Well, no one says you've got to use the audio part of
a sequencer. Just use the midi only. If budget is a problem,
the Band In A Box people(pgmusic.com) sells a sequencer
for $30.
Actually, I don't think it was very 6 that they introduced
the clips instead of dots. I think it was version 4.
I bought every version of Cakewalk from 1 through 6 then
waited until version nine. I've heard people say the most
stable versions were 3, 6 and nine.
I remember there being a lot of people sounding off about
doing away with the dots, not liking it. It's no secret
that people don't like change. Its been a long time since
I've even thought of dots and the clips seemed to be widely
accepted after that wave of protest. I guess it was kind of
like Bob Dylan which he switched to electric guitar. A lot of
people didn't like it at first. Now, it's funny to remember.
PaulB