bestemor wrote on Today, 17:30:

Sorry for stupid question, but... what is so great about a Roland RAP10 ?
(genuinly curious)

I remember almost buying one many many years ago, while looking into Roland sound cards, but could not find a worthwhile usecase for its limited capabilities, so I left it alone.

Basically, it is a Roland SC-7 wavetable synth on a sound card, combined with Roland-specific (not sound blaster compatible) digital audio. A fair amount of games in the early to mid 90s specifically supported it, but from a practical standpoint it makes more sense to just use a more common (and compatible) card alongside an external Roland MIDI module to get similar or better music quality.

As for why I want one, I'll just copy and paste what I posted a while back when I tried to explain my interest in the RAP-10...

I've been keeping an eye out for a Roland RAP-10 for a while and they have so far eluded me. And it isn't exactly a practical thing... I have six or seven Roland modules that have the same or better MIDI samples. I think for me I just remember messing with the sound setup in DOS games in the late 90s under Windows 98 and in my totally uneducated mind when I selected "Roland RAP-10" as the music device it always sounded 100 times better, so I figured that device must have been really special. In reality, it was just the GM soft synth on whatever sound card I was using at the time being used rather than some kind of poor FM emulation if I selected a Sound Blaster or other similar device. Still, it created a kind of mystique around the RAP-10 for me. Totally illogical now that I know what I know and have so many alternatives, but I still want one in my collection.

bestemor wrote on Today, 17:30:

Sorry for stupid question, but... what is so great about a Roland RAP10 ?
(genuinly curious)

I remember almost buying one many many years ago, while looking into Roland sound cards, but could not find a worthwhile usecase for its limited capabilities, so I left it alone.

As a RAP-10 owner... honestly not much.

It has a genuine Roland sample set, so it's good for General MIDI playback. However, there is limited support for its digital audio capabilities and it doesn't even have an intelligent mode capable MPU-401 interface.

A Roland SCC-1 along side a Sound Blaster compatible card is a much better option than a Roland RAP-10.

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 17:43:

I've been keeping an eye out for a Roland RAP-10 for a while and they have so far eluded me. And it isn't exactly a practical thing... I have six or seven Roland modules that have the same or better MIDI samples. I think for me I just remember messing with the sound setup in DOS games in the late 90s under Windows 98 and in my totally uneducated mind when I selected "Roland RAP-10" as the music device it always sounded 100 times better, so I figured that device must have been really special. In reality, it was just the GM soft synth on whatever sound card I was using at the time being used rather than some kind of poor FM emulation if I selected a Sound Blaster or other similar device. Still, it created a kind of mystique around the RAP-10 for me. Totally illogical now that I know what I know and have so many alternatives, but I still want one in my collection.

This sounds like one of those situations where the wanting is better than the having.

I've had a lot of similar situations over a lot of hardware, where once I actually acquire the thing it ends up being disappointing.

Shponglefan wrote on Today, 17:59:

Ozzuneoj wrote on Today, 17:43:

I've been keeping an eye out for a Roland RAP-10 for a while and they have so far eluded me. And it isn't exactly a practical thing... I have six or seven Roland modules that have the same or better MIDI samples. I think for me I just remember messing with the sound setup in DOS games in the late 90s under Windows 98 and in my totally uneducated mind when I selected "Roland RAP-10" as the music device it always sounded 100 times better, so I figured that device must have been really special. In reality, it was just the GM soft synth on whatever sound card I was using at the time being used rather than some kind of poor FM emulation if I selected a Sound Blaster or other similar device. Still, it created a kind of mystique around the RAP-10 for me. Totally illogical now that I know what I know and have so many alternatives, but I still want one in my collection.

This sounds like one of those situations where the wanting is better than the having.

Of course, that's a big part of collecting.

Stamp and coin collectors dream of getting certain things even though they literally do nothing. At least these can be used for something if we choose. 😁

I found an SCC-1 last year and I have several Roland modules, so no, a RAP-10 isn't a practical addition to the retro hardware arsenal by any means.

I wouldn't have anything to be disappointed about because I have realistic expectations of what it is good at, what I would use it for and how much I would actually use it. This is also why I do not pay the ultra premium prices for these things.