Does Rapture Pro actually work?

I use it and like it.

I've thought of trying the demo, but I'm afraid it might mess up my large volume of DimPro programs.

Widetrack
Does this synth actually work as well as it should? Is there anyone out there who has installed it with few or no problems and gets to use it as advertized? What chance do I have of installing it without any problems and using it without significant problems?
 
Please, let me hear your opinions (about the synth, please).
 

I didn't jump on it right away, I waited until most of the problems were resolved. I haven't had any problems and it works fine for me. The only complaint I have is I seem to have a lot of copies of samples. DPro, Session Pro, and RPro - not a big deal.
 

I'll look into that.

No issues with installation or missing samples here. There have beem updates since I first installed.

PC keyboard keys used by the microhost are documented in the RPro help file pages 138-140. They should not be active in the search field though. Unfortunately the keys are active there too.

John Joseph [Cakewalk]
 
For what it's worth that's intentional, it's meant to be like a fake MIDI controller. I wanna say the mapping is available but I'd have to double check...
 

It's also interesting to note that when you're typing in the search field to look for a patch name, the PC keyboard still plays the notes as you type the search word....

(I have reported this issue ages ago - but you guys must have bigger fish)

RP is still an awesome synth

Hm, so since I own all three (R-Pro, Rapture, D-Pro) and am about to do a clean install, does the Rapture Pro install automatically install all of the legacy content, or do you have to install all 3?

I was a HUGE Rapture fan. But when Rapture Pro first came out, I thought it was a major step backward. Its only saving grace was it did a better job with Dim Pro programs than Dim Pro itself. There were reliability issues, volume matching issues, missing sample issues...just trying to use the same expansion packs on my desktop and laptop was problematic.
 
But there have been several updates, to the point that I now use Rapture Pro all the time. It seems that those with the most success just let the installer do its thing. Later you can move the samples elsewhere and point to them, as scook has detailed in several posts. It seems that when you start moving program files to other locations R-Pro isn't too happy about that. I leave them on the C: drive because they don't take up much space.
 
There's still room for improvement if you're creating sounds for it, like when you go to save a program and Rapture Pro takes you to a folder with samples if that's what you used last. Also, the modulation matrix doesn't "tear off" so you have to switch back and forth between views more than I'd like, and more than you had to do with Rapture. A few keyboard shortcuts would be killer...so would something like the "Quick Grouping" that SONAR has when you want to make changes across multiple elements. 
 
Now, here's the really good stuff.
 

• The Instruments page. If you have a controller with sliders and knobs, having this degree of real-time control is wonderful.
• The modulation options. Step sequencing is off the hook, you can do all kinds of incredible modulations...including subtle randomizing effects that bring programs to life.
• The effects. No, they're not as good as many plug-ins...but, being able to build particular sounds into a program, and control them from the Instruments page, gets extra points from me.
• The multiple filter responses and DSP options. Tying these to modulation can do all kinds of sonic mutations.
• SFZ-based format. The SFZ format appears daunting but once you become fluent in it - which looks much harder than it is - you can assemble your own instruments easily. 

 
I created the Gibson Bass Expansion Pack for Rapture Pro and unless I'm playing an actual electric bass, it's all I use for bass parts. Part of that is because of what I can do with the sounds in Rapture Pro, and part of it is being able to create my own programs easily, so I sampled slides and other idiomatic elements. I'm finishing up a new expansion pack called Syntronic which is heavily electronic but based on twisting the living daylights out of guitar samples...for those who remember my Electronic Guitars expansion pack for Rapture, this is the far more sophisticated follow-up.
 
So yeah...Rapture Pro is cool. It does things other instruments don't do. For those who don't want to get deep into creating programs, the sample library has some real winners in there. 
 
 
 

Anderton

• SFZ-based format. The SFZ format appears daunting but once you become fluent in it - which looks much harder than it is - you can assemble your own instruments easily.

is there any up to date documentation for the SFZ format used by RP specifically? SFZ-based instruments all seem to use variations of it (ie, an opcode understood by one vst might not be universally understood by others)
one good resource is http://www.sfzformat.com/index.php?title=Main_Page