Synthwave for ImPerfect Review: Worth $19.90?

Synthwave for ImPerfect is a 50-preset expansion pack for W. A. Production's ImPerfect synthesizer, built to deliver analog-drift synthwave tones at $19.90 without any sound design from scratch.

You're at 2 AM, your session has a chord progression that's crying out for a detuned pad, and you've already burned an hour trying to manually dial in that slightly-off, breathing, vintage quality on a cleaner synth. It's not happening. The sterile precision of most digital tools is working against you. That's the moment this expansion exists for.

Synthwave for ImPerfect slots into ImPerfect's analog drift engine and hands you 50 presets that lean into tuning inconsistencies, saturated harmonics, and organic movement as features rather than flaws. If you're working in synthwave, lo-fi, or cinematic retro territory, and you already own ImPerfect, this is worth a serious look. If you don't own ImPerfect, stop reading and go check the base synth first.

What This Expansion Actually Is (And What It Isn't)

This is not a standalone plugin. It's an expansion: 50 presets that live inside ImPerfect and exploit its analog drift engine specifically for synthwave textures.

The expansion covers four tonal zones: bright, melancholic, cinematic, and raw. That's a legitimate spread for the genre. You get detuned pads built to breathe and evolve slowly, leads with vintage character, and saturated basslines built to sit in the mix rather than cut through it cleanly.

What it isn't: a deep sound-design toolkit. You're not getting granular modulation options or an extensive signal chain to rebuild from the ground up. The value proposition here is speed and character, not flexibility. If you want to build your own synthwave patches from bare oscillators, the ImPerfect engine's five oscillator modules, LFOs, filters, and arpeggiator are there for you. But the expansion itself is a preset library, full stop. Know that going in.

The developer says every preset has been shaped to feel alive, unpredictable, and undeniably human. That's a strong claim. What it's grounded in is ImPerfect's core Wacky, Cracky, and Shaky modulation sliders, which introduce modulated effects, saturated harmonics, and tuning inconsistencies respectively. The presets here are dialed around those three controls to do the analog-character heavy lifting automatically.

Where It Sits In Your Session

Load one of the detuned pad presets onto a new MIDI track. Play a slow minor chord. Let it sit for four bars.

That's the test. If the pad breathes slightly, if the tuning drifts just enough to sound like a Juno left in a warm room, the expansion is doing its job. The analog drift engine is what separates ImPerfect from a standard wavetable synth, and these presets are built to push that engine into its most flattering range.

For leads, owners report the vintage character comes through without needing to touch much after loading. The saturated basslines are described as easy to program and gritty by users, which fits the synthwave aesthetic where a slightly overdriven low-end is preferred over a clean sub.

In a full session, you'd realistically use two or three of these presets per track. A pad for atmosphere, a lead for melodic interest, a bassline to anchor the low end. The expansion's coverage of all three roles in one pack is genuinely useful. You're not buying pads-only and then hunting for a second pack for leads.

One honest workflow note: the preset browser inside ImPerfect is basic. No pad or lead categories, no favorites button. You're scrolling linearly through 50 presets. Annoying if you're mid-session and need something fast. Satisfying when you find the right one, but getting there takes longer than it should.

For a deeper look at how expansion packs fit into a production workflow, our synth expansion packs guide covers when they speed things up and when they don't.

ImPerfect's Drift Engine: Why It Matters Here

The three modulation sliders are the reason this expansion exists. Wacky adds modulated effects. Cracky introduces saturated harmonics. Shaky dials in tuning inconsistencies.

Together, they're doing what vintage synth owners love and digital producers struggle to replicate manually: controlled unpredictability. The developer says the result is organic movement that no pristine digital synth can replicate. That's fair framing, not just marketing.

The presets in Synthwave for ImPerfect are built around specific Wacky/Cracky/Shaky settings. You're not starting from a blank slate and guessing what each slider does. You're getting presets already shaped to land in the synthwave sweet spot, with those controls available to push further if you want more grit or pull back if a preset is too chaotic for your track.

That's the clever part of this expansion's design logic. The three sliders are still there. You can increase or decrease the imperfection level per preset. The starting points are just already calibrated for the genre.

ImPerfect also has five oscillator modules, each with its own envelope, filter, LFO, and arpeggiator access. That gives you 260 different preset waveforms to work with at the synth level. The expansion taps into that architecture without locking it down. Load a Synthwave preset, then adjust the oscillators underneath it. That's a legitimate workflow for producers who want character as a starting point rather than an endpoint.

The Trade-Offs

Here's where we'd be doing you a disservice if we softened the picture.

The expansion has a real gate: you need ImPerfect. Not a free version, not a lite edition. The full synth. That's a dependency that makes this a second purchase, not a first. If you don't own ImPerfect, the expansion is $19.90 of nothing.

One user flagged the GUI as non-resizable and noted it changes color depending on settings. That's a frustrating limitation in 2026 when high-DPI monitors are standard. If you're on a 4K display, this could be a genuine workflow irritant. We'd want you to check the trial version on your setup before committing.

A separate user reported finding the sound somewhat cold in certain contexts, though they still use it regularly for lo-fi work. That's a fair and unresolved criticism. Not every preset will suit every synthwave subgenre. The "raw" texture category likely skews warmer than the "bright" category.

The pack is 17.8 MB. That's a non-issue for storage. And owners consistently report very low CPU usage, which matters if your session is already loaded. ImPerfect sits light on resources, and the expansion doesn't change that.

The royalty-free status is clean. 100% clearance-free, which means you can use anything from this pack in commercial releases without tracking down licenses. That's a real practical value for working composers and sync producers.

If you're comparing expansion packs for synthwave specifically, our Synthwave Dimensions review covers a direct alternative

Against the Field

Two alternatives come up regularly alongside ImPerfect: Union and Cheeze Pro.

Union leans toward classic analog emulation with a broader character range. Cheeze Pro skews specifically toward string machine and vintage keyboard textures. Neither targets the imperfection-as-feature angle as directly as ImPerfect's drift engine does. If you want controlled analog drift as a core design tool rather than a side effect, ImPerfect's approach is more focused.

For synthwave preset packs more broadly, the Serum Arcade review covers how a cloud-based wavetable approach compares for the genre. Serum-based packs tend to sound cleaner and more precise. Whether that's a pro or a con depends on which end of the synthwave spectrum you're working in.

Here's the honest competitive picture:

Product	Strongest Point	Weakest Point	Best For
Synthwave for ImPerfect	Analog drift engine built into every preset	Locked to ImPerfect; basic preset browser	Producers who own ImPerfect and want fast, gritty synthwave
Union (expansion packs)	Broad analog character range	Less focused on imperfection-as-design	Producers wanting versatile vintage analog textures
Serum-based synthwave packs	Clean, precise, widely compatible	Lacks organic drift and harmonic grit by default	Producers who want polished synthwave without the lo-fi edge

The verdict across the comparison: Synthwave for ImPerfect wins on character specificity. If you want presets that feel like they came off actual tape rather than a carefully modeled version of tape, the drift engine gives it a genuine edge. Serum-based packs win on compatibility and flexibility. Union sits in the middle.

For a broader perspective on whether expansion packs are worth the spend, our guide on synth expansion packs breaks it down by use case

Try It First

If W. A. Production offers a trial or demo, here are three checks worth running before you buy.

First: load a pad preset and let a minor chord sustain for eight bars. Check whether the tuning drifts noticeably or subtly. Too much drift on a pad in a dense mix can cause tuning conflicts. Find out where the default Shaky setting lands.

Second: load a lead preset and play a one-bar melodic phrase against a static chord. The vintage character should sit just slightly off-center, not so unstable it sounds broken. If you love what you hear in bar one, you'll keep loving it.

Third: scroll the entire preset browser manually and time how long it takes. You'll be doing this every session until a GUI update adds categories. Know that going in and decide if you can live with it.

The Real Verdict

Synthwave for ImPerfect is a focused, character-specific expansion that does exactly what it says. The developer's claim that these presets feel pulled from a dusty tape machine is the right framing. That's the appeal, and the drift engine earns it.

At $19.90, it's a low-risk add-on if you already own ImPerfect and work in synthwave or lo-fi. The 50 presets cover enough tonal ground that you won't outgrow it in a single project.

Skip it if you don't own ImPerfect. Skip it if you want pristine, modern synthwave with no intentional drift. Skip it if you hate scrolling a browser with no search or categories.

Buy it if you love the idea of presets that already have that slight, human imperfection baked in. It's underrated at this price point for what it delivers to its specific audience.

Specs & Technical Details

Developer	W. A. Production
Price	$19.90
Plugin Format	VST / VST3 / AU / AAX (requires ImPerfect)
OS Support	Mac / Windows
Activation	N/A
CPU Usage	Light (owners report very low CPU usage)
Trial Available	N/A
Version Reviewed	1.6 (90 new presets added in this version)
Pack Size	17.8 MB
Preset Count	50
Royalty-Free	Yes, 100%

Score Breakdown

Category	Score	Notes
Sound Quality	4.0/5	Analog drift engine delivers real character; one user notes occasional coldness in certain contexts
Value for Money	4.5/5	At $19.90 for 50 royalty-free presets with genuine drift character, the math works
Ease of Use	3.5/5	Loading presets is instant; the basic browser with no categories or favorites slows things down
Features	3.5/5	50 presets covering four tonal zones is solid; Wacky/Cracky/Shaky sliders still tweakable
CPU Efficiency	4.5/5	Owners consistently report very low CPU draw
Overall	4.0/5	Strong character and value for ImPerfect owners; limited by browser UX and platform dependency

Alternatives to Consider

If you don't own ImPerfect or want to compare before committing, these are worth your time.

Serum Arcade (LP24 Audio): Cloud-based, continually updated, and packed with synthwave presets. Cleaner by default, but that's the point. Read our full Serum Arcade review if you want the polished end of the synthwave spectrum.

Synthwave Dimensions (Phase Plant): A direct synthwave expansion comparison. Different architecture, different character. Our Synthwave Dimensions review breaks down where it beats and loses to character-first packs.

Trance Three for VPS Avenger: Not pure synthwave, but the retro-electronic overlap is real. See our Trance Three review if your productions cross between synthwave and trance.

None of these require ImPerfect. That alone is a meaningful distinction if you're starting from scratch.

The bottom line: if you own ImPerfect and work in synthwave, Synthwave for ImPerfect at $19.90 is a clear yes. Fifty presets, real drift character, 17.8 MB, and you're done. If you're on the fence about ImPerfect itself, start with our expansion packs guide to understand what you're buying into before spending anything.