Bought a used ZOOM B2.1u and it did not come with the CubaseLE software. Bummed. Not sure if searching out this software is worth the trouble?

If you've used more than one of these free recording software downloads:

Audacity
Protools free
Kristal
Quartz audio master
<other software that my search didn't turn up>

What did you like and dislike about them compared to the others?

I use Audacity and like it. It's easy to use and does all I need it to do which is minimal recording and editing.

Another vote for Audacity. Official site:

http://audacity.sourceforge.net/

Easy to use for simple things, but will handle complex tasks as well (multi-track recording/editing, various effects/filters, transpose, change speed, etc). Great little home studio with just PC hardware.

Reaper from http://cockos.com

Oh yeah, Hammerhead drum software:

http://www.threechords.com/hammerhead/

This isn't software, but if you get the ZIP file of MID files of drum tracks here:

http://www.ejamming.com/?download_drumloops

You will have a pretty good selection of beats. And if you play them back with Windows Media Player, look under the View menu for Enhancements and under that is an option to change playback speed.

While these are not recording programs, you can play drum tracks while you record to get your timing right, and I use a little adapter cable to record them also.

EDIT - A little more detail. I use a 1/8" stereo plug to 1/8" stereo plug to go from the headphone jack right back into the Line In and you can play a drum track and record it in Audacity. You have to experiment a little to get output and input levels right for clean sound. Then you can record another track in Audacity choosing to play existing tracks while you record a new one and you can play along with the drum track and have it recorded as a separate track, so you can choose whether or not to include it when you output an MP3 or WAV.

Audacity

A little more detail. I use a 1/8" stereo plug to 1/8" stereo plug to go from the headphone jack right back into the Line In and you can play a drum track and record it in Audacity.
You should be able to tell Audacity to record whatever the system plays without any extra cabling.

Audacity

You should be able to tell Audacity to record whatever the system plays without any extra cabling.

That is system and sound card dependant. Most standard (SB and clones) cards seem to have the output isolated. Most cards I have used will let you play input directly through the speakers (no latency because it is done in hardware) but not the other way. The outputs is mixed, but for the input you typically have to choose a single source and all I generally see available are Line In and Mic, plus USB if you have loaded a driver for a USB sound source. What sound card do you have that does this? Where do you enable it?

Audacity.

That is system and sound card dependant. Most standard (SB and clones) cards seem to have the output isolated. Most cards I have used will let you play input directly through the speakers (no latency because it is done in hardware) but not the other way. The outputs is mixed, but for the input you typically have to choose a single source and all I generally see available are Line In and Mic, plus USB if you have loaded a driver for a USB sound source. What sound card do you have that does this? Where do you enable it?
I select "Vol" as the recording source in Audacity, next to the level sliders. I'm using a laptop with some AC97 based card. It also works with my Soundblaster Live!.

I have been out searching the web to see if I can enable this somehow. I did have to jump through hoops to get the Monitor Input (that makes the computer behave like an amp) enabled; I had the edit the reigstry and reboot before it would show me the option to check the box to make Monitor Input an option in the volume settings. So far, what I have found says old Sound Blasters could do it, but the option is missing in newer ones. Cards from other vendors are a mixed bag. If I understand correctly (and I think I do; I am a Windows developer) it's purely a software implementation; the driver just takes whatever commands that have been given to drive the outputs and computes what the input would be. I have the Sigma Tel Audio CODEC (STAC). I will keep diggin; maybe there is some gold...

EDIT - Paydirt! At least I think so. I am reading through some posts about it. There is a solution very specific to what I have but it has a side effect. My card has one input that does double duty for Mic or Line In. When you plug in, it pops up and asks. If you install the driver that has loopback, it becomes just Mic though someone posted they still have success using it like Line Input. I'll think it over tomorrow. I have learned my lesson about making decisions and installing system software at this hour long ago...

My card has one input that does double duty for Mic or Line In. When you plug in, it pops up and asks. If you install the driver that has loopback, it becomes just Mic though someone posted they still have success using it like Line Input.
That's insane.

Yeah, it is insane. It's a notebook and I guess that half inch wide by 1" deep of space another jack requires was valuable enough to spend a little more on the chipset. I am leaning toward not installing the driver that enables loopback since it doesn't have support for that. My concern is that it may have other issues. I also checked a couple of other systems and found one desktop my kids use has the loopback capability so if I really need it I have an option. With the levels set right, you get surprisingly good results using a cable to loopback anyway. I have used that method to transfer cassettes and get good clean stereo sound.

Reaper from http://cockos.com

Without question, IMHO the best recording software that one can download and use free for a trial basis. The software doesn't expire, but you are asked for $40 if you decide to keep it.
But the developer has released new versions and fixed bugs faster than in ANY software of any kind that I have seen.
I went to this from n-track and have tried several others.

Without question, IMHO the best recording software that one can download and use free for a trial basis. The software doesn't expire, but you are asked for $40 if you decide to keep it.
But the developer has released new versions and fixed bugs faster than in ANY software of any kind that I have seen.
I went to this from n-track and have tried several others.

How about just "best recording software"? Simple on the surface, very deep underneath, Reaper was a revelation to me...IMO faster than all the other daws I've tried, very intelligently designed stable software...and it's free to find out! :)

www.reaper.fm

Audacity from me 2!

i usually use Audacity but their VST interface is very buggy..i'm going to check out Reaper.

Hi, i've just downloaded Audacity 3 days ago but i'am having trouble with the noise, my soundcard it's a AC97 based that came on my MSI mainboard, i'am using line in to connect my bass directly into it, any toughts about what could be my problem?
I've alreeady used the "noise removal" option but it messes up the real sound of the bass.
Thanks in advance

Another vote for Reaper. It has a simple interface, but you can get some pretty insane routing schemes set up. Plus, it comes with a ton of effects, most of which are pretty awesome, even if you did pay for the software. I wish it had a better para EQ, but I can't really complain. My one main gripe is that it doesn't support some VSTi plugins, like ezdrummer. Its MIDI capabilities are limited, but definitely not crutched. I'd say it makes one nasty piece of mixing software. I just spent the entire night fooling around with it with just a bass and drum track.

If you feel adventurous, you can try 64 Studio (64studio.com). It's a Linux distro that specifically for multimedia.