Parawave Rapid?

[Teksonik]

As I understand it, the Feature Roadmap has long been removed from the Parawave website?

And? What's your point here exactly? The roadmap is still there as zvenx pointed out.

Yes he posted that same screenshot in November 2024 and on that same page it still says: "Last Update: 22. November 2024".

I posted this screenshot on Nov 10 2025 and the post was already 33 weeks old at that point:

Rapid 111025.png

But Parawave posted the following on Jan 8 of this year so we can only be patient and see what happens:

Happy new year!

I want to clarify a few things brought up in this thread. Excuse me for the long silence.

Sales
First of all, there is no grand scheme to "rip someone off" like some indicate or interpret it. Especially in regards to Black Friday, some treat it like it is an elaborate recurring trick, but the major reason for the sale in the first place is that people expect and demand it. Yes, as a matter of fact, Black Friday sales are a yearly occurrence. Support requests for it do amass in that season. Which is understandable, since some are not willing to spend more than 100$ on a hobby product.

Fear of Shutdown
One of the favorite talking points is that we will eventually shut down and leave the users unable to activate and use Rapid. This has been a worry since 2016 and what can I say in the year of 2026? 10 years after the initial release. It will always be a worry. To ease your mind, consider this: It's not only highly illegal but also morally bankrupt if we would do so. There isn't really anything that could be said to refute this issue. Only a vow that this isn't a moral choice or solution I could personally accept. Even in the case of shutdown, I would put in unpaid time to guarantee a continuation or final DRM free version. Additionally for the future, generally, if any incompatibilities should arise, it is planned to offer "support updates" that will guarantee that it runs on newer systems. For example if a new Windows or MacOS version is released, a compatibility update will make it run there. Which leads to the next point.

Bugs and Issues
While it may seem that Rapid gets no bug fixes and ignores requests, this isn't the intention. If you noticed an issue, reported it and expected something akin to a day-one patch, this isn't how it works either. For example - There seems to be an ongoing issue with how the DAW Bitwig handles parameters. After some updates from them, a long list of parameters causes longer loading times. If there would be an easy fix, it would be delivered. Rapid offers VST and AU versions and delivers them according to their specifications. It works in every other DAW. So there is a direct correlation of the amount of parameters and slow down. But this isn't anything that could be influenced by us. There is no magic trick to make it faster. It is their (DAW Host) area of responsibility. It worked before. They changed something. It worsened performance. Unfortunately. If possible we would add a workaround or "hack" specifically for Bitwig but it just isn't reproducible and highly dependent on the Bitwig Version and setup used. I can only recommend to notify Bitwig support and suggest that they contact us. I think they even did, for a test version. There is no ongoing communication though, I would gladly help them out if questions specific to Rapid arise, that could improve the performance of many parameter plugins.

Updates
There isn't much of an excuse to offer here. Just that unforeseen things happen which sadly mess up schedules and deadlines. This was really unfortunate. An update was promised in April 2025, with a really tight schedule and no room to breathe. But in the final stretch there was a decision that resulted in chaos and a way longer delay. To be more concrete it was a redesign of the way the new MSEG feature was used. Not that it was the wrong decision, in the long term it will be better. Just badly timed.
It isn't easy to explain the reasoning or why it wasn't communicated better. There is just no excuse for it. Appeasing with false promises wouldn't be right at this point. Only the intention of : "There will be updates" can be said with certainty. No concrete dates, as there is no fixed schedule.

At last.

Please be aware that there are unplanned things happening and that there is a natural product cycle at play and that the amount of time spent is related to all of that.
The realistic assessment of the situation is that Rapid will not disappear. You will not lose access. Your support requests are read but not always answered (especially if the email can't be delivered) or the bug is related to 3rd party software.
The update frequency was always slow and it will not suddenly change. I'm sorry for the unfulfilled promises. Eventually there will be updates.

I still hope that you can enjoy using Rapid in the meantime.

[andresnol]

so... it's easter again

[SLiC]

Yeh, April 25 soon became April 26!

[zeph]

Yeh, April 25 soon became April 26!

LOL.

What a joke.

This plugin died years ago.
RIP PARAWAVE RAPID

[andresnol]

Yeh, April 25 soon became April 26!

What a joke.

This plugin died years ago.
RIP PARAWAVE RAPID

Don't be evil
It still works

[Seluvis]

Each developer chooses a philosophical approach. Parawaves philosophy holds true in they invented a Synth and supported it. Those who placed their faith in the product did so out of free will?
Having said that I am not a fan when a developer goes very quiet and the conversation switches to talk of end of life things.
That's when I am grateful that other developers such as Tone2 continue and engage with those who took the plunge and keep developing.

[Teksonik]

The salient point of Parawave's last communication for me is this:

Fear of Shutdown
One of the favorite talking points is that we will eventually shut down and leave the users unable to activate and use Rapid. This has been a worry since 2016 and what can I say in the year of 2026? 10 years after the initial release. It will always be a worry. To ease your mind, consider this: It's not only highly illegal but also morally bankrupt if we would do so. There isn't really anything that could be said to refute this issue. Only a vow that this isn't a moral choice or solution I could personally accept. Even in the case of shutdown, I would put in unpaid time to guarantee a continuation or final DRM free version. Additionally for the future, generally, if any incompatibilities should arise, it is planned to offer "support updates" that will guarantee that it runs on newer systems. For example if a new Windows or MacOS version is released, a compatibility update will make it run there. Which leads to the next point.

So that's all I really care about. I just want to know if I load Rapid into a project today that in a year or two or whenever I won't reload that project and find Rapid will no longer work.

I also want to know that I can reinstall Rapid in case of a hardware failure.

Both of those concerns were addressed to my satisfaction in the communication above providing of course the information is accurate.

Would I love to see the new update released with the MSEG feature added ? Absolutely but Rapid is an awesome synth as it is right now and certainly worth what I paid for it.

So I think "Rapid is dead" might not be as accurate as "the release of the update has stalled" for whatever reason. The lack of frequent engagement is no doubt disappointing but it is what it is I suppose.

[Trancit]

The salient point of Parawave's last communication for me is this:

Fear of Shutdown
One of the favorite talking points is that we will eventually shut down and leave the users unable to activate and use Rapid. This has been a worry since 2016 and what can I say in the year of 2026? 10 years after the initial release. It will always be a worry. To ease your mind, consider this: It's not only highly illegal but also morally bankrupt if we would do so. There isn't really anything that could be said to refute this issue. Only a vow that this isn't a moral choice or solution I could personally accept. Even in the case of shutdown, I would put in unpaid time to guarantee a continuation or final DRM free version. Additionally for the future, generally, if any incompatibilities should arise, it is planned to offer "support updates" that will guarantee that it runs on newer systems. For example if a new Windows or MacOS version is released, a compatibility update will make it run there. Which leads to the next point.

So that's all I really care about. I just want to know if I load Rapid into a project today that in a year or two or whenever I won't reload that project and find Rapid will no longer work.

I also want to know that I can reinstall Rapid in case of a hardware failure.

Both of those concerns were addressed to my satisfaction in the communication above providing of course the information is accurate.
...

And this is exactly the point... he often said things and in the very end it turned to be the other way round... at the very end it´s just words and for me personally, I highly doubt it...

A person who completely shut everything off, left all users in the dark for long time over and over again wants to tell me now that he is emotionally so envolved in the product and it´s users that he couldn´t sleep anymore if there wouldn´t be ways to ensure Rapid will always work in the future?

Sorry, it´s perhaps unfair but I don´t buy it and have stopped using Rapid for not having bad surprises in the future... luckily it was never an important instrument for me, there is enough other stuff (above all with less critical copy protection = less risk to lose something) which can easily replace what rapid does...
I will be positively surprised if it turns out the other way round but I have not enough confidence to risk that. Sorry!

[Seluvis]

So that's all I really care about. I just want to know if I load Rapid into a project today that in a year or two or whenever I won't reload that project and find Rapid will no longer work.

I also want to know that I can reinstall Rapid in case of a hardware failure.

Both of those concerns were addressed to my satisfaction in the communication above providing of course the information is accurate.

Your needs have been met. A done deal. You are winning.
Fair enough, each Synth has a life cycle, sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore?

[zvenx]

I am still giving them a slight benefit of my doubt, but i am highly skeptical.
Among many other things, that a year later we still haven't gotten the update that we were told that we would get last easter. Yes delays happen but nothing a year later?

Then Mirko's statement essential he was out of the project. Then finally a statement from parawave months ago and still no update?
I am very skeptical, but hopeful.
rsp

[Teksonik]

Sorry!

Don't be sorry. What you do or don't do is your business. I also have other options like Nexus 5 and VPS Avenger but Rapid is still a great synth and I have used it in a lot of older projects so I will continue to reach for it if needed. If it dies one day then I'll cross that bridge when and if it comes.

Your needs have been met. A done deal. You are winning.
Fair enough, each Synth has a life cycle, sometimes the juice isn't worth the squeeze anymore?

Would anyone be "winning" by no longer using a great synth because of something that might happen in the future? Have you deleted Rapid and moved on?

I am still giving them a slight benefit of my doubt, but i am highly skeptical.

It's perfectly logical to be skeptical in this case. Look, I'm not trying to defend their actions (or lack thereof) I'm just not willing to delete a very fine synth because of what might happen.

I'll ask has anyone lost Rapid yet? Has it stopped working or not been able to be authorized yet?

What the guy wrote seemed pretty passionate. Was he lying? Who knows, I've had some pretty snarky comments from Parawave in the past but if he is lying and one day Rapid stops working then I'll have some broken projects and that will be a mea culpa for trusting him.

[Seluvis]

Would anyone be "winning" by no longer using a great synth because of something that might happen in the future? Have you deleted Rapid and moved on?

You are a passionate fan of the Parawave philosophy. Good for you.
To delete implies I owned which wasn't my journey, I backed a different horse.
Sorry to gate crash.

[Caine123]

maybe black friday. or maybe never.

[Teksonik]

Would anyone be "winning" by no longer using a great synth because of something that might happen in the future? Have you deleted Rapid and moved on?

You are a passionate fan of the Parawave philosophy. Good for you.
To delete implies I owned which wasn't my journey, I backed a different horse.
Sorry to gate crash.

So you've spent time commenting in a thread about a synth you decided not to own? That seems like an odd philosophy in its own right but to each his own.

I'm not a "passionate fan of the Parawave philosophy" I'm a passionate fan of Parawave Rapid the synthesizer.

Two completely different subjects. It's entirely possible to be displeased with one yet pleased with the other.

[Seluvis]

So you've spent time commenting in a thread about a synth you decided not to own? That seems like an odd philosophy in its own right but to each his own.

Hopefully you will understand it was a random encounter, hence the gate crashing reference.
Thanks for your understanding in this matter. No harm meant.