Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Cakewalk Stinks-Save your money!
I received my edition of Home Studio 2002 and it STINKS!! It's terrible, there aren't any clear cut instructions on how to record drum tracks, set up guitar tracks and add other mixes. The owner's manual is terrible, it doesn't explain anything. Sure, it's great to know how to do loops and punch tracks, but what good is that if I can't create any recordings. The online help manual isn't any better. Musicians want to concentrate on their music, not some complicated piece of software where you have to guess how to record. With all the music software programs out today, you would think Cakewalk would have userfriendly software. When I called Cakewalk's Tech-support line, they told me to buy an after market book which explains their program better than their owner's manual. Not to mention the book cost me $.... It has become apparent that the Homestudio 2002 is so confusing that books have been printed by others who are not associated with Cakewalk. If you do not have prior Cakewalk Homestudio experience, I urge you to please shop for another home studio software program. (Cakewalk will not return any merchandise once it's open)
Rating:  - I keep finding more stuff it can do!
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!
Rating: - Love the Program for the Inexpensive Cost!!
I purchased Cakewalk HS2002 when it first came out. Yes at first it is confusing but you have to take the time to learn it as in most software you buy. I have a setup of guitar, bass guitar,keyboard all through a mixer to the software. I love it! It is really cool that at such a small price you can do so much and create your own cd's. I did purchase Scott Garrigus's book also for an extensive look into home recording. I love to create music and Cakewalk has made it affordable for me to do so. There is a lot that you can do for a home studio!
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