Cakewalk Audio FX 3 SoundStage DirectX

30 Yrs Playing and Recording.

Its easy to use and the graphics are cool. A beginner could use this to learn the adjustments of a Reverb an what they do, It doesnt need a manual and the presets get you going.

As for serious sound quality forget it. Theres a hundred free reverbs out there that produce better sound hands down. I'm not a big fan of the cakewalk reverb either though I do use occasionally because they dont suck as much CPU power as others do. I think Blue cat makes a free set of effects that are twice as realistic and use about the same CPU power. Its all in the material I'm working on though. Strictly this is one of the lower sound quality effects and is definately not worth purchasing or installing.

This was free, part of the sonar effects bundle that I got to work with Cakewalk 9. Like I said its good for a beginner to learn how a Reverb unit works but it wont do a very good job.

Used with Sonar XL 2.0 for recording pop and film score music.

The interface is quirky and not very functional. Most importantly it is difficult (impossible?) to slide performers around on the "stage" with complete accuracy. It's difficult to center a performer in the mix. It's difficult to point the "mic" with accuracy. Cakewalk has chosen to emphasize the "gee whiz" elements of the interface, namely the 3D graphical represenation of the room, even though this is completely unnecessary for achieving any particular desired sound. Lots of "zipper" noise while changing the parameters makes it difficult to adjust on the fly. No automation of performer placement detracts from any serious use of the cooler possibilities of the product.

It doesn't sound as good as the regular Cakewalk FXReverb. It seems mostly useful for special effects or extreme reverbs. For quickly dialing in a sound you're better off with a traditional reverb if you have any experience with them. It's quite time consuming to produce a specific sounds and is more suited to noodling.

I got it on sale and while it was at a significant discount from the list price I still don't feel it was a good investment, considering all the other plug-ins out there that I don't have. This is kind of a stocking stuffer for the "musician who has everything"....but what musician has everything? (I've never met one yet!)

I've been making music for 15 yrs and have been making music on a computer for 5. I use Audio FX3 in SONAR 1.3, Sound Forge 5 and ACID 3. Currently on my wife's shitty Celeron, moving to Win2000 Pro, then hopefully XP. I have a Layla20 bit (already boutique fodder) and listen through a shitty Altec-Lansing satillite system.

The interface is downright fun. You build your own rooms (setting the ceiling height and room width), you setup sound dampening or relections, set the location and pattern of the mic, and finally place your "performers (aka audio files) into the room. No automation. Easy as shit to install. Very easy to get great reverb/room effects. Manual? You've got to be kidding.

I think this sound great as far as reverbs go, and certainly with the tweekability available it's very cool as a room simulator. The presets get you in on the ground floor, but some are a little boomy for my taste. This effect can be applied to mono or stereo sounds and you have the capability to go mono/stereo from within the plugin. Not sure on the bit depth issue.

worth every penny. I like the Waves reverb room deal as well.......two different animals as far a sound goes. Plus I'm not sure on Waves ability to add multiple "performers" in the room. I think the Cakewalk plugins' perfect use is for bkground vocals or anything that you want to have a 'shared' room sound applied to it. I love the room creating and the ability to move around the mics and performers. Honestly, I can't say I hate anything about this plugin. FX2 and 3, are in my opinion, must haves. Never crashed SF or SONAR