Hardstyle kick design is one of the most annoyingly specific problems in electronic music production. You can spend four hours sculpting a distorted sinewave, layer your pitch envelope, dial in your distortion chain, and still end up with something that sits wrong in the mix or sounds like it belongs in a different subgenre entirely. Zaag kicks don't behave like Euphoric kicks. Lazer kicks need a different distortion character than Raw ones. If you're building these from zero inside a general-purpose synth, the genre knowledge gap is brutal. VPS Avenger 2 Expansion - Hardstyle X, released in March 2025 by Vengeance Sound, is built specifically for producers who know exactly what that frustration feels like.
The Problem This Expansion Actually Solves
Hardstyle production lives or dies on kick design. It's not like other genres where a decent drum machine sample will do the job.
The genre has five distinct kick architectures, and each has its own distortion character, pitch trajectory, and tail behavior. Most general synth preset packs either ignore hardstyle entirely or dump a dozen generic "hard kick" presets that don't map to how the genre actually works in 2025.
Hardstyle X addresses this by covering all five kick types: Zaag, Lazer, Euphoric, Classic, and Raw. Every preset in those categories was sculpted from a raw sinewave using Avenger's own distortion FX chains, not imported from a sample library. That distinction matters more than the marketing makes clear.
The pack also covers the full production context: vocal hooks, drops, fills, antidrops, and basslines at 160-190 BPM. It's not just a kick pack wearing expansion clothing.
How It Performs in a Real Session
We loaded the pack into Avenger 2.4.0 and went straight for the Zaag kicks. The first thing we noticed: these don't sound like presets that were designed to be inoffensive. They're aggressive by default.
We pulled up a Zaag kick preset, dropped it at 175 BPM into a test session, and ran it against a bassline we'd built separately. The kick's pitch envelope drops hard through the 60-80Hz range in the first 80ms, which is exactly where you want it for that Zaag character. The tail clears fast enough that the bass has room to breathe. We didn't need to touch the low-end relationship at all on first load. That's satisfying when you've spent sessions doing the opposite.
The Euphoric kicks are a different story in a good way. Softer transient, longer tail, more harmonic content in the 200-400Hz range. We threw one into a melodic hardstyle context with a lead synth running a 4-bar loop, and it sat correctly without any EQ surgery. The character was right for the subgenre.
The 73 arp patterns are a standout feature that the marketing undersells. We ran one of the included arp presets on a stab patch, adjusted the rate to sync with the session at 172 BPM, and had a usable drop sequence in under three minutes. These aren't just rhythmic on/off patterns. Several have velocity and pitch movement built in that give the sequences life.
The 115 multisamples and 19 drum kits fill out the production toolkit. We used a drum kit to rough-in a full arrangement. Solid, not brilliant. The multisamples are where producers building hybrid workflows will find extra value.
One frustration: the 30 granular samples are interesting but underdocumented. We had to experiment to understand how they're intended to be used inside Avenger's granular engine. More context in a readme would have saved 20 minutes.
Strengths and Weaknesses
The synthesis approach is the strongest argument for buying this. Every kick in the pack was built from a sinewave using Avenger's distortion and FX chain, which means the presets are fully editable inside the same engine you're already working in. You can pull back the distortion drive, reshape the pitch envelope, or swap the distortion algorithm and the whole kick responds like something you built yourself. That's a different workflow from loading a sample.
Sound designer credentials matter here. Manuel Schleis, Andy Hinz, and Stephan Endemann all have hardstyle genre history. The Euphoric kick designs especially show that. They're not approximations of the style by outsiders.
The weaknesses are real though. At 160-190 BPM, you're locked into hardstyle and hard trance adjacent territory. Using these kicks in a 140 BPM context requires pitch and tail editing that partially defeats the purpose of buying a ready-to-use pack. The granular samples feel like a bonus feature without a guide, which is annoying for producers newer to Avenger's granular engine. And there's no trial. $69 on sound demos alone is a risk.
Value for the Price
At $69, the math works if you're an active hardstyle producer. You're getting 150 presets, 73 arp patterns, 19 drum kits, 26 wavetables, 36 shapes, and 115 multisamples. That's a lot of raw material for one session fee.
We'd feel differently if these were repackaged samples dressed up as synth presets. They're not. The synthesis-first approach means each preset is a starting point you can actually modify, not a static file with a pitch knob bolted on.
If you produce hardstyle occasionally, skip it. The $69 return on investment only makes sense if you're shipping hardstyle tracks regularly or building in the genre professionally.
Who Should (and Shouldn't) Buy This
- ✅ Buy if you produce hardstyle or hard trance at 160-190 BPM and own Avenger 2.4.0 or later.
- ✅ Buy if you want to study how genre-authentic kicks are sculpted from sinewaves inside Avenger's distortion chain.
- ✅ Buy if you need a full production toolkit covering kicks, basses, stabs, arps, and drum kits in one pack.
- ❌ Skip if you're on Avenger 1. The requirement is Avenger 2.4.0. There's no workaround.
- ❌ Skip if you produce hardstyle occasionally as a side genre. The niche depth won't justify $69 at low session frequency.
- ❌ Skip if you need cross-genre versatility. These sounds are built for one thing and don't translate easily below 155 BPM.
Score Breakdown
| Category | Score | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Sound Quality | 4.3/5 | Synthesis-first kicks are genre-authentic and fully editable |
| Value for Money | 3.8/5 | Strong for regular hardstyle producers; weaker for occasional use |
| Ease of Use | 3.5/5 | Granular samples need documentation; everything else loads and works |
| Features | 4.0/5 | 73 arp patterns and five kick types go beyond a standard preset dump |
| CPU Efficiency | N/A | Expansion only; CPU is Avenger 2's responsibility, not this pack's |
| Overall | 4.1/5 | Excellent for its target user; genuinely too niche for anyone outside it |
Alternatives to Consider
If you don't own Avenger 2, you can't use this pack at all. In that case, Serum hardstyle presets are the most accessible route into similar territory. Serum's wavetable engine handles the pitch-envelope-driven kick design that hardstyle requires, and several well-regarded designers have released packs specifically for the genre.
For producers who want hardstyle kicks as audio samples rather than synth presets, best hardstyle sample packs covers the strongest options currently available. Samples are less flexible but load faster and work in any DAW without a specific synth requirement.
If you own Avenger 2 but want something more versatile than a pure hardstyle pack, VPS Avenger expansion packs overview breaks down the full Vengeance Sound expansion library so you can compare scope and value before committing.
Our Verdict
Hardstyle X earns its $69 if you work in the genre seriously. The synthesis-from-scratch approach is what separates this from a sample repack, and the five-kick-type coverage maps to how hardstyle actually works in 2025, not how it worked five years ago.
The lack of a trial is genuinely frustrating for a niche purchase at this price. Listen to every demo Vengeance Sound has published before you buy. If those demos don't immediately make you want to build a track, that's your answer.
For active hardstyle producers on Avenger 2.4.0 or later: buy it. For anyone else: this is someone else's purchase.
Frequently Asked Questions
Does Hardstyle X work with the original VPS Avenger 1?
No. The pack requires VPS Avenger version 2.4.0 or later. It won't load in Avenger 1 at all. If you're still on the original version, you'd need to upgrade Avenger itself before purchasing this expansion.
What are the five kick types included in Hardstyle X?
The expansion covers Zaag, Lazer, Euphoric, Classic, and Raw. These map to real hardstyle subgenre conventions, not arbitrary naming. Each type has a distinct distortion character and pitch envelope behavior built into the presets themselves.
Can I use Hardstyle X for genres other than hardstyle?
The content is optimized for 160-190 BPM. You can use individual elements in other contexts, but the kicks and basses are sculpted for hardstyle's specific transient and tail requirements. Using them at 128-140 BPM will require significant rework of the pitch envelopes and distortion settings to sit correctly.
Who designed the sounds in Hardstyle X?
Three designers: Manuel Schleis, Andy Hinz, and Stephan Endemann. All three have documented history working in hardstyle and related hard dance genres. The Euphoric kick designs in particular show that depth, with harmonic content and tail behavior that reflects current genre standards rather than a generic "hard" preset approach.