Cheap Cakewalk Home Studio 2004 (Software) (Windows NT, Windows 98, Windows 2000, Windows XP, Windows Me) Price

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Customer Reviews of Cakewalk Home Studio 2004

On first appearance, this software looks to be complciated to learn. The thing is, they packed it with more features than I personally would ever need. If you have the patience, you can really get some neat things out of the software. I played around with it, but eventually discarded the manual and started using it just like my old tape-drive 4-track recorder. Build-in metronome? Cool. Don't need it. Built-in effects? Might use it someday. Not today. So - you can get off the ground with the basic pretty quickly. One really neat thing is graphicly selecting regions that you want to punch in before hitting record. All in all, really good.

There are a couple of clunky thing about it that you can work around easily - if you try to record a track before selecting an input device, for example, that track isn't going to work again (so just deleted it and make a new one). Double-clicking a Cakewalk file from file explorer results in an error, so bring up the application first, then load the file. I haven't run into any really drastic bugs, but makes me wonder when I will.

Okay - my big beef - you have to pay extra to enable mixing down to MP3. I personally find it very obnoxious to buy a fully-featured, production piece of software - and then they want MORE MONEY - $30 - to enable what should be a standard feature. You can mix down to plenty of formats, sure, but let's face it, you'd expect MP3 to be a pretty standard format to use. I feel cheated and not respected as a customer of the product when the developers resort to this kind of money-grubbing.

Well, I was going to give 2 starts because of the MP3 thing, but to be fair, overall this is a really nice piece of software, so it deserves a balanced review. Happy recording!

Powerful but hard
I bought the program, so that I could be able to record MIDI. I have an Casio WK-1800 keyboard, which I thought to connect to my computer. I connected the keyboard with a Yamaha UX-16 Midi in/Midi out to USB connector. I have gone through zillions of e-mails with support, and they don't seem to be able to make it work.

Otherwise, the program is a powerful workhorse, only if you spend hours and hours of figuring everything out. As an first-timer, I don't recommend this product. But as an professional, go for it.

Good value - if you have the patience
I bought this as a home recording novice. Whereas my prior home recording experience was limited to a microphone and an office tape recorder, my knowledge of desktop computers and how they operate is extensive. Novices be aware that Cakewalk has a steep learning curve with regard to troubleshooting. Don't expect to install and be recording right away. This is a very complex program and it seems the possibilities for conflicts with other software on the computer is endless. I can't imagine having to wrestle with this beast not having the computer knowledge that I have. For example, to avoid dropouts I have to set my soundcard and Cakewalk audio mode to ASIO. It will not record in the standard MME mode and to this day I have no idea why and have explored every possible soundcard conflict to no avail.

That being said - if you are up to a couple weeks of trying to defeat the beast, Cakewalk does provide a tool for you to make pro-quality digital recordings at a bargain price. You have unlimited tracks for audio and MIDI instruments. I only use the audio tracks to record guitar and bass compositions. The drum machine included in the software is kind of weak so I recommend getting a CD of professional drum loops. With a good drum loop I can record a bass line, rythm guitar track, and lead guitar track with sound quality that match any store-bought CD I own.

The options to tweak your sound are practically infinite. So you are limited only by time and your imagination.

If you think it will be too much of a hassle, I understand. Otherwise, if you have the courage and determination, you will eventually reap the rewards.