ACID Music Studio 10 – Steam Powered

Acid has always been my go-to app for music creation. It's easy to manipulate and mix sound files of any type, and they blend seamlessly into your project. I've used it to create original music, remixes, radio show-style vignettes with dialogue and sound effects, and I even use it to produce my full-length podcast! Originally I doled out MUCH more money for Acid Pro 7 and it was worth every penny. Version 10 at this price is an absolute no-brainer. I wouldn't consider anything else.

ACID Music Studio 10 is definitely not Acid Pro 7. There's no groove. However, if you play an instrument or sing, you've got this amazing quick retake system with keyboard shortcuts that'll make you happy. Sony's comparison page.
Sure the UI is out of date, and you need a real computer as it was never written for big button touch screen, but it is ACID. ACID pro is infinitely better, but this one will run on Windows later than Windows 7 and it will run on Windows 7 with all updates.

It's got its fair share of bugs and problems, but I have yet to find a more intuitive and easy to get into program for songwriting. A fantastic tutorial system is incredibly helpful for beginners, but for people that know what they're doing you may be able to find something better. I was a beginner coming into this and I've learned an incredible amount just from the tutorials alone. Recommended, but not perfect.

With the right (free) VST effect plugins, this software is in my opinion one of the best out there for creating computer-based mixtapes/sets, rivalling Ableton Live in my opinion for it's timestretching 'mechanism' - the Beatmapper. It also uses the same timestretching algorithm as Ableton - zplane Elastiqué Pro v2 (see

If you want to download the free 8packs loop collection, you need to do this here:
Unfortunately I first had to contact the Sony support for this...

I've been a user of Acid Music products for 20 years - I bought Acid Music 2 from a Best Buy store back in 1997-98-ish and have used all versions up to 6 - then skipped to 10. The interface is the same, a plus for me as I relearned what all this DAW could do. It uses almost all the old 32-bit plugins that I had from previous iterations but doesn't seem to recognize most of the newer 64-bit plugins I add. It also has a glitchy MIDI issue - every time I render (bounce) a track, I have to close and restart the software because the program loses communication with my MIDI interface and I can't manually reinitialize it. It also still has issues with on-screen activity causing pops and clicks during playback, but fortunately, those have never shown up on a rendered sound file. I really wish the company who took these products over from Sony would invest in some solid updating, a streamlined interface that looks less like it was designed in the 90s (kind of harsh on the eyes), and fix the annoying technical glitches. Without exception, sound files I render from this DAW lack crispness and volume compared to tracks that are laid out and rendered in a more modern DAW... but this tool is super easy to use partly because there is a limit to the features. This is a great product for new learners because the built-in tutorials are very straightforward. I have argued for years that this "little engine that could" would stand up to any other DAW in terms of production capability, but at this point in time, it's got some issues that I simply don't have to deal with when I use Studio One or Ableton. I'll keep it and use it for letting my kids get into digital music and recording, but I expect anyone who wants to produce music on a regular basis for a living will want to spend more and get a "real" DAW. Sad face.

Bye Sony, Hello MAGIX! Applications are working as expected and how I know them... and even more stable than ever before. Just had the best support experience ever on Steam... I hope MAGIX can keep this up, as this shows great commitment. Way better than Sony ever did...
I have always enjoyed using the Sonic Foundry apps, like SoundForge and Acid. I really had high hopes when Sony started with the Media Software divison, but this turned out to be disappointing and slow to develop. Some nice effects were added, but it just took long and each version was a minor update. Now Magix took over, and they do put effort into I see.
Acid is a loop-based sequencer. This means there is are tracks on which you can paint the samples in a way they are loop to make the beats. It wasn't the first, but surely one of the best tools for this. Although the UI hasn't changed much, I actually think this is one of it's strengths. The tool is easy to understand and has a simplistic layout.
Although I have access to Cakewalk Sonar, Music Maker and Samplitude, this is still a tool I grab back to from time to time. The addition of some of the VST plugins is mcuh appreciated. I just hope they also offered the Pro version on Steam instead of the Music Studio version.