Acid Techno 3.0

Rating:
Summary: Disappointing
Review: After having been an Acid enthusiast for years, I was gravely disappointed by Acid 3.0. Other than an updated interface (very similar to Vegas Audio-- another Sonic Foundry product), there are very, very few new features. Sure, the loops are great-- and if you're just looking to expand upon your library, you really can't go wrong at this price point. But, to see Acid 3.0 (which is buggy by many accounts, but I've had absoluetly no problems running it) as a replacement for Acid 2 is really unnecessary. I, for one, am disappointed by Acid 3.0, especially after seeing Sonic Foundry's previous (and well thought out) improvements to Sound Forge 5.
What's good? Acid, as always, is insanely easy to use, and you can put out some disturbingly high-quality music, with a minimum of time and effort. Music has never been easier to make-- and NONE of it sounds like cheap MIDI garbage. The quality and variety of loops is amazing. There's virutally no learning curve, and Sonic Foundry continues to host AcidPlanet.com, a website where you can share your music with the Acid Community.
The Verdict?
If you have Acid 2.0, I don't feel that 3.0 is necessary (unless you want the loop library from this... which is worth the price alone). If you're on the fence about buying Acid for the first time... just do it! The musical direction you can take yourself in are endless!