The key to it all, for all the looping and mixing wonders of Cubase and Logic Audio, is Digidesign's Pro Tools, with whom Rocket has struck a deal. ProTools is the "sine qua non" of the modern recording studio, and without it you simply don't have the real thing. Digidesign has clearly seen the future here and is along for there own Rocket ride:

"Digi believes that the Internet will greatly expand collaboration between audio pros in completely new and exciting ways," said Dave Froker, President of Digidesign. "Our strategic investment in Rocket ensures that our customers will have access to the world's best tools and technology for high quality collaboration with other Pro Tools users - anywhere, anytime."

Well, if it's good enough for Pro Tools, it's good enough for me. You can rent your own private recording space from Rocket through its affiliates for a modest fee, and you can download the lite version of their software and goof around in a free, open-to-all Internet Recording Studio to get the feel of it (though you can't save your work). By this summer, they'll even be supported by dedicated software and hardware from GVOX and Euphonix -- keep an eye out.

So thus ends my three-part quest for the virtual recording studio Grail. Until broadband and transmission capabilities are up to handling multiple channels live, in real time, Rocket is as good as it gets. But stay tuned -- when it gets better, I'll let you know...