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Cakewalk SONAR Home Studio (Windows)

SONAR Home Studio 6 gives you everything you need to turn your PC into a complete music production studio. Record live instruments and vocals and mix them with studio-quality audio effects. Edit audio, MIDI, and music notation. Build backing tracks or entire songs with hundreds of included instrument sounds and tempo-syncing loops. SONAR Home Studio 6 is the complete solution for creating and sharing your music. Learn More...

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Overall User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * . . . . . . 4 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10

Individual User Ratings

Overall:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10
Quality:
* * * * * * * * . . 8 out of 10
Value:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
I Want It:
* * * * * * * . . . 7 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * * * * * 10 out of 10
Support:
* * * * * * * * * . 9 out of 10

Feature:
Everything you need is here - Maybe not in the most obvious place, but it's here. I read one review on this site complaining about not being able to go from 'midi to mp3'. Not true. Step 1) The software synths provided here allow you to drive them with midi and create a .wav file complete with effects. Step 2) True, the converter from .wav to mp3 is a trial version, but who needs it when you can do it better with iTunes anyway. Parametric eq, graphic eq, wave editing, pitch correction, effects, cut-and-paste-drag-and-drop non-destructive editing, consoles, projects, midi, software synths, loops, etc. Features galore, all work well.

Quality:
Core product is solid - A couple addons are lame and have been known to expire during the product's lifetime, as noted in other reviews on this site. Leaves a bad impression. Cakewalk could improve in this area. Advice - Don't throw the baby out with the bathwater. This is a fine product.

Value:
Simply cannot beat it for the price.

Desirability:
Presentation is pretty utilitarian. Does that make a difference?

Sound:
Nothing wrong with the digital sound. Even the pitch correction - Very few artifacts, if any. Reverbs are clean, choruses fine. Synths are fine. Drum sets sound great - Just add some meat with the built-in parametric eq.

Support:
The web site keeps users alerted to problems with releases. I have found what I need to know there. Never had to call.

Overall:
I would have upgraded my studio long ago, but this works great - I get compliments on my sound ALL the time. No near-term plans to upgrade.

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Overall:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Features:
* * * * * . . . . . 5 out of 10
Quality:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Value:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
I Want It:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10
Sound:
* * * * * * . . . . 6 out of 10
Support:
* . . . . . . . . . 1 out of 10

Feature:
The extra programs like pyro express were only 30 day trial, so they were absolutely of no use at all. Home Studio does have realtime effects, but you are limited on the total, so, you may not be able to add EQ or reverb, etc to all of the channels you want. The EQ's are nice, and the reverb & delay are average. Good for the price. It DOESN

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