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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
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Journeyman
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OP
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Posts: 589 |
Hi Because of all the problems Im having running biab 2011 Ive decided to go for a new machine.I'd be interested to have advice on which one would suit me best but not one that is overly priced Thanks Frank
AMD Athlon 7550 dual core
processor 2.51 ghz
1 87 gb ram
windows 7 Ultimate
yamaha rev 500 effects
tacam DP-24 DAW
Samson Resolv NF monitors
Yamaha PSR-620 Keyboard
Fender semi accoustic guitar
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
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I have a new mobo and CPU coming in a couple days, I'll let you know how it works out. The Phenom triple core and motherboard with 2 gig of ram was only $185 ... I plan on adding some drives and more RAM too.
Last edited by rharv; 07/13/11 10:37 AM.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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I have friends who are pulling out their hair because they bought off-brand stuff and can't make it work right. I don't mind that approach for someone who is quite knowledgeable. BUT, Brand name computers that are not clearance items, and run Win 7 (64 or 32 bit) with 4 gigs of memory and a 500 gig hard drive are to me the best purchase. If I was in the market right now I'd be looking at something like this HP, mind you this is the CDN price in our bucks $599.00 http://h10010.www1.hp.com/wwpc/ca/en/ho/WF06a/12454-12454-4144617-4144618-4144618-5035316.htmlBecause the computer is built into the display along with the DVD optical drive there is no tower. I see this becoming a wide spread standard.
John Conley
Musica est vita
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
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Recently got the wife an Emachines at BestBuy that was only $499; win 7 64, 4 gig RAM, 500 gb drive, dual core at 1.8gHz. Not the fastest but runs well.
Barry got a new W7 64 machine too, but he went a little better and got a terrabyte drive, 2.6 gHz quad-core, 6 gig RAM for $585
Both prices seem good for what you get.
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 883
Expert
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Expert
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If your handy you can always DIY it yourself. This System is a good deal IF you have the OS you want...with the OS it still comes in around $400 I built my system from one of the kits... ASRock M3A770DE MB / AMD Phenom II 4x 2.9GHz (the MB can handle a 6 core AMD when the prices come down) 6GB DDR3 1333 Kingston Value Ram, x2 WD 500GB SATA HDD, 1 TB WD SATA HDD, 24x DVD Burner 600watt Pwr Supply, Mid tower case, no OS, for a little over $400 6 months ago. I got a kit & had 5 coupons to use, so I also got free shipping for it all. If your not a DIY'er the other deals mentioned seem good also.
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
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Posts: 589 |
thanks everyone for the advice.My son has built computers and is Microsoft certified(does this as a hobby)but I wasnt sure if I should go down the "build your own road" but JCS might have just about convinced me to do exactly that with his post.Thanks again Frank
AMD Athlon 7550 dual core
processor 2.51 ghz
1 87 gb ram
windows 7 Ultimate
yamaha rev 500 effects
tacam DP-24 DAW
Samson Resolv NF monitors
Yamaha PSR-620 Keyboard
Fender semi accoustic guitar
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589 |
John,I love the look of this machine now thats what I call a professional neat looking piece of kit ...so Im really confused now. If this computer will more than handle biab 2011 biab 2012 etc etc I might just go for it.Cheers Frank
AMD Athlon 7550 dual core
processor 2.51 ghz
1 87 gb ram
windows 7 Ultimate
yamaha rev 500 effects
tacam DP-24 DAW
Samson Resolv NF monitors
Yamaha PSR-620 Keyboard
Fender semi accoustic guitar
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2005
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The big thing is what exactly are you planning to do with it and what are you using for your audio/midi interface. You want to leave possible options as open as possible because you may not know what you'll need next year. I'll use myself as an example. A few years ago I bought the EMU 1820M Audiodock system. Retail price on that is about $500 and it requires two PCI slots on the motherboard. Just that alone required me to pay attention to the motherboard in any new system I get because not all of them have two PCI slots. The other thing is USB 3. USB 3 is out now but there's not a lot of stuff that can take advantage of it yet. Some mobo's have USB 3 ports built in but mine does not. I did however check on how much it costs to do an upgrade later and there's already add on cards for $30-40 that I can plug right in to give me USB 3 if and when I decide I need it. You may not need that now but ask if any new box you're considering has an available slot for that upgrade if it doesn't have USB 3 already.
What I wound up doing is having a guy custom build my PC using a Gigabit mobo for $600. When you see the specs in my sig a name brand PC with those specs would be a more than that plus I have a very nice Cooler Master case. Also, all the name brands load up their new PC's with all kinds of crap (bloatware). The first thing a lot of people I know do with a name brand PC is remove all that stuff. Mine of course never had that in the first place. If your son knows how to build a PC, I would go that route or if not your local Craigslist or other online sales sites have tons of guys who do this. You can probably find one within 5 miles of you.
Just going though this process of deciding what components you want in a new PC will teach you a whole lot about PC's and the more you know the better. Name brands work fine, a lot of folks here use them but you run into all sorts of things like you open the case and you void the warranty, you want to upgrade something do you have to get it from Dell or HP, what if they don't have what you want, will this other brand work or will I screw something up etc, etc. Using the best name brand components in a custom built PC avoids all that. You can easily use Google to research mobo's, CPU's, ram, hard drives, controllers, cases, power supplies to determine just which ones really are good and only use those.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Anonymous
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My personal experience is that I have avoided eMachines. Best Buy will tell you "They are made by Gateway." That is not true. Gateway OWNS eMachine, but they are still their own company. Gateway does NOT build eMachines. I worked for Gateway during that acquisition and the plan was to buy a company that already had a retail store presence, then leverage the retail stores by saying "Okay now that we own eMachine, we will put Gateway on the shelf next to them or you will get neither." That was all with an eye on closing the Gateway retail stores. (Which resulted in me and a lot of people losing out jobs.) Try to reach eMachine tech support sometime.
I will always steer people toward Dell. I own 5 Dell's right now and in the rare occasions I have needed tech support they were very good.
The only downside of a kit is that YOU are tech support for a kit computer, and the parts typically have 90 days warranty vs one year. I used to build too, and still would if I needed a computer for a specific application, like a gaming system would have THE latest and greatest state of the art video card at the time of build, etc.... and it's not a bad way to go. I typically find that buying pieces parts and assembling runs me about 30% more than buying a name brand computer. And when you factor in that if you order your case from here, your mobo from there, your RAM from the other... you are paying $100 in shipping.
But again, it is not a bad way to go IF you need anything special in the computer.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: May 2000
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I can see why you have a bad taste for eMachines. However myself and others here have ran them for years with great success. The system I toted around for recording for 5 years was an eMachines, just added RAM and a second drive, the Delta 1010lt and an SBLive (for quick MIDI sound) and it is still in service to be honest! Probably 6-7 years old now. Athlon 2.2 Has gone through a couple power supplies in its day. 
I do not work here, but the benefits are still awesome
Make your sound your own!
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 1,492
Expert
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Expert
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In a couple of days I will get an i7-2600k based machine. That will be a boost from my current 600 MHz machine on my desktop. And Band-in-a-Box will move from laptop to desktop.
Desktop; i7-2600k, 8 GB mem., Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
Laptop: i5-2410M, 4 GB mem, Win 10 Pro, BIAB 2017; RB 2017 - latest build
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 883
Expert
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Expert
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Your Very Welcome tributeman, and Good Luck no matter which way ya go! Quote:
I typically find that buying pieces parts and assembling runs me about 30% more than buying a name brand computer. And when you factor in that if you order your case from here, your mobo from there, your RAM from the other... you are paying $100 in shipping.
That is why I have built all of ours from the kits from either Tiger Direct, New Egg, or Geek's. You can save a lot over the individual prices, including shipping. But like you mention, there is no support except for your knowledge of the system & it's parts.
There were a few reasons I went with the kit that had the ASRock MB for the studio
2 PCIx + 3 reg PCI clots
Could handle AMD 6 core CPU's up to 140watts
Could handle 16GB of DDR3 1600
Solid-state VRM
And as a side note, I have an old Dell P3 700MHz system with 768mb of memory and a huge 64mb AGP graphic card that is still going strong & playing all my old DOS & Win98 games just fine, I just can't kill this thing!  
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589 |
I was asked a question what I wanted from my computer.I have a small recording studio for my songwriting and the computer is 99% used for this purpose.When I first came across BIAB I was blown away it got me to write again after not bothering for many years.I need a machine to run this software eg BIAB|RB without the problems Im experiencing now which is very slow regeneration(because its an old machine)and playback judder which on the task master shows it going to 100% cpu usage.I know nothing is perfect but the more capable the computer to handle such things the happier I'll be because at the moment these glitches are driving me mad.Cheers Frankie
AMD Athlon 7550 dual core
processor 2.51 ghz
1 87 gb ram
windows 7 Ultimate
yamaha rev 500 effects
tacam DP-24 DAW
Samson Resolv NF monitors
Yamaha PSR-620 Keyboard
Fender semi accoustic guitar
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,809
Expert
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Expert
Joined: Jul 2007
Posts: 1,809 |
I have run as home studio now for twenty years or so, I am no techy but I do know that I had years and years of using a sequencer that could not behave as it should becuase of hardware limitations, until I got a core i7 920 and ran it in Win 7 64 bit.
Now everything works as its designed to, and nothing is coming up against hard limits.
Maybe te core i5 is also a decent machine,
I know (OK I think I know) that unless an application is written for four cores then it does not use them, maybe just uses a sigle core, or at best uses the cores in a limited way (not sure).
If you run in 32 bit there is no sense in fitting over 2 gig as the operating system can't access it and so it is dead. Ther is a woraround - some sort of soft switch, but tghat only accesses a little more. I think win 32 uses about 1.2 gig of the 2 gig available and there rest is there for use by apps.
Win 11 64, Asus Rog Strix z390 mobo, 64 gig RAM, 8700k
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Posts: 38,502
Veteran
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The emachines name is still suffering a bad rep from the junk the original company put out there long ago.
Since the Gateway takeover, the Emachine lineup represents a very good value indeed.
Having bought several for myself and others, I have always been pleased with them - and with what I have found on the inside of them. Good stuff, for the most part.
Even the metal edges inside the cases are rolled and polished such that there are no sharp edges to cut fingers on.
I am fully able to build my computers and used to build all of them, then moved to only building the ones I would use for DAW music work, now, the last DAW bought here is an Emachine that has turned in yeoman's service as a DAW and works and plays well with pgmusic products. The only thing custom that I have done is to replace the original power supply with a larger capacity power supply with quieter fan, this to have a bit more power to run aftermarket soundcards when recording and also to reduce noise.
Many people who used to custom build thier music making puters are now using OEM off-the-shelf builds, not only from the Emachines lineup, but from other mfrs as well.
I see no reason why someone should have to build from scratch to enjoy home recording anymore.
Because, The Times Are A-Changin' on that front...
--Mac
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589
Journeyman
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OP
Journeyman
Joined: Jan 2010
Posts: 589 |
AMD Athlon 7550 dual core
processor 2.51 ghz
1 87 gb ram
windows 7 Ultimate
yamaha rev 500 effects
tacam DP-24 DAW
Samson Resolv NF monitors
Yamaha PSR-620 Keyboard
Fender semi accoustic guitar
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jan 2011
Posts: 4,026
Veteran
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Veteran
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I bought my IBM 3.1 gig w 3gig ram (room for 4),500 gig SATA on ebay for $65 that included free shipping and restore disks . Not lighting fast but workable ! I saw a 4 x 3.6 processor w 12 gig ram installed sever mobo on ebay for $99 a few days ago . You might just need a power supply and extra fan to cram that in your old tower . I bet your son could make that happen very cheap .
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181
Apprentice
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Apprentice
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 181 |
My current (aging - 2003) computer was from Carillon, the US branch of a UK company that made innovative systems optimized for music production. It was a bit pricey, but performed well, and I felt I needed it to produce the CDs LawTunes puts out for commercial sale. If possible, I'd like to not have to spend the extra money this time, and my sense is that mainstream (e.g., Dell) systems are far quieter, etc. than they used to be. I'd be interested in whether others have considered whether or not to go with specifically music-production-optimized systems recently, and if so what you decided and how you got there. Thank you.
www.LawTunes.com: The LawTunes - The Musical Scales of Justice - Original Lawyer Rock & Roll www.SurfChords.com: The SurfChords - The Endless Summer Continues and The Wave Never Ends
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Joined: Jun 2005
Posts: 7,693
Veteran
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Frankie, there's nothing wrong at all with Dell, EMachines, HP etc. I bought an EMachines for my lady about 3 years ago, and it looks and runs great. When I was shopping around Best Buy had a sale on an HP that is basically identical to what I have now except the CPU was the Phenom 4 core while mine is a 6 core and that probably makes little difference. With tax the total would have been $689 while mine was $600 even. Pretty close except my Gigabit motherboard still has a couple of things on it the HP doesn't and my Cooler Master case is dead quiet.
My point here in this thread is what are you going to use for your audio/midi interface? Internal or external? If it's external then the available slots on the mobo doesn't matter and lately a lot of the good ones are external USB. Some here are strictly part time hobbyists and are happy to use the standard onboard sound for that with no extra interface at all while others like me want a higher end prosumer interface like my 1820M that costs over $500. Also, you get a Dell or HP and the first thing you do is open it up to install something like my EMU then poof, there goes the warranty so you're right there with those of us who built a custom box anyway.
Just some things to think about.
Bob
Biab/RB latest build, Win 11 Pro, Ryzen 5 5600 G, 512 Gig SSD, 16 Gigs Ram, Steinberg UR22 MkII, Roland Sonic Cell, Kurzweil PC3, Hammond SK1, Korg PA3XPro, Garritan JABB, Hypercanvas, Sampletank 3, more.
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Band-in-a-Box for Windows
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Quote:
If you run in 32 bit there is no sense in fitting over 2 gig as the operating system can't access it and so it is dead.
A 32bit system can access 3.2GB of memory, which makes the remainder of the 4gb useless. In Reaper you can run, say VSTi's, in a separate process that can access this useless ram, but the most I have ever got out of a 32bit system natively is 3.2gb, according to Windows System Report...
i5 3.20GHz, 32gb RAM, 1tb SSD OS, 12tb HDD, 4gb gForce vid card, 32" monitor, Audient id44, Win10 x64, BiaB/RB 2023, Reaper 6,IK Multimedia Total Studio 3.5 MAX, Waves 10
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Ask sales and support questions about Band-in-a-Box using natural language.
ChatPG's knowledge base includes the full Band-in-a-Box User Manual and sales information from the website.
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Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: VST3 Plugin Support
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac® now includes support for VST3 plugins, alongside VST and AU. Use them with MIDI or audio tracks for even more creative possibilities in your music production.
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Macs®: VST3 Plugin Support
Video: Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac®: Using VST3 Plugins
Join the conversation on our forum.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac Videos
With the release of Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac, we’re rolling out a collection of brand-new videos on our YouTube channel. We’ll also keep this forum post updated so you can easily find all the latest videos in one convenient spot.
From overviews of new features and walkthroughs of the 202 new RealTracks, to highlights of XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAKs 18, the 2025 49-PAK, and in-depth tutorials — you’ll find everything you need to explore what’s new in Band-in-a-Box® 2025.
Reference this forum post for One-Stop Shopping of our Band-in-a-Box® 2025 Mac Videos — we’ll be adding more videos as they’re released!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Mac is Here!
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 for Mac is here, packed with major new features and an incredible collection of available new content! This includes 202 RealTracks (in Sets 449-467), plus 20 bonus Unreleased RealTracks in the 2025 49-PAK. There are new RealStyles, MIDI SuperTracks, Instrumental Studies, “Songs with Vocals” Artist Performance Sets, Playable RealTracks Set 4, two new sets of “RealDrums Stems,” XPro Styles PAK 8, Xtra Styles PAK 19, and more!
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2025 Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK Add-ons
We've packed our Free Bonus PAK & 49-PAK with some incredible Add-ons! The Free Bonus PAK is automatically included with most Band-in-a-Box® for Mac 2025 packages, but for even more Add-ons (including 20 Unreleased RealTracks!) upgrade to the 2025 49-PAK for only $49. You can see the full lists of items in each package, and listen to demos here.
If you have any questions, feel free to connect with us directly—we’re here to help!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 Italian Version is Here!
Cari amici
È stata aggerate la versione in Italiano del programma più amato dagli appassionati di musica, il nostro Band-in-a-Box.
Questo è il link alla nuova versione 2025.
Di seguito i link per scaricare il pacchetti di lingua italiana aggiornati per Band-in-a-Box e RealBand, anche per chi avesse già comprato la nuova versione in inglese.
Band-in-a-Box 2025 - Italiano
RealBand 2025 - Italiano
Band-in-a-Box 2025 French Version is Here!
Bonjour à tous,
Band-in-a-Box® 2025 pour Windows est disponible en Français.
Le téléchargement se fait à partir du site PG Music
Pour ceux qui auraient déjà acheté la version 2025 de Band-in-a-Box (et qui donc ont une version anglaise), il est possible de "franciser" cette version avec les patchs suivants:
BIAB 2025 - francisation
RealBand 2025 - francisation
Voilà, enjoy!
Band-in-a-Box 2025 German Version is Here!
Update Your Band-in-a-Box® 2025 to Build 1128 for Windows Today!
Already using Band-in-a-Box 2025 for Windows®? Download Build 1128 now from our Support Page to enjoy the latest enhancements and improvements from our team.
Stay up to date—get the latest update now!
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