Hello folks...

I was a BIAB user years ago. I don't even remember what version I was using. I loved the chord entry, style selection, and automatic accompaniment generation thing it did and apparently still does.

I was never very happy with crappy wave table instruments I had access to. And when I wanted to start recording me playing guitar against the backing tracks, I never liked the results, and not all of it was due to the fact that I'm a ham-handed guitarist at best.

I was looking for better midi sounds, but my options at that point did not look good.

So, when I upgraded machines, BIAB was left behind. I bought a Line 6 Toneport UX2, Cakewalk's Guitar Tracks, and some drum loops. Guitar Tracks included a soft-synth for nice drum, bass, and keyboard sounds.
I thought that I had what I wanted. I was getting good quality recordings, but I found trying to program drum tracks a pain. I really missed the convenience of BIAB for setting up a song.

I recently looked at the feature set for the latest BIAB. It sounds like it has progressed enough to get me where I want to be. However, there is so much there that feature lists, TLAs, and marketing hyperbole can mean just about anything.

1) I want to be able to structure songs from changes and styles.
2) I want the generated instruments to sound good to very good.
3) I want to be able to work within a DAW to record analog sources (through digital interfaces) synched to the tracks created with BIAB.
4) I do not want to have to become a computer music guru in order to get good to very good results.

Based on what I can read about BIAB 2011 with RealBand, it sounds like PG has me covered on items 1 and 3.
But what about 2 and 4?

My real question is can I get good to very good sounding instruments (drums, bass, etc.) out of BIAB 2011?
Which variant would be best?
If I need something else, what would specific recommendations be?

Thanks

Looking for the birds eye low down on this caper,... whatever that means.