Oh, yes, that accords very closely with my memories of using Windows - about that time, too (XP era). By dint of aggressively pursued ignorance of the workings of MacOs I’ve had a peaceful life since and lovely developers have tended to come up with perfectly useful software practically before I perceive the need for it.
Just to push the off-topic feel so typical of forum discussions a little further, I can reveal that one of the seeds of discontent with windows goes back to the days when Windows was just on the way in. I had to type in, check, compile and link a Fortran program (you know, the language that sent a satellite or two into the black beyond thanks to its uncheckability) to link our TI mini system at work to a DG machine running production scheduling, as the PC software they provided wouldn’t run on our not-quite-IBM-compatible PCs.
I couldn’t, and wouldn’t, do it now, but at a time in my life when my brain was admired for its knowledge of all sorts of random stuff I spent some time actually reading manuals I’d hoped never to open, and pulled off this feat. Finding Windows to be even more trouble, I moved to Mac soon after and stopped taking computers to bits. They and I are much happier!
But back on topic, I’d try to arrange not to have an actual vocal booth. Whether you have a treated corner or just wheel out a load of stuff into the middle of your room when you do vocals, I’m practically sure (I say, who head off to a church or hall to record normally) that the more space you keep available for the piano, the better.
My own real piano is an inherited Bluthner model 2 7’6” grand. Back in the day they used to say “Steinway for the concert hall, Bechstein for the theatre, and Bluthner for the home”. Why? Because home pianos are generally in smaller rooms with more soft furnishings. Bluthners have a fourth, unstruck string above each treble string to put back some of the brightness lost in confined spaces.
I think your piano tone is likely to be a much bigger issue than vocals, and a small booth is akin to those adverts you used to get in comics advertising “throw your voice” with a picture of astonished passengers on a rail platform listening to an unattended Samsonite …
Just my two, er, groats-worth.
