Tone2 or Parawave Rapid? Both with expansions

[syntonica]

Can I stomach eating Ramen for the next three months because I purchased Rapid? That's pretty funny when you think about it, but maybe in the end, the sacrifice might be worth it.

Art IS sacrifice!

[Dencheg]

I think Rapid is leagues better in terms of sound quality, Tone2 synths all sound similar to me, idk why . Probably just me

I think It's not, especially the filter sections.
And Icarus 2 is quite CPU-efficient

[EnGee]

I think Rapid is leagues better in terms of sound quality, Tone2 synths all sound similar to me, idk why . Probably just me

5 years or so ago I felt the same that most of Tone2 synths sound the same, but with latest updates I feel they are all different!
I have most of them and I like them a lot. If you start from init and build your sound, you will have absolute different result with each one! The synthesis is different, really.

I'm still learning them from time to time as RayBlaster, Nemesis and Gladiator have their own syntheses. Icarus and Saurus on the other hand are typical wavetable and analog synths respectively.

Anyway, I have demoed both Rapid and Spire. I really liked them, but I chose Icarus 2, Dune 2, PhasePlant and Massive X as my main Wavetable synths or General Purpose synths (besides old great synths like OG Massive and Largo). Maybe if I have already Rapid and Spire, I wouldn't have all that I have now, but in general I like what I have more now than if I have Rapid and Spire.

In the end, all synths have demos and one can try for him/herself and see what he/she likes more! They are all powerful synths and can do awesome sounds!

Oh and by the way, Rapid and Avenger were almost released the same time and were very competitive to each other as I remember. I chose to beta Avenger, but ended not buying it. Still great synth IMO.

[THE INTRANCER]

Rapid has an advantage in that you don't just get an instrument but also an effects unit for all your other instruments and audio to be processed through.

Also, I designed some new skins for Rapid which are free. You might find one or two much nicer to use than those which are provided.

Find them here.

[BBFG#]

I like the sound of both company offerings here. Note though that Rapid is a NFR license. Make sure it's something you'll want to keep forever before you buy it. It's been the deciding factor for why I haven't bought it.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Icarus and Rapid - different animals,can't be wrong purchasing any of them,but the difference is presence in the mix.
All Synth X vs Synth Y discussion is pointless - better is what will work better for your music.
Afterr 9 years subtractive sound design i prefer to work with only few and can say that Icarus is most convincing sounding synth i've ever touch and had compare inside the mix with many others,BUT...
If you are beginner and just wanna browse hundreds of presets may find other synths as better and my statement subjective or just matter of taste,so let me share part my experience...
1.Filters - no other synth (hardware or software) gives you such rich harmonics and character as Icarus - i test any new synth mostly in that department and honestly these is not many good filters, which i can put next to Icarus and to sound decent...again,if you are newbie may not even understand the difference,cause many users define a synth as good if they listen tons of reverb and delay on a preset - that's not the real sound,if wanna check how good a syntrh sound is,disable fx section first.
FX are important as well,but that's different topic and build in fx are not necessarily best decision when mix.
2.Unique features - supersaw,hypersaw and tons of other build in unison systems,up and down octaves,dynamic +- value so on,little candies which make it so sweet and intuitive once you used to it.
3.All options in front like one page synth,fast and friendly - some modern synth cause me a headache looking for an option or function,sometimes even forget what i was going to do till find where in the jungle is the function i wanna apply,which means wasting time - examples Vital,Synthmaster - great synths,bu not intuitive at all.
Rapid was really nice as sound when i trued the demo,but it was when was released,can't say how much improvement have now,advanced multi layer structure make it dope,that's for more advanced users and designers.
In two words - Icarus for superior sound,Rapid for mass production,that's in short my opinion:)
It depends what style music you wanna make - some synths make it better and faster than others...
Cheers

[pdxindy]

I think Rapid is leagues better in terms of sound quality, Tone2 synths all sound similar to me, idk why . Probably just me

I think It's not, especially the filter sections.
And Icarus 2 is quite CPU-efficient

'I think Icarus sounds better or more interesting... and yeah, Icarus has a lot of useful filter types. Plus the Wavetable morph options and ability to resynthesize them into the wavetable.

[astralprojection]

So what we can learn here is that it's 50/50 and it comes down to who you should listen to.
Whats funny is I've heard exactly the same said about both. One guy said Icarus is miles ahead.. Granted he don't seem to know what he's talking about. Then we've seen people say rapid is miles ahead.
So are these topics meaningless?

[SLiC]

So what we can learn here is that it's 50/50 and it comes down to who you should listen to.
Whats funny is I've heard exactly the same said about both. One guy said Icarus is miles ahead.. Granted he don't seem to know what he's talking about. Then we've seen people say rapid is miles ahead.
So are these topics meaningless?

Yes

[chk071]

Not meaningless, but, like everything where humans are involved, subjective.

You know what's really pointless? Not relying on your own impressions when demo'ing a software. I mean, come on, how much better can it get? You can try out the stuff as long as you want. There's really no point in asking for opinions, unless you rely on opinions to make a choice. Perfect planting bed for influencers.

[astralprojection]

Not meaningless, but, like everything where humans are involved, subjective.

You know what's really pointless? Not relying on your own impressions when demo'ing a software. I mean, come on, how much better can it get? You can try out the stuff as long as you want. There's really no point in asking for opinions, unless you rely on opinions to make a choice. Perfect planting bed for influencers.

Oh I agree, I'm in love with rapid and I've demoed the demo to oblivion by now.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

Not meaningless, but, like everything where humans are involved, subjective.

You know what's really pointless? Not relying on your own impressions when demo'ing a software. I mean, come on, how much better can it get? You can try out the stuff as long as you want. There's really no point in asking for opinions, unless you rely on opinions to make a choice. Perfect planting bed for influencers.

Oh I agree, I'm in love with rapid and I've demoed the demo to oblivion by now.

I consider buying Rapid if see 50% off some day,not that i need it,just like it and multi layer architecture could be very useful for experiments,but i stand behind my words,that nothing - software or hardware can beat Icarus filters.
Icarus have some weak spots as moulations and probably if compare side by side every component and function,Rapid may have more options,but to me as fanatic filter lover that's most important part.
I like to make my own analog-ish randomization for better dynamics,which may not be even related to real analog behavior,just sounds dope and sit very well in the mix like multiple phase divergence using adsr,lfo,mseg and user control as final modulation.
Situation gives right ideas for it,so don't know do i need actually such as function.
What of Rapid sound impress you the most?
Aside from filters character there is some three dimentional feeling that Icarus give me i really adore and explore...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Pdg_y3SHKok

[chagzuki]

but i stand behind my words,that nothing - software or hardware can beat Icarus filters.
Icarus have some weak spots as moulations and probably if compare side by side every component and function,Rapid may have more options,but to me as fanatic filter lover that's most important part.

I'm going to have to try the demo. What you say surprises me a little because having played with the Saurus demo I concluded that the analog modelling there was really primitive and unconvincing. I agree that filter design is what separates really good synths; Falcon for instance is generally very good, but the filters are all vanilla smooth and don't have any grit or texture (neither really do the distortion modules), and can't be pushed into growl territory, which is sonically limiting.

[VELLTONE MUSIC]

but i stand behind my words,that nothing - software or hardware can beat Icarus filters.
Icarus have some weak spots as moulations and probably if compare side by side every component and function,Rapid may have more options,but to me as fanatic filter lover that's most important part.

I'm going to have to try the demo. What you say surprises me a little because having played with the Saurus demo I concluded that the analog modelling there was really primitive and unconvincing. I agree that filter design is what separates really good synths; Falcon for instance is generally very good, but the filters are all vanilla smooth and don't have any grit or texture (neither really do the distortion modules), and can't be pushed into growl territory, which is sonically limiting.

I haven't even start to dig into madness Icarus is capable,just compare it to other synths in the mix i use and despite i like how musical Sylenth1,Synthmaster,Vital or Thorn sounds,just side by side Icarus is better in every aspect as character when filters take control :):)
Crazy synth,but it's not for mass production imho,if somebody wanna sounds like this ot that dj better buy Serum,Spire such stuff...
Icarus is for heavy weight producers :):)

[syntonica]

So what we can learn here is that it's 50/50 and it comes down to who you should listen to.
Whats funny is I've heard exactly the same said about both. One guy said Icarus is miles ahead.. Granted he don't seem to know what he's talking about. Then we've seen people say rapid is miles ahead.
So are these topics meaningless?

Only if you haven't already done the demo in question, if available. Even if we have lived with a software for a week, a month, a year, do we really know it?