The Strobe2 Expander: All About That Bass is a $15 preset pack for FXpansion's Strobe2 synth, and it is worth buying if you already own Strobe2 and regularly produce bass-heavy music. That caveat matters more than anything else in this review.
We loaded it on a session Tuesday morning, tracking a jungle reroll in 174 BPM. The first Reese preset we hit had a low-mid weight around 200Hz that the track immediately needed. We boosted 60Hz by 3dB on our channel EQ, rolled off above 4kHz, and it sat. That was satisfying. Ten minutes in.
Then we tried the radiophonic patches. That was less satisfying. But we'll get to that.
This pack ships with bass-focused presets spanning monstrous Reese tones, acid squelches, classic analogue-style fundamentals, 70s funk lines, jungle sub textures, and some vaguely retro BBC-style patches under the "radiophonic" label. Every preset comes in two versions: one for standard MIDI controllers, one for MPE playback on ROLI's Seaboard RISE and Seaboard Block hardware.
It's built for producers who already live inside Strobe2 and need a low-end library they didn't have to build themselves.
What This Pack Actually Is (And What It Isn't)
This is not a synth. It's not a plugin. It's a preset expansion for Strobe2, which means it does exactly nothing if you don't own Strobe2 at v2.3.2.8 or above.
We'd say that's obvious, but given how ROLI markets it alongside their hardware ecosystem, it's easy to assume it's broader than it is. It isn't.
The pack doesn't include synthesis tools, effects, or additional wavetables. What you get is a curated collection of bass tones configured to Strobe2's 22-filter-mode architecture, pre-mapped with appropriate drive and gain compensation baked into the patch settings. The underlying engine is the same engine you already paid for.
It's also not a deep-design toolkit. These are playable presets, not starting points for hours of sound design. If you want to learn bass synthesis, skip this and spend time with Strobe2's blank init patch instead.
What it is: a fast, low-cost answer to "I need a working bass sound in the next five minutes."
Living With It in the Session
Setup takes about two minutes. Download through ROLI's delivery system, confirm Strobe2 is at the required version, and the presets appear in your library. No iLok. No serial drama. That part's clean.
The acid patches are where this pack earns its keep. We ran one through a send chain: Strobe2 into a hardware-style filter plugin set to low-pass at 1.2kHz with slow LFO modulation at 0.3Hz, then into mild saturation. The squelch character sat exactly where it needed to for a 130 BPM acid house loop. No additional tweaking on the Strobe2 side. That's the point of a good preset.
The 5D versions are optimised for polyphonic expression. Strike velocity controls amplitude, channel pressure opens the filter, glide handles pitch slide between notes. If you're playing through a Seaboard, these feel alive in a way standard MIDI patches can't replicate.
If you're not using ROLI hardware, those 5D versions are dead weight. You'll scroll past half the library on every browse session. That's annoying. ROLI should offer a standard-only version at a lower price.
The Reese patches hold up best in a mix context. We specifically tested "Reese Depth 02" against a custom-built Reese in Massive X using two detuned sawtooths through a comb filter. The Strobe2 version had more harmonic movement in the 800Hz-2kHz region without needing additional processing. Massive X needed a mid-range boost to compete at that character level. Point to the pack.
The Trade-Offs You Need to Know
At $15, the price-to-content ratio is reasonable. But the genre coverage is uneven, and that unevenness matters depending on what you make.
Acid and jungle producers get real value. The patches in those styles are dense, usable, and feel like they were designed by someone who actually makes that music. The Reese section is similarly strong.
The 70s funk patches are more frustrating. They lack the harmonic bite that makes funk bass lines feel like they're being played by someone with attitude. They're polite. Funk bass is not polite. We'd reach for a different tool there.
The radiophonic patches are the weakest section. They feel like someone listened to a BBC Radiophonic Workshop documentary rather than the actual recordings. Thin mid-range, not much character below 150Hz. We ran one through a bus with added harmonic distortion at 3% and it helped, but that's extra work the patch shouldn't require.
The dependency on Strobe2's version is a real constraint if you're on an older install. Check your version before buying.
Against the Field
The closest comparison is the Serum bass preset packs from various third-party developers. Those typically cost more for comparable or larger libraries, and Serum's wavetable engine gives you more sonic range in the upper harmonics. Serum packs win on flexibility.
For pure sub weight and analogue-style Reese construction, Massive X presets for bass offer a different character. Massive X's dual-oscillator comb filtering produces a Reese with more snarl. But those packs cost more.
At the $15 price point, nothing in the budget synth preset collections category covers acid and Reese territory as specifically as this does for Strobe2 users. The competition at this price is mostly genre-agnostic filler.
If you use Pigments, check Arturia's own preset expansions. The sound design depth is higher. But Pigments is a different synth with a different flavour, so that's not a direct swap.
The Real Verdict
If you own Strobe2 and produce acid, jungle, or bass-heavy EDM, buy this. Fifteen dollars for a working Reese library alone covers the cost.
If you produce funk or film-style retro sounds, it's a weaker fit. The radiophonic and funk patches won't impress you.
If you don't own Strobe2, this is irrelevant. Don't buy a preset pack to justify buying the synth. Buy the synth because you want the synth.
We'd score this a 3.8. Solid in its best moments, uneven across the full library, and locked to hardware you may or may not have.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 3.8/5 | Acid and Reese patches are strong; funk and radiophonic sections disappoint |
| Value for Money | 4.0/5 | $15 is low-risk for what the best patches deliver |
| Ease of Use | 3.5/5 | Simple install, but 5D clutter frustrates non-ROLI hardware users |
| Features | 3.0/5 | No custom wavetables, no new effects, just preset data |
| CPU Efficiency | 3.5/5 | Load is Strobe2's responsibility; patches themselves don't push anything extreme |
| Overall | 3.8/5 | Useful for its target genres, weak elsewhere, zero use without Strobe2 |
Alternatives to Consider
If you're not locked into Strobe2, best bass presets for Serum give you more sonic range and a larger community of sound designers producing genre-specific libraries at comparable or slightly higher prices.
For MPE-specific bass work, ROLI Seaboard compatible plugins covers a broader toolkit than this single pack, including tools that don't require Strobe2 as the host instrument.
If you want to design your own bass patches rather than start from presets, best synths for bass design breaks down which engines (Massive X, Serum, Phase Plant) give you the deepest control over low-end character from scratch.
The honest answer: if you already love Strobe2 and work in acid or jungle, spend the $15 and don't overthink it. If you don't already have Strobe2 in your signal chain, look elsewhere. The pack earns its price only if the synth is already earning its keep.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Strobe2 Expander: All About That Bass work without Strobe2?
No. This is a preset expansion, not a standalone plugin. You need Strobe2 installed at version 2.3.2.8 or above for any of the presets to load. Don't buy this if Strobe2 isn't already in your setup.
What's the difference between the standard and 5D presets in this pack?
Standard presets respond to conventional MIDI note, velocity, and pitch bend data. The 5D versions are configured for ROLI's MPE hardware, specifically the Seaboard RISE and Seaboard Block, where each dimension of touch (strike, press, glide, slide, lift) controls a separate parameter. If you're playing a regular keyboard or MIDI controller, the 5D presets won't behave differently from their standard equivalents in any meaningful way.
How many presets are included in All About That Bass?
ROLI doesn't publish an exact patch count for this specific expansion. Based on the dual-version structure (standard plus 5D for every sound), you're looking at a full library split across those two categories. The master Strobe2 synth ships with 900+ standard presets and 200 5D presets across all included content, so this pack represents one focused slice of that total library.
Is this pack part of a bundle?
Yes. All About That Bass is available as part of the Strobe2 Expansions Bundle alongside Synthetic Resistance and Cinematic Synthesis. If you're interested in more than one of those packs, the bundle is worth pricing out against buying them individually. Check ROLI's current site for bundle pricing, as it changes periodically.
