Considering Cakewalk but which product?

[punkin]

I've been looking at a PC recording, synth, percussion solution. It seems Cakewalk is fairly popular but I'm confused about their product lines.

There's the Home Studio 2002, the XL and the Guitar Tracks....

I'm a guitar player looking to develop some backgrounds, rhythms and bass lines. I'm prepared to get a midi keyboard if needed. Can anyone tell me a bit about the differences between the products.

One last thing...do the cakewalk products support USB audio transport? I have a digital recorder/multi-tracker with USB in/out. I would still like to be able to lay down tracks in either the multi-tracker or on the PC and share them back and forth.


Thanks!

[James Argo]

I think their site explains each better than I do...

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/Gui...ro/default.asp

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/HomeStudio/default.asp

http://www.cakewalk.com/Products/HomeStudio/XL.asp

[James Argo]

Comparing ? here you go...

http://www.cakewalk.com/coda/homestu...mparisonsr.asp

http://www.cakewalk.com/products/gui...comparison.asp

Cakeys do support USB (No problem with MIDI) but I dunno about supporting USB audio, nor know exactly how and what can be done with it. I think it also depends on your card & OS.

[punkin]

Thanks guys but me thinks I'm a bit slow yet...I've actually visited these links already and I'm still a bit confused. Is the Guitar tracks an add-on or is it a stand-alone product?

What's everyone else using?

Keep in mind, my mission is to be able to synth some realistic sounding drum/rhythm, bass and backgrounds for guitar lead.

Thanks for the previous posts btw.


steve

[James Argo]

Well Steve my friend, seems like everyone here almost using SONAR 2 XL. Just like you, I did almost my drums track using MIDI / sequencer. There are many thing to be consider to get those "realistic" sound anyway. It deppends on how good you sequence 'em, your sound source (MIDI devices, Soundfonts, DXi, Sampling, Loop, etc...). Anyway, you have to be good "Drummer in mind". Learning and experience is the key rulez here. I remember my first attempt to programing drums ain't fit my taste at all, but I learnt alot here. Keep in mind, that -unlike Band In A Box- SONAR (and any Cakey product), won't generate any drums pattern unless you program it to do so. Or you can import many premade mid sample style as a starting point.

If you have one of those Creative Live! card (or whatever supporting Soundfonts) you can take the advantage of using soundfont as your sound source. Otherwise you can use DXi softsynth to manipulate drums sound to do the beat. If you really want to spend bucks on MIDI keyboard, then you also will need MIDI interface to plug your keyboard. Many audio cards come along with bundled Joystick/MIDI port, which can be used as MIDI port by attaching optional MIDI connection kit.
You can also build a drum pattern using sample (importing particular wav file) and loop it/sequence it. Anyhow, nothing beats real drummer and bassist playing their part..


Hey, nice to know ya, post again if you have something to ask, I, along with those geeks will be glad to share our experience here...

[brzilian]

It comes down to this:

If your soundcard is a multi-input card like the Delta 44/66 or 1010, go with Sonar. If you're soundcard only has 2 inputs, you'll be fine with HS2002.

Otherwise, the differences between the 2 are fairly minor.

[Pedullist]

Originally posted by brzilian
It comes down to this:

If your soundcard is a multi-input card like the Delta 44/66 or 1010, go with Sonar. If you're soundcard only has 2 inputs, you'll be fine with HS2002.

Otherwise, the differences between the 2 are fairly minor.

I confirm that...

[Paul881]

...and if you buy HS2002, those nice people at Cakewalk will let you upgrade to Sonar for less money than if you had bought Sonar in the first place HS2002 can record audio and midi, Guitar Tracks audio only. (And yes, GT is a stand alone product).

Sonar XL has lots of goodies like fx, soft synths and stuff, but if you don't know what they are you probably don't need em....yet! I have had HS2002 for over a year and am just getting to the stage when I might think about upgrading. And I record guitar mainly, together with vocals and some midi.

I hope this helps you.

[punkin]

Thanks Paul!

That's exactly the sort of feedback I was hoping for. Sounds like you're on the same track as I am. My single biggest dilemma is that my PC is in the form of laptop with the usual junk sound card. Internal expansion for recording purposes is pretty much out of the question. The ticket to saving the laptop is to find a USB solution.

While looking at full-grown keyboard, synth, sequencer the cost is getting pretty close to the cost of a new PC (without the high end audio card and software).

Puzzling at best.


thanks & regards,
sjl

[Paul881]

Hi Punkin, glad it was of use to you. The one thing that is sure to bug you is the lack of a decent soundcard. For a laptop, you will need a USB but the bandwidth until USB 2.0 is with us for real, will limit you to a couple of audio tracks which is okay if you record one at a time anyway. Thats why HS 2002 is about right for us sole geetarists

Why do you need a full blown keyboard and not a USB midi controller? Look at the Roland, Evolution or the Edirol k/boards for around $150 or less, depending on the model. And then you can use soundfonts and a softsynth.

[punkin]

Very cool paul...this has been a lot of help.

Thanks!