Pyro 2003 vs. DirectX 9
I ran into a minor issue during a recent install of Cakewalk Pyro 2003, which I'm guessing a number of other users might have experienced. The first time I installed Pyro 2003 on my Windows 2000 machine, I hadn't updated my system to DirectX 9 yet. The Pyro 2003 install went off without a hitch. I fell in love with Pyro's simplicity and outstanding noise reduction instantly.
Months later, following a hard drive failure, I decided to reinstall all my audio and video editing software on a Windows XP machine. Aside from having a completely different operating system, the one major difference between these two installs was the presence of DirectX 9 on the Windows XP system.
After installing several other frequently used apps on my new drive, I inserted my Pyro 2003 CD and clicked the install link when the Autorun menu launched. The Pyro installer told me I didn't have DirectX 8.1 installed on my system. Strange, DirectX 9 should do the trick, but I proceeded to let the Pyro installer attempt to install DirectX 8.1 on my system.
A reboot later, I'm attempting to install Pyro again. The same message appears telling me I need to install DirectX 8.1. I run the DirectX install again, reboot and get the message yet again. At this point, I think I was deluded to ever imagine I'd installed Pyro successfully the first time.
A visit to the Cakewalk site turned up nothing on the Pyro support pages, so I send a message off to the Cakewalk support team. A very detailed response later, I have a solution to my problem, including a link to the Cakewalk support page that details my issue, and a Registry hack I could use if all else failed. That's support! I received a solution to my problem and I got an alternative solution, so I don't have to wait for a response if the first solution fails. I've never had a company send me a Registry hack in response to a customer service question.
Apparently, something about the installer included on my CD doesn't play well with DirectX 9. These things happen; there's a fix, I'm happy again. Thinking I just missed this support page, I attempt to find it by browsing through the Cakewalk site again. There is definitely no reference to this DirectX problem in the Pyro support pages.
Of course, had I gone directly to the main support page, instead of clicking on the product specific link, I'd have found my answer more quickly. The DirectX issue seems to be pervasive throughout the Cakewalk product line. So if you've got DirectX 9 on your system and you want the absolute best solution for converting vinyl LPs to CD, get Pyro 2003. If it won't install, get this patch too:
http://www.cakewalk.com/Support/DX9.ASP