Cakewalk Pyro

Please heed everyone's "avoid like the plague" comments. Here's something I couldn't believe. I bought the 1.0 version, then got the latest version (1.5) from their web site. It installed okay on Win 2000, but about half of my MP3 files would not play, and would not be converted to other formats, because Pyro reported that the files may be corrupt. These are the same MP3 files that play perfectly in Jukebox, RealPlayer, and Easy CD Creator 3. So, I can't play MP3s or burn CDs. Here's the thing that takes the cake(walk) -- the tech support response I got says:"Q: I can't play song files.Try playing the same MP3 files in MediaPlayer, do you still get an error? . . . If the file does play, possible causes include:* MP3's with extremely long file names may not play* MP3's with non-English characters in their names frequently will not play in Pyro."YES, THAT'S RIGHT, they are telling me that long file names may make their software incapable of playing the file!!! As if that is just a fact, it's okay, no defect for them to fix!!(By the way, changing to shorter file names didn't help any.)I've basically had it, since this is the 2nd annoyance I had with Pyro. The first was when I bought it specifically because the package said it worked with Win 95 -- only after I got it home and tried to install it did it report that it wouldn't run because I didn't have Win 95 OSR2.I also wanted to get this product working because I wanted to rip tapes and LPs as Pyro claims to do. But after reading what others have written about that I know I can kiss that idea goodbye too.Waste of money and waste of time.

Pros:Stable (at least with 2.0.1).Acceptable MP3 Quality at 192 or higherAudio Editing has some limited usesCons:Poor interfaceLack of library or playlist featuresUnless you have a tremendous need to split up your audio files, I'd recommend looking elsewhere because Pyro doesn't really have much else to offer. Pyro is a no-frills CD ripper. The version that I purchased (2.0.1) seems reasonably stable compared to other CD-ripper programs. The MP3 converter quality is acceptable at 192bits (I don't bother with anything lower than that).The interface is unwieldy, non-intuitive and often aggravating. Suprisingly, it doesn't appear to have any playlist features. This means that once I rip my CDs, I end up adding them to my playlist in MUSICMATCH and listening to them there. The audio edit features have come in handy in a few cases. It's nice to be able to cut out parts of a song, or split it up into multiple tracks. However, the lack of playlist or library features limits the value of the product.

I purchased this software for two reasons: to let me digitally record old cassette tapes, and to convert those files to MP3 format to save space. The CD Wave Editor is an *excellent* digital recording program, and you can buy it ala carte from Cakewalk's website... I highly recommend it.The MP3 converter, however, is completely unacceptable. Every MP3 file, regardless of the bitrate, has a very annoying tinny, digital quality to it, and even my old analog recordings, which weren't exactly studio quality to begin with, sound awful after conversion.My recommendation is to buy the Wave Editor software separately and download any LAME-based WAV-to-MP3 freeware.

I was having a hard time finding the right software to burn CDs (particulary with Adaptec's Easy CD Creator). From the reviews that I have read here, I may be in the minority, but Cakewalk's Pyro has been a wonderful program to work with. I have only had to toss a bad CD a couple times in dozens of instances - a vast improvment from the stack of "coasters" that piled up with other programs.What I particularly liked about Pyro was its ability to work with different file formats (and in my experience successful complete one). You can burn MP3s right onto a CD without converting it to another file format. Additionally, I have heavily used the "ripping" feature which allows you to convert your own CDs to digital files (MP3s, WAVs, etc.). It also allows you to set a bitrate for your "ripped" music to help control the sometimes out-of-control files sizes (I have well over a gigabtye of MP3s on my computer right now these files tend to take up. Another terrific feature is that when you load a CD to "rip" you can download the CD's song titles and artist(s) via CD Database (CDDB) -- so no typing in file names! (The registration for this service is free and I have not received any spam e-mails from it). The audio player in the program seems more stable than other players (i.e. RealPlayer) I have used - though it certainly is not a full-featured "jukebox" type program. Finally, another nice Pyro feature is the ability to put in customized gaps between tracks prior to burning.However, I am taking away one star for one fairly consistent problem. Pyro, at times, is unable to recognize MP3 downloads from that very popular online music "sharing" community. Often these MP3 files are said to be "corrupted" or not in the proper format (and thus can not be listened to and/or burned with Pyro). The same files DO work on other players and programs that I have. So this is my only substantive complaint with the program. For those with high speed modems, it might not take long to replace it with another file but for me and my measly phone line modem it is not worth the time.Overall, I have been very pleased with Pyro. It has saved me a lot of time and aggravation and the ripping ability/features was worth the price of the software alone. Obviously, it appears this is not the case with everyone but I would recommend giving Pyro a try.

I never used very much of the software application; except to convert my CDs to mp3.I had like 3 retail box copies of this version of cakewalk pyro.The built in MP3 activation worked fine on each of my PCs.Ripping a CD went pretty well.Speed wise, it did not take too long.For what I used it for [ripping MP3's] it worked great !