Magic Russ

I think a lot of them sound more like the guy playing in the piano lounge than elevator music. As for Folk, I don't really think that sounds particularly folky in the demo. One I'm surprised to like is the Hip Hop pack. It has a wide variety of distinctive rhythms. Unfortunately there aren't a lot of variations with that pack.

The sound banks go for $15 and $16 respectively (67% off), so definitely a good deal.

Well I kind of like a bit of everything, but I'm always looking for stuff that sounds kind of different. I always like to hear the sounds that make me think "I didn't know you could do that with that synth" because when I get the chance to open them up and dissect them (I've decided that the upgrade to the full collection will be my main splurge next BF) I usually learn something. Nori U and Richard Devine are designers I appreciate. I don't normally choose FM synthesis, but I am kind of intrigued by NU's DX7 sounds from the rare cartridges.

Only if you have a singer that sounds like Shirley Manson.

I don't like that the cabinet emulation seems to be on on all of their model presets for this component. I do like the X-Drive Rat and Muff emulations much more than the ones which come with Amplitube.

Does anyone have any of the sound packs? I'd be curious to know which ones are worth getting.

If I remember right the EMU stuff (or at least Creative) would load SF2 into memory. I think Cakewalk had a utility to load and unload soundfonts per project. Even if that were an option I would probably go with a VST sampler which supports SF2.

Looks like they don't even sell Cakewalk versions anymore, although it looks like everything that was in Cakewalk format is now available as SoundFonts.

Rapture Pro, when taken for what it was, was not a bad product, once they got a handle on the bugs and the long load times. Unfortunately, it was not at all what people were hoping for. People expected it to be the next generation synth and it functioned more like Sound Center 2. If they brought it back, I wouldn't mind if they made it NKS compatible. More importantly, I'd rather see a more developer friendly interface.

Glad you are enjoying that. Every once in a while I found that Rapture didn't respond to F5 as well.

If you happen to bite on this, be advised that there are quite a few free patch sets in the shop waiting to be downloaded.

If you have downloaded the Muz3um patch set for Rapture, I invite you to download my Magic Russ in the Muz3um set of patches which I have posted to the Rapture Patches page on KVR. I will also post the 30 for 30 set there tomorrow or so.

I thought they were saying "Batty" or "That's Me" But the harmony on the Blues is pretty nice.

I don't think anyone pointed out that this runs through Jan 31.

To turn this thread on its head, I mostly ignore 3rd party equalizers in favor of the Cakewalk equalizer. Overall, though, I'm in the camp of not wanting anything that won't work in multiple DAWs.

It looks like their free packs for each year include impulses and samples from previous years. Also, is it my imagination, but did they forget to include the Vintage Soul impulses?

Muz3um presets for Rapture can be found here http://patcharena.com/downloads/index.php?subcat=83&ENGINEsessID=9133e8654dbb81493f3d191f6e7fc437 Note towards the bottom of that page are 30 presets I contributed.

You should also be able to find the Muz3um bank for Z3ta (also updated version for v2) which is based around the sound (and waveforms) of more vintage synths.

I seem to recall that Line 6 at one point included a model of their old models because their users liked the old one better than the new and improved one. Also Guitar Rig has had a SansAmp model for ages.

I guess if you go back far enough, having Triangle II primed me to buy a copy of Pentagon I (a few years before Cakewalk bought rgc:Audio and included it in Sonar)

SynthMaster CM

It's been a while since I used those, but both are pretty good

Even if you got it free, it isn't a deal if you never use it. You lose time downloading, space storing it, and often end up with another person spamming you. Over the years I have gotten a fair amount of usage out of Triangle II, Synth 1, Crystal, etc. Some of the Cymatics freebies have, if not found my way into projects, have provided the basis for inspiration. Various freebies from Arturia and NI over the years have also proved useful. Some other freebies such as OGrady's Wurli have seen action as well. On the other hand I have six years worth of Heavyocity holiday freebie packs I haven't used. Similar with the Ghosthack samples I have downloaded during their advent calendars. I don't think I have used any of those freebies from Acustica either. This is not to say these aren't quality products, I just haven't found use for them yet. So what are the freebies that have been worth it and which haven't?

That controller probably helps a ton with getting realistic bends and vibrato. The keyboard player has more of a "guitar player face" than the guitar player.

Live (2001) actually came before P5 (2003) or Kinetic (2004)