Since almost every personal MP3 player comes with its own software for creating MP3s, and every CD-RW drive comes with disc-creation software, there doesn't seem to be the need for a separate application that combines both functions. Yet that's just what Cakewalk Pyro offers, with some extra features that make it potentially worthwhile.

The biggest of these is that by combining ripping and writing, Pyro makes creating audio or MP3 CDs very easy. It holds your hand through the process of extracting data from a disc and writing it to a CD, which could be useful for anyone confused by such jargon as 'encoding rate' and 'disc session'. Tracks can be tweaked to give optimum playback in environments such as headphones or car stereos, and can have reverb and chorus added.

Unfortunately, that's where the good news ends. Pyro has a couple of limitations that prevent it from being of much use at all.

The biggest problem is its speed. A five-minute track took around four minutes to rip and compress as MP3, compared to about a minute using Creative Labs Playcenter 2. As we tested the software on a powerful PC, we assume the poor performance is down to the MP3 encoding engine.

The second problem is that Pyro doesn't support burn-proof CD-R and CD-RW drives. These will soon be standard issue and are immune to buffer-underrun glitches, although they do need specific support from CD-writing software. Cakewalk says a burn-proof patch is in the works.

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