressive pluck are not the same sound, and a good designer knows the difference.

Check which synth a pack is for, and which version. A lot of older Serum packs are fine in Serum 2, but packs made for synths that are no longer updated can be a dead end.

SOUND7

SOUND7 trance preset packs for Serum, Spire, Diva and Sylenth1

Our own packs come from a trance producer who has also designed factory sounds for u-he, discoDSP and Novation, so they're made to be played and to sit in a mix, not just to sound big in a demo. Most packs are 64 presets, each focused on one synth and one style, rather than hundreds of variations on the same supersaw.

We cover Serum (1 and 2), Spire, Diva, Sylenth1 and Thorn for trance, from the uplifting and Trance 2.0 sound through to progressive. Every pack is royalty free and an instant download.

Where we fall short: our preset packs don't come with MIDI or project files (our Above Trance sample pack does have kits and MIDI), and our catalogue is smaller than the big preset houses. If you want 500 presets in one go, we're not the shop for you.

Get the sound: Serum - Future Trance Vol.1, Spire - Trance Zero Vol.1, Diva - Current Trends Vol.1 or all SOUND7 preset packs

Aiyn Zahev Sounds

A one-man operation run by Sami Rabia since 2012, and one of the most respected names in synth sound design. His work has been featured by Arturia, Native Instruments and u-he. The Diva and Spire sets in particular have a depth and analogue feel that a lot of trance packs don't, more classic and emotive than mainstage.

If you want sounds with a classic hardware feel, his Tranceform set for Arturia's JUP-8000 V being a good example, this is a very good place to start. The weakness is availability: at the time of writing, several products on his own store were showing as sold out, so you may need to buy some sets through larger retailers instead.

aiynzahev-sounds.com

OST Audio

Run by trance producer Mike Ost, OST Audio is strong on practical, production-ready material: Serum 2, Spire and Sylenth1 soundbanks, MIDI packs, full DAW templates and vocal trance projects. If you learn best by pulling apart a finished track, the project files are worth a look.

It leans firmly towards uplifting and vocal trance, and the sound is bright and big. The weakness is that it's less useful if you're after the deeper progressive end, and the templates tie you to particular DAWs.

ostaudio.net

Sonic Academy

Home of the ANA 2 synth and the Kick plugins, with a long list of trance preset packs, some from artists such as Protoculture. If you own ANA 2, their own trance packs are the obvious place to go, and they're well programmed with macros mapped.

The weakness is the synth itself. Most of the trance presets here are for ANA 2, so they're only useful if you've bought into it. If you're a Serum or Spire user, there's less here for you.

ANA 2 Presets Vol. 5 - Trance at sonicacademy.com

Freshly Squeezed Samples

One of the established trance labels, with artist packs from names like The Thrillseekers, Sunny Lax and Max Braiman, and a big catalogue of Serum, Spire, Diva and Zebra trance essentials. The Serum Trance Essentials Bundle alone has nearly 700 presets.

Honest opinion: the sound is classic, polished uplifting trance and there's a lot of it. The weakness is age. A lot of the catalogue lists old system requirements and DAW versions, so check the synth version and that it suits your setup before you buy.

Serum Trance Essentials Bundle at freshlysqueezedsamples.com

Elevated Trance

A label focused on construction kits and presets for uplifting, euphoric and progressive trance, including newer packs for Serum 2. Sold through the big sample marketplaces like ADSR rather than their own shop.

The kits are useful if you want ready-made melodies and chord progressions to start from. The weakness is that construction kits get used a lot, so you'll want to change them enough to make the track your own.

Euphoric Uplifting Trance Shock for Serum 2 at ADSR

A word on the big marketplaces

ADSR, Loopmasters and Plugin Boutique stock packs from many of the labels above, often with sales on. They're a fine way to buy, but the search results are flooded with packs that are trance in name only. Listen to the demo, and check who made it, before you click buy.

Where we'd start

For classic, emotional sound design, Aiyn Zahev. For uplifting and vocal trance with MIDI and templates, OST Audio. For ANA 2 owners, Sonic Academy. For focused, playable packs for Serum, Spire, Diva and Sylenth1, we'd naturally point you to SOUND7.

Not sure which synth to buy first? Read our guide to the best synths for trance. Our free MIDI chord pack is a quick way to get some trance progressions under those presets, and there are more freebies on our free sounds page.