Cakewalk Home Studio 2002 frees you from dependence on studios and technicians so you can do your digital recording from your desktop. With support for 24- and 16-bit audio, real-time DirectX effects, DXi software synths, MIDI FX plug-ins, and ACID-format audio loop technology, Home Studio 2002 turns your PC into a multitrack recording studio.

Add a range of audio effects, like Amp Sim Lite, reverb, chorus, delay, flange, and EQ. Create loops fast. Record unlimited audio and MIDI tracks. Mix with real-time audio and MIDI effects. Home Studio lets you work with ACID-format, MP3, WAV, WMA, and MIDI files. You can also import and synchronize AVI video to music projects. This very robust program includes an ACID-format audio loop library as well as free versions of Pyro MP3 and CD Maker (trial version), Virtual Sound Canvas DXi soft synth, and DreamStation DXi soft synth.

Cakewalk has given away an incredible amount of power with this package for .... I think the problem here is that the name and relatively low price confuses inexperienced users into thinking they are buying something targeted at more casual users. This is serious software for serious amateur home recording musicians. Couple that with the fact that Cakewalk does a pretty poor job of documenting its software (they always have) and you get reviews like those you see here. What you need to know is that this software is a huge bargain, it is very powerful, and if you are willing to take the time to work with it and learn it you can do amazing things. It is NOT a toy for casual users.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:


Tremendous product  Sep 25, 2002 By R. RANDOLPH
I have used this software for about 6 months now. Like any powerful software, at first it's confusing, but soon afterward, CakeWalk HS became my friend. The confusion, I believe is not so much the software per se, but rather the techno-music world. Simply, the software emulates real world editing hardware and uses real world terminology. For that reason, it uses jargon that most of us are not familiar with. Still, I would think any good music software would do the same, but this product is so inexpensive for it's power. A friend of mine has someware similar to this which cost him hundreds of dollars. He can't or doesn't do anymore than I can do. It will be years before you outgrow this software. You can't go wrong if you are serious about home music.

18 of 18 found the following review helpful:


Amazing buy  Feb 16, 2002 By Suzanne Caputo
I feel i must express my opinions about Cakewalk Home Studio 2002. This is the best studio for home recording.... but i would like to clarify something. this is not for beginner musicians. this is a very technical product that is easy to use if u have used a cakewalk product before. recording audio and midi so easily is so amazing in this product. you get a bunch of loop writing programs to install as well. for the money this is an excellent but if you are a cakewalk user and an experienced musician

16 of 16 found the following review helpful:


I keep finding more stuff it can do!  Jan 14, 2003 By Bruce Irving "Flying Singer"
Great product. I bought HS2002 in November 2001 and have since upgraded to the XL version. It is very VERY deep, but also quite intuitive once you have learned the interface. I agree with one reviewer who said that if you work solo, you won't miss much in choosing HS2002 over SONAR (there are some things - SONAR has more effects, more synths, better groove quantizing -- but most of these limits can be overcome with free or low-cost DX plug-ins -- ... If you need more than two simulataneous audio inputs, you need SONAR (and more hardware too).

I'm a singer/songwriter (mainly guitar, some keys), and I've done a lot of home demos and even started to use HS2002 as a writing tool, playing with loops and drum tracks. I have a MIDIman "AudioBuddy" and a dbx 286 microphone processor for getting audio in, a cheap Casio keyboard and MIDIsport 2x2 for MIDI in/out. Pretty basic, but I can get some decent sounds on a good day (my skill, patience, and creativity are the limits, not so much the tools). ...

Cakewalk provides great value with this product. It is close enough to SONAR (exactly the same interface) that books such as SONAR POWER (Scott Garigus) are very useful, but if you go through some tutorials and play around, you will be making music before you know it. Very powerful, excellent integration of MIDI and audio, reasonably easy to learn and used.

P.S. Right now I'm learning to program drums in MIDI and just discovered the "percussion" staff in the Staff view of HS2002. I like this better than piano rolls for programming drum parts. I discovered it also has guitar chord diagrams in the staff view. After a year, I'm still finding useful new stuff!

11 of 11 found the following review helpful:


Excelent value and Help files, + using "Acid Loops" +++  Jan 10, 2002
I am in 180 degrees of opposition to the "sour grapes" reviews.

Having read the review after ordering I was worried. However haveing spent just a day with it my concerns are gone.

There is an adequate "Getting Started Guide" with many tutorials and EXCELENT on-line Help with on-line interactive tutorials, (Guys ...Help will tell you why you have an "out of memory" error and how to (hint,OPTIONS-MIDI DEVICES)fix it. For Drum loops use "Fruity Loops" (on the CD). The very first tutorial shows where the "record" button is:) The on-line "Help" will educate you as far as you can reasonably expect. Cakewalk is as competent a sequencer as any individual musician could possibly need.

It may not be as "intuative" as you like, however as I work though the on-line tutoials, they are very complete and easy to understand.

Being an X amiga guy I find Cakewalk reminiscent of Bars & Pipes Pro, which I really enjoyed.

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