I use
Pro Tools 10. The reason it doesn't sound as good as some other DAWs may be due to its lack of a 64-bit engine, although that's going to probably change with PT 11. It may be the industry standard, but in terms of feature set, it can be behind other DAWs quite a bit.
I use Pro Tools because I need to trade files and sessions with other studios regularly, and it really helps with that. Also, when they do implement something, it's usually done pretty well. Editing, recording is a snap, and that's primarily what I do. I'm not songwriting and require lots of loops. I'm not doing stutter-edits or slicing beats. I'm not using tons of virtual instruments. The virtual instruments that are on PT are exactly the kind I need. The Elastic Time works well and has a minimal impact on audio quality. It's stable. It's still missing some features (no freeze track capability seriously sucks), but it works for me.
If you want a pro-quality DAW that doesn't break the piggy bank, I would also recommend
Reaper. It's cheap, it has a fanatical following that will answer any question you have on their very helpful forums, the people who run it have an outstanding business model, and if someone finds a bug, they'll often fix it and post the new version as quickly as the next day (!). Coupled with that is the very small "footprint" that Reaper has. It's quick to download, quick to install, and very snappy, not requiring as much of a demand on CPUs. If you have an underpowered computer, this is a complete godsend.
If you want a DAW that has "training wheels" but is still something that sounds decent, I would probably recommend
Garageband. People have done good sounding albums on Garageband. My understanding is that it does have limitations, but that can at least get you going if you are looking for something that is really easy to use. I don't know if there is an equivalent on a Windows machine, but you would think there would be since there's more selection on Windows machines.
Logic is really good for songwriters and has a very large feature set. If you feel it's intuitive, consider this. Lots of plugins that are worthwhile, tons of loops and virtual instruments, etc. This is becoming increasingly popular among engineers as well as songwriters, but its feature set still indicates its songwriter core, in my opinion.
I don't like
Audacity at all. I used it for a while, and I did not find it intuitive at all. I figured it out, but thought it was a pain in the rear to use.
Another DAW that people have been raving about lately is the
PreSonus Studio One 2. Stupid name aside ("Studio 1...2..."
), I've heard some people say that it integrates well with its hardware and is easy to use while having a full feature-set. I've never used it or been in a studio that uses it, so I'm just going on hearsay from other recording engineers, so bear that in mind.
I hope this helps.
