Cakewalk's Custom Software To Support
Roland USB Digital Studio
February 11, 2000
Cakewalk announced an agreement with Roland ED Corporation
to include a special edition of Cakewalk Home Studio 9 multitrack digital
audio and MIDI software with the Roland ED USB Digital Studio U-8.
The Roland U-8 is a new audio and MIDI interface that also provides the
user with an eight-track digital recording/mixing control surface and
built-in audio DSP effects. The U-8 control surface also allows the user
to navigate and select all of Home Studio 9's menu commands without ever
touching the PC mouse.
The All-in-one studio hardware simplifies installation by connecting
to a computer through its USB port.
"Roland is very pleased to be bundling
a special edition of Cakewalk Home Studio 9 with the U-8 in North America,"
said Naohisa Imazawa, producer, DTM Project Division, Roland Corp. The
full integration between Cakewalk's software and Rolandís hardware
represents the next revolution in computer-based recording, editing and
mixing.
The U-8 premium package also includes powerful GM2/GS MIDI software
synthesizer, so everything you need is in one U-8 box. "Home Studio
9 software already provides integrated digital audio and MIDI recording,
so combining it with the Roland U-8 is the perfect solution," added
Ron Kuper, chief technology officer, Cakewalk. "We've enhanced Home
Studio 9 to work seamlessly with the Roland U-8. Combined, the user gets
multitrack recording and mixing software, an integrated audio and MIDI
interface, DSP-based effects processing, and a powerful hardware control
surface all in one package."
Home Studio 9 provides eight tracks of stereo or mono digital audio
and up to 256 MIDI tracks. Other features include WavePipe technology
for low-latency audio mixing and playback; real-time audio and MIDI effects
processing; support for DirectX audio plug-ins; non-linear multitrack
editing; audio waveform editing with volume and pan automation; graphical
MIDI note editing; integrated notation printing; and a trial-version of
the patented Fraunhofer MP3 encoder for delivering music and sound on
the Internet. Users of the U-8 edition of Home Studio 9 can also upgrade
to Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 software at any time, directly through Cakewalk.
Studio Automation with StudioWare Technology
This special edition
of Home Studio 9 "talks" directly to the U-8 control surface using
Cakewalk StudioWare technology, which emulates and translates the hardware
controls and commands into the equivalent Home Studio software operations.
This level of software and hardware integration allows the user to control
nearly all of Home Studio 9's functions entirely from the U-8 surface,
including transport controls, track arming, jog/shuttle wheel positioning,
fader levels, as well as the ability to navigate and select commands from
any of Home Studio 9's pull-down menus -- without ever touching
the computer mouse.
The U-8 hardware features eight faders that can be used to control recording
and mixing operations in Home Studio with tactile precision. It also features
135 on-board DSP multi-effects presets that can be used in real-time on
input, while recording. The U-8/Home Studio 9 bundle is designed to get
users up and running quickly with minimal learning curve. By simply pressing
one of the EZ buttons on the U-8, users access step-by-step, on-screen
wizards from within Home Studio 9 that guide the user smoothly through
setup, studio configuration, recording, and mixing. Other U-8 hardware
features include: 44.1 kHz/16-bit digital audio sample rate, Unbalanced
MIC In; 1/4 inch Phone In; 1/4 inch Guitar In; RCA Phono Audio In/Out;
and Optical S/P DIF Digital In/Out.
Pricing and Availability The special edition of Cakewalk Home Studio
9 with the Roland U-8 is scheduled to ship in March 2000. The Home Studio
9/U-8 bundle is distributed in North America by Edirol Corporation. Dealers
can order The Home Studio 9/U-8 system through ThinKware, San Francisco.
For more information, visit Cakewalk's web site at www.cakewalk.com. | 
