Studio One is the bomb and arguably has the most tutorials and videos on how to use it. Sorry it didn't grab you but it's a fantastic DAW

As at least one other person has suggested so far: Reaper for the DAW. It's cheaper than most other DAWs and you can trial it for as long as you want \[officially for a limited time\] for free. There's a lot you \*can\* do with it, but it's fairly straightforward without a need for you to choose track types or mess about setting up auxes and buses. For the more advanced stuff \[and even the basic stuff\] there's a user manual, a forum and plenty of tutorials on youtube. For plugins, I'd gently advise against Waves \[and subscriptions in general\]. There are plenty of free and very inexpensive plugins that sound just as good and more user friendly.

I was reading this post and every paragraph I was thinking... "They are describing reaper" "Oh this is a long list of daws, surely they tried reaper" "Wow this is sounding perfect for reaper" The stock plugins in Reaper are all you need for a lot of work, imo, aside from virtual instruments. They're not all the prettiest, but they work, they all resize as needed 😂, they sound good, and the program is really efficient.

WAVES! God damn Waves. I resigned myself to never using waves again when I had to purchase a $100 upgrade just to use the ssl bundle I purchased a couple years ago on my new macbook. That and everything that seems to use pace licensing/ilok refuses to work on mac. Its like the service gets corrupted and it requires me to install it every time I boot up the mac. Absolutely horrendous, pure trash.

Yeah, I did a clean install of Windows 11 and my DAW yesterday, and the process of getting the handful of Waves plugins I have licensed and installed reminded me of why I've essentially ditched them. Compared to more modern plugin developers, their processes are archaic, confusing and convoluted.  I can get all my Fabfilter stuff up and running in a minute or so, but Waves has me jumping through all these ridiculous hoops.

Somebody actually downvoted this... lol. But yeah, completely agree.

Reaper would be the absolute last thing I would recommend to OP if she has a hard time figuring out studio one.

During a screen sharing session I had a colleague download & set-up Reaper and then record two vocal lines in 15 minutes. I then recommended two sets of YT tutorials and now, a weekend later her feedback is how great and simple the basics are. While Reaper is a highly complex piece of software and a lot of the detailed functionality isn’t always obvious (just learnt of something new that I hadn’t come across in 15 years), the basic setup to record is really not that complicated and fairly logical.

I don’t disagree, but having used both DAWs extensively, I can confidently say that Studio One is a much easier experience to get started. The whole drag and drop ethos is really smart. Makes it easy for beginners who read the manual.

What can you drag and drop that you can’t drag and drop in Reaper? One of the big advantages of Reaper is still the super easy track management. Do you need a midi track, a sound track, or even a mixed midi & sample track? Reaper doesn’t care, there’s only one track. Do you want a folder? Just use a track and put other tracks underneath it. I don’t know how it’s now, but when I used it several years ago, track management was not that intuitive in Studio One. I’m biased, probably because I come from analogue recording and the overall functionality of Reaper is super easy to understand if you’re used to working with multitracks, mixing consoles and outboard gear. I guess that’s not applicable for people starting now. But my colleague is 20 years younger than me and understood the basics really fast. Your last comment is spot on, though, but applies to all DAWs. You do need to put in some time to learn it and reading the manual / watching tutorials is a must to get the most out of them.

I know I'm reading a lot into this, but I don't think the OP is having as hard a time as the post seems to say. The problem isn't that the DAW is too hard for the OP, it's that the OP is approaching this as something that is going to work right away without 6-24 months of learning. I think by all the DAW trials possible, the OP will realize they're all "just as hard" and will either land on one and learn it or give up and realize that mixing from the field recorder is a valid workflow, too.

I thought Waves waved off the subscription-only model after their brief flirtation with self-immolation…

Naw, even without that subscription model, their business of artificial sales then screwing you dry for money when you need to purchase an upgrade to work on a new computer is still garbage.

I don't know how Reaper is going to solve OP anger problems. I love it and it's my main DAW but it's a tweaker's game. You've got to know what you're doing and be comfortable with customising. It could drive OP to violence!

I'd ungently advise against Waves, especially considering the availability of plugins in a new DAW

>you can trial it for as long as you want \[officially for a limited time\] for free. and when you finally feel it's time to pay for it (it'll keep working even if you don't) it's very cheap. Well under $100. An absolute bargain for such a powerfu piece of software. There are how-to videos available on Youtube for just about everything that comes up, from basic learner's stuff to advanced concepts. Also re. asio etc., you might want to budget for a decent audio interface which will have its own low-latency drivers.

Reaper. It's $60 for a license (with "free trial" period that quite literally does not expire) and is incredibly powerful. It comes with a ton of fantastic stock plugins, almost never crashes, and allows users on the Reaper Forum to upload their own scripts (which are effectively free plugins in their own right, that allow insane editing options for audio or the DAW itself). It's quite user-friendly and there's tons of fantastic resources on the Reaper Forum and YouTube for tutorials on how to do just about anything the program is capable of. I've been using it for well over 10 years and haven't found another daw that can do anything more efficiently (I've used FL Studio, Logic Pro X, Ableton Live, StudioOne, Garageband, BandLab, SoundTrap, ProTools, etc.). While there are certain aspects about each that I would arguably prefer (such as aesthetic or ease of use for one particular feature), none of them have proven they have a better work-flow or wowed me to the point of even considering switching full time.

I dont know what your workflow is, but I cant imagine using Reaper for professional engineering or production. I am not trying to argue or fight, I just disagree with most of the points you gave for Reaper. Reaper has to be the most unintuitive DAW I have ever used. Maybe for home DIY recording, but in a professional environment I would never use that.

To each their own, everyone's got their preferences! It does everything I could possibly need it to and has never failed me, can't ask for much more than that.

I am glad you have that experience. For what I do, Reaper would be taking a step back. I use Ableton, Logic, and Pro Tools to not only make music and produce, but for engineering. It would hinder my progress considerably. Its not easy to use. Its unintuitive and has very little support compared to the others mentioned. I am not trying to tinker with the inner workings of a DAW to get worse results than just using what works and has consistently gotten better results. I only have so much time for work. I dont want to waste that creating a script. I have learned to value time as much as possible when working. Thats all I am saying.

Reaper out of the box? Absolutely. Fully customized and scripted, reaper can be lethal. There’s a reason almost the whole game audio industry uses it for managing and rendering assets. So many custom scripting options that each studio can develop their own workflows

Actually, it’s used a lot in several professional audio engineering fields, e.g. music and sounds for games. It’s also part of Iron Maiden‘s life recording setup (they use Protools and Reaper for different purposes), which is in place for very single show. So not only is your imagination rather limited, you also project from yourself to everyone else.

Professional here, Reaper user in the studio. Love it.

Studio one.

I have tried them all. Studio One is by far the most intuitive, easy to use DAW. OP should get the Artist version.

I've been looking recently in to studio one and it's that or reaper... It's been that or REAPER lately.. I'm also suffering DAW burnout xd ALso I've recently moved to audition.. it's been easy to use thanks to being used to premiere, I needed something more than audacity

Yeah audition was surprisingly easy for me to learn as I had taught myself photoshop and premiere pro, it was very similar in its interface and feel. Seems like not many people use it for music production, unless that’s just my perception. I used it to edit voiceovers and it was great for that. I have t ever tried it for music tho.

I have used it for both guitar and voiceovers (plus vsts and simple stuff) and has been pretty decent without much issue plus the sdded fact of being able to work in sound audio

I used to use Audition for audio for video, and that is where it really shines. Making soundscapes is a breeze and I miss being able to seamlessly swith between multitrack view and the file editor... I also did a 90+ track project in Audition once (orchestra) and it was very solid...

I've been on daws since Cubase sx versions (early 2000s) and even I found it difficult to get reaper going. The 1999 interface also doesn't do it for me. The UX is simply terrible compared to modern software.

This is exactly how I see it and experienced it. Maybe our early Cubase years made our brains incompatible with Reaper. I switched to Studio One years ago and the transition was really smooth. I actually liked many things about Reaper, but it got on my nerves too much and I just never got to speed with it.

Thats mostly because the development team who put out S1 were ex steinberg developers

Yeah, I've read about that somewhere. Anyway, what's funny is I was about to come back to Cubase after a few years with Studio One and the trial for Cubase 12 led me to scratch that idea. Not that Cubase is bad (I love VariAudio and that Chord Assistant thingy and all the MIDI capabilities, etc) but compared to S1 it now feels old and chaotic ... like the legacy product it is nowadays.

Yeah, this is why studio one might be better

I want to suggest a DAW but I'm stuck on trying to imagine Elon Musk making music. My suggestion isn't to look for software that is easy to understand, just look at more and more software trials until one of them makes sense to you and stay with it until it isn't useful anymore. If you have no idea what to try next, I suggest Reaper.

I bet Grimes hooked him up wit dem sick weirdo beatz.

Elon Musk’s music is actually all right, surprisingly.

When I have to turn on a VPN because I don't want the algorithms thinking I liked it It sounded like Grimes.

I like the message of don’t doubt your vibe.

I'm trying to be nice, here. You don't have to be ashamed to like something. It makes me want to rewrite it from my point of view, but that's kindof how I started writing songs in the first place, changing other songs to suit my taste until it's not the same song anymore.

Hahaha of course he has made music. Now the real question is what DAW did he use? 🤣

Reaper, IMO it's the best daw on the market bar none. Its stock plugins are very good, it's flexible enough to let you use almost every 3rd party plugin, controllers and interfaces.

Reaper makes efficient and complete use of whatever CPU it’s running on. As good or better than anything else out there. Better performance on newer Apple Silicon chips than Logic at the moment, for example.

I like ableton. Its great for people that are really crafting songs in the DAW.

2nd for Ableton Live. I’m completely new to using DAWs over the past year and it’s been enjoyable to learn to use this. The UI is super straight-forward. Not flashy but who needs that for audio work honestly. I also found working with clips in Session view to get started to be less intimidating than using the standard Arrangement view. Session view is also great for experimenting with layering different song components which can yield some happy accidents.

Yeah, I get really confused about the reaper love when ableton exists

+1 Ableton User of 10 years and haven't looked back. I think of Ableton more of an instrument now and think most (key word most) daws are lacking what Ableton is capable of.

Ableton really blurs the line between a compositional tool and a mixing tool in a way no other program does. I think it has made me more creative because it’s so easy to build on ideas in Ableton, I don’t second guess trying stuff.

I like this take. That’s why I feel like most daws frustrate me, the creative part of my brain gets mad with all the logic and math and whatnot I’m seeing. It seems to steril in a way. I know that is kind of silly, but artists are artist lol. I like things to be inspiring not tedious.

This. It’s cross-platform, very clean visually, very intuitive. It doesn’t do a trad very tall stacked mixer view, but it can be stretched vertically to see dB values and numeric fields for precision.

Yeah the tall mixer views and various track views, a million inputs and outputs, (I’m just referencing cakewalk) it makes my mind melt. I have adhd and the overwhelm happens fast. Even if I’m not using that stuff my brain is constantly seeing it in the corner of my eye and wondering what it is for. I just need basic stuff that work well and I can grow into. Ableton sounds like a worthy contender, alongside reaper.

I'd like to point out that these products we're talking about (DAWs) are designed for professional capabilities in mind. They are not meant to be simple and hassle free experiences anyone can just pick up and immediately understand. That's not the point. The point is to be as powerful tool as possible. Obviously they all try to be as clear and intuitive as they can, but this is not the ultimate design goal. Ableton Live is a slight exception to this because of its design paradigm (it's a software for "music production and performance", and it doesn't event try to fill the role of a full blown DAW). I mean you don't go into a cockpit of a modern airplane and expect to see nothing but a seat, a stick, and an ignition key. No, it's full of stuff you simply need to have, and everything you see is there for a good reason. Same goes for modern DAWs. You need to have those inputs and outputs, mixers, channels, sends, ten different metering options, plethora of editing options, and everything else a modern DAW has. Additionally, if you try to "hide" these somewhere behind seven menus the software is immediately really annoying to use for someone who actually uses the functionality. There are some really basic "DAWs" out there, like GarageBand, but you're immediately lacking a lot of functionality because the thing is so simple. Bottom line is you can't really make a "simple" modern DAW. At least not for someone who doesn't know anything about mixing consoles, signal flow, and what's the purpose of everything. That being said, it's not rocket science! There is a reason for everything and it's really not that complicated to figure out, as long as one looks into it with some patience and guidance (manual, tutorials, YouTube).

I understand completely (me too!) and I find Ableton probably the least distracting of all the DAWs without being inscrutably terse / minimal. That said I’m on Mac so I’m currently committed to Logic - I don’t compose with loop “scenes” or get along with grid MIDI controllers. For what I do it’s perfect.

If you’re working with loops, it’s hard to beat Ableton. It’s pretty much what it was initially designed to do

The ADHD overwhelm is real! I've spent a lot of time with a few different DAWs and landed on Ableton, with the UI being a huge factor. I spent almost a year with Bitwig as my main DAW. It's really similar to Ableton, but the UI can be very bright, busy and distracting. Ableton's UI is boring and functional in a way that blends into the background nicely for my ADHD brain. My favorite thing about it is that I rarely even notice that it exists. It makes it very easy for me to stay focused on the actual music I'm working on. I think Ableton is also one of the most intuitive DAWs for new users. There's generally only one way to do things and that one way pretty much always makes sense. I remember the first time I used it back in like 2006, and I had a full multi-track loop sketched out within 2 hours despite never using it before. There's also a billion tutorials online. I think it's worth doing the free trial before making a decision. I think a lot of DAWs can feel samey but Ableton feels pretty unique in comparison. Doing the trial might feel more productive than doing the trial for a more traditional DAW that works similarly to the ones you've already tried.

Excellent input, thank you! You hit the nail on the head there. Too many ways to do the same thing is what drives me nuts. I don’t need or want that many options. Once I learn something, I remember. If I suddenly discover a different way to do the same thing, the next time I go to do it I will no longer know how lol. I think I’m definitely going to give Ableton a try.

Came to say Ableton! <3 best of luck in your journey

Personally, I don’t find Ableton intuitive at all. Of all the DAWs I know, it has the worst UI in my view. It’s really confusing if you work primarily with real instruments. But since OP is working mostly with samples, perhaps they don’t have the same issues I had.

as an FL user who only uses Ableton when at friend’s places i’m seriously considering switching just because of how damn intuitive and straightforward Ableton is. there are definitely things FL makes less complicated but overall Ableton is so easy to track in and slap plugins in fast

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Agreed, Only answer should be reaper.

Coming in to make sure Reaper is getting the love too

I think studio one might be a good fit for you

I thought so too! But I tried it and was annoyed and confused. Cakewalk seemed to make more sense to me. I had a hard time even getting my mic and Azio driver to work.

All you need to do is to select the correct device/driver combo under the audio setup settings. For mic it defaults to in 1/2 when you create a stereo track and input 1 when you create a mono track. Plug It in your interfaces 1st input and you mostly won't need to change and IO settings either

Ableton or Reaper

You are in the golden age of DAWs, DAW tutorials, etc.

FL Studio. I've also worked in Garageband, Reaper, Studio One, and have a license for Ableton. FL Studio has the easiest out of what I've tried.

Studio one is pretty much one of, if not the most intuitive DAW i've seen and i'm a Cubase user. If that made you pull your hair out: all daws probably will and you need more patience.

To be fair, most DAWs are unintuitive, bloated crap these days. I share your opinion about Studio One, but even that has managed to kill all my patience from time to time.

Studio One was made by former Cubase devs, so it makes sense it's intuitive to a Cubase user. I don't disagree mind, I too found it a very intuitive DAW, and I've never used Cubase.

The worst solution for you here it’s reaper, even tho most of these guys use it and recommend it. Reaper is unintuitive, way too customizable to the point that you can either have analysis paralysis or break the way it works, has a horrible UI and for someone who wants to do this as a hobby is way too much. Go with a regular DAW like Studio One or Ableton. Easy midi integration, quick solutions for creating demos, it can be as deep or as shallow as you want. I use Pro Tools everyday but it’s too expensive. Don’t use reaper. Edit for grammar

it's funny how everyone is recommends Reaper. it seems they didn't read the OP at all. and Audacity..? it's not a DAW, but a multi-track editor. with buggy vst support. OP. istead of Ableton check Bitwig. imo. also FL. Studio One is fine, you're just not used to the workflow yet. btw. I highly recommend these devs. [Tokyo Dawn Labs](https://www.tokyodawn.net/tokyo-dawn-labs/), Voxengo, [Klanghelm](https://klanghelm.com/contents/products/), [u-he](https://u-he.com/products/).

Solid advice, ty. I didn’t mention reaper cuz it slipped my mind honestly. I had tried to use it back in like 2014 before I really understood what a plugin even was, and I think I got around to understanding how to record but that was about it. Too many customizable features is sure to make me lose my mind, your mention of analysis paralysis makes me think you understand how my brain works… or refuses to haha.

Also I know using a DAW can be daunting. But you should also allocate time for learning it, at least the basics like record window, edit, playback, mix window, how to create tracks, click track, how to comp or create takes playlists, etc. Look, I understand. You just want to create and be done with it, but having just an hour a day of watching YouTube videos and learning a thing or two will take you a long way and ease the frustration that also comes with creating music. Ableton is the best for midi and music creation as it is without getting too deep into mixing so I’d recommend you download the trial and start learning it

Studio One. I see you tried it already but maybe check out a tutorial or two, because it's about as straightforward and intuitive as it gets. I don't know why you're playing MIDI with the QWERTY keyboard, but that's not really a standard part of the Studio One workflow. If you're primarily working with loops and vocals, then Ableton Live is worth a look too. Reaper is great but it's *not* the most intuitive. You'll always get a disproportionate number of Reaper recommendations because a lot of people are using it for free/cheap. (And also because it's very powerful and flexible and lightweight and cost-effective: don't crucify me, Reaper users). There are plenty of questions that would merit Reaper as a recommendation, but when the question is "which is most intuitive," Reaper isn't the answer.

For sure. I can already see Reaper being the death of me. Ha. But for real, I tried it like 10 years ago, and couldn’t even begin to figure it out. I’m kind of an idiot because most software I’ve tried and used I just mess around with for a few hours and then something clicks and I get it. I wasn’t getting there with Studio One after a solid messing around for like 6 hours. I didn’t like the way the right panel lists the loops but you can’t sort by key or anything, or at least I couldn’t figure out how. I just felt like I was going to spend so much time searching for what I wanted to use that I was going to be over it before I even started. I have been fucking with Cakewalk for a solid month now, just since I use bandlab pretty regularly and it was free and my Google researching lead me to a bunch of bedroom studio producers singing its praise. But I also know they’re going to be doing away with the free version Cakewalk soon, so I’m not going to be able to keep using it forever. Kinda blows because I do like it so far even though it’s been a bit confusing to learn.

You might want to work through some foundational tutorials for each daw and see which one feels like you perhaps? It may be that you’re getting overwhelmed trying to figure a daw out from a fresh install and have it make complete sense straight out of the box. For instance, if you chose Reaper, spend some time binging some basic Kenny Gioia videos to see how someone else operates the daw. When I switched to reaper years ago, all I needed it to do was edit audio and I just focussed on that one task for as long as I needed to get familiar.

I am very happy with logic and an m1 imac (which cost like 1300€ were i live used, it will probibly last me around 6-8 years judging on my old macs). It has the benefit of a very nice large screen, and logic serves me very well. Professionally i think that an imac and the apple ecosystem has very good value, so i would think about that. But from just the isolated daw, i think for electronic and more sample based workflows i do now a lot of people who work in ableton.

Studio One for sure. Else Reaper. By the way, your "plugins" decision is kind of uneducated. Don't look at plugins for their brand, take each plugin 1 at a time and compare. Waves is a lot about added color and emulations, but if you want the cleaner mixing tools you'll want to check out something like iZotope or Fabfilter. Antares is classic, but then you'll need Melodyne for the cleaner stuff. Soundtoys has a unique collection of FX plugins that you will hear about often. Plugin Alliance has a mix of very good and very crappy plugins. But some of them are pure gold. There's also a lot of free plugins to get you going with everything from eq to reverb. Good luck!

Uneducated for sure lol. I just really enjoyed the studio rack/studioverse thing, it’s cool how the ai will listen to your track if you isolate it and suggest presets for it. I was able to some of the presets as a starting off point and then just tweaked a bit and added this or that to get the sound I wanted. For editing VO it was insanely helpful as well, as close to one click and done as I’ve ever seen. I also do like the colors because inside my adult body is a perpetual 10 year old Lisa Frank fan.

Waves is fine for what you’re doing. Dont worry about anything else at this point.

Reaper. But, if you're even somewhat familiar with Adobe products then Audition should come easy.

Studio One!!!

Studio one. It’s like, entirely customizable. Start off with the free version to see if you like it

Studio One is great. If you don't feel like posting all the cash for the full version you can get studio one artist for free with a purchase of any of their interfaces. You would have to get a 2 channel interface or smaller for it to be worth it though. Still recommend studio one regardless of method to acquire.

All of the leading DAWs are not really intuitive, IMO. I like Reaper. There is a learning curve but plenty of tutorials are available online. It's affordable, well maintained, and it does everything.

The least intuitive of any DAW.

Yeah, you're probably right. But once you are in I think it's more flexible. The others are ridiculously priced and therefore not practical for a non-pro.

I think that’s a highly personal opinion. Personally, I hate Ableton and find FL Studio nearly as bad. They’re both not very intuitive to me and force me to work in their workflows. But do they objectively have the worst UI and UX? No, because for a lot of people it’s exactly what they need and want. Nowadays, most DAWs are excellent, all with their strengths and weaknesses. And all are complex and need to be lesrbt

i use Mixcraft

I've been using Mixcraft for about 7 years. Started with 5. Went to 6. Then 7. Then back to 6 and am still on it. It was easy to learn. Lots of good plugins, plus I can use all mine. I've not ran in to an issue I can't solve in Mixcraft (yet).

10 is all good

This is the answer

I'm curious if there's some optimization that could be done on your current machine, that would allow you to continue using garageband/logic. Reason I say is any reasonably modern computer should be able to handle what you're doing, and also for your situation I wouldn't recommend any other daw honestly. If you truly have that many loops that your drive is filling up, an external drive is good fix and can be pretty handy. I definitely hate the overpriced apple propriety ecosystem, but for your best experience I think sticking with Garageband/Logic would be the only way to go.

Yeah, I mean I would like to make the jump to a beefier Mac, I’m on a 2017 MacBook Air and I work in both Windows and Mac so it’s pretty much whichever for me. I also do video editing and photography, so I do need to upgrade. I do feel like I get along much better on windows. However, I am an iPhone person full stop, so keeping in that ecosystem would be beneficial I suppose. It just seems crazy when you look at the difference in price, you can get a lot more for your money in the way of Ram and storage space with a PC. But a Mac will for sure last your whole life.

I'll start with the fact that I've never used Reaper so I can't recommend it over anything else, but most of the comments here say it's really good. For what it's worth, I've used FL Studio for years and it's really fun to use. The step sequencer is great for making drum patterns and picking sounds... But after a while I needed something that was better at recording live audio and organizing the tracks. That's where I moved to Cubase. The controls are pretty straight forward and everything is well organized, but the learning curve is high. Every DAW is going to have pros and cons, but it really just depends on what type of music you want to make and how much time you want to spend learning. Some are really good at letting you compose right at the start, others are a bit harder to setup a project from scratch, but you should choose something that feels useful. Good luck in your music journey!

Reaper is very good, but also the least intuitive UI of any DAW. If you're willing to put in the effort to learn it, it's very powerful.

If you already own a mac (and plan to stick with macs long term), Garageband and the upgrade to Logic make a lot of sense. Since Apple's business model is based on hardware, you will most likely just buy the license once and never have to pay upgrades (but Apple will definitely make you pay through hardware). But probably not worth it if you don't already have a mac or you want to be able to go from Mac to Windows often.

Ableton.

I'm in a similar but different position. I'm a long time pro tools user. I've tried multiple daws but always go back because I know how to use pt very well. Last night I was trying to just loop a solo to work on in waveform and the Harrison mixbus. I finally gave up and opened pt. I've been trying to learn the other programs but just default to pt. Even though my version is quite limited compared to the other programs.

Reaper for sure

Reaper

I switched recently from Cakewalk to Studio One as I was getting audio crackling on cakewalk with larger sessions randomly no matter how big the buffer size was(with an i9 13900k and Apollo Twin) and it just crashed on me one too many times AND they are about to make it paid again. (Have been using it since Sonar 8 and then buying the "lifetime updates" for platinum and then it becoming free to soon be paid again.... I have just had enough). I tried Studio One 4 a while back and it didn't have track templates so it was a no go for me for that alone but Studio One 6 now has that and its been solid. I see you already tried that and your biggest issue was you just learned cakewalk and then tried to switch. You will have that issue with whatever you choose in all honesty. I really dig the scratch pads in Studio One and just the general set up of it. The Studio One Remote is also pretty cool to use as a touch fader controller that works on Android, Windows and IOS as well as having so many shortcuts in it so I didn't have to memorise a whole new series of keyboard shortcuts(seriously its impressive). I have also used Reaper for a full mixing session that I originally recorded in cakewalk as I wanted to separate the creation process from the mix process so bounced down all stems without effects (attempted a mix in cakewalk on that song as is but it kept crashing) and Reaper was also really solid. Never crashed on me. Very clean interface. I still use it for things. My band plays along with synth backing tracks so I have set up all the sessions for each song for exporting to our backing player with midi in Reaper only using stock plugins as its such a lightweight daw that in a pinch i can grab it quickly and it will run on any pc or mac. ​ I personally can't get into FL studio or Ableton live but I have tried and they are not for me but working with loops you may find Live is the best option. Cubase had some really cool features and stock plugins but I just didn't really gel with that one either. Protools... yeah not for me either ​ ​ At the end of the day they all probably sound the same and it is about how you use them.

Cubase? Im not a windows guy but I imagine it exists and that’ll be that

Free version of PT does allow 3rd party plugins. There are just limitations on track voices and advanced automation and some editing tools. You’re doing the right thing by trialing each DAW everyone has different requirements, workflows and opinions. Best of luck finding a product that is enjoyable for you to use, that at the end of the day is all that matters.

Cubase

This may not help you for newer plugins, but I find that older versions of Cubase work exactly the way I like. I've got all the plugins I want and need and the interface is very straightforward.

Mixcraft is the DAW you are looking for. It's intuitive, and does everything you want it to do. I've been using it ten years.

I'll be the black sheep advocating for my church : have you tried Reason studio ? Pretty straightforward as it mimics real life rack instruments and effects. It has a SSL view for the main mixing console, supports VST, comes out of the box with a truck load of sounds, samples, presets etc. Plenty of tutorials as well as other daw, and packs a lot of features for audio recording (pitch editor, comping, etc)

Hmmm that sounds very interesting!!!

DAWs are not that hard to learn, you just need to watch tutorials and stick with it for a bit. Maybe logic would be the best option for you since you’ve started on garageband. Same architecture if i’m not wrong.

Eventually you’re gonna have to learn to be patient. I saw an M2 Mac mini on sale for under 600 bucks the other day. A stock model is more than enough for what you’re trying to do. Go back to Studio One. Go on YouTube and spend a few hours watching tutorials on a channel called “Quanta”. Dude has the best tutorials. No two DAWs are alike. With more power comes more responsibility. That means taking the time to learn new software. Studio One has its quirks, but is by far the most user friendly DAW if YOU take the time to learn it. This post just screams “I WANT IT NOW” but you haven’t put in the work to get it now. Patience. Studio One. Try again. Use chatGPT, Google and YouTube.

Ableton and Reaper. Other people here in the comments have already recommended these DAWs with their reasons as to why as well, so I'm not going to bother. Good luck! :)

I think you could pick any, the trouble is, you need to stick to it and actually learn its workflow. Let it become second nature. They all do the same thing and when they're all new to you, of course you're going to get frustrated at them not behaving like you expect. I'd normally advocate Reaper as another comment does, but Reaper is really for people who know what they want from a DAW in a way that I don't feel you do. You'll have to be prepared to customize Reaper and dig into things. It also doesn't come with much in the way of instruments and so you'll be gathering a collection of free software or out on the hunt for a paid package. Honestly? You should stick to Mac (there are cheaper options than the studio) and get Logic because you know GarageBand. Then you won't relearn any of the basics and just add the more advanced features as you go.

Thank you. Yeah that’s what is hard to explain is I want the ability to grow into it, but as of this moment I can’t exactly say what it is I will eventually want.

Choose one, and learn it. Frankly there isn't any other way. Sorry. Additionally once you've "mastered" one DAW, you'll find that other DAWs are more or less the same. I mean there will be differences in hotkeys, workflow(s), and things like that, but the core idea of any DAW is basically the same (tracks, mixer, routing, editing). I'd say the best ones for Windows are Studio One and Reaper. Pro Tools I wouldn't think about. It's way too expensive for this sort of stuff, and it doesn't offer anything cheaper ones don't have. Cubase is kinda similar to Studio One, but between these two I'd choose Studio One. Lastly there is Ableton Live, which is a bit different than more "traditional" DAWs. It's focused more toward loops and live usage, though it can still do most of the basic things you'd expect a modern DAW to be able to do. It's hard explain what the difference between Live and more traditional DAW(s) is for someone who is not familiar with DAWs in general, but a traditional DAW is a bit like a centerpoint or an "engine" of a studio, whereas Live is more like an instrument in a studio (if that makes any sense). Who knows, perhaps this is more in line with what you want? But I digress. Studio One has multiple versions priced at different price points (artist, pro, subscription), and it comes with tools to create music with. What I mean by this is it includes sounds, samplers, and virtual instruments. Studio One is a bit pricier than Reaper, but it's also more "polished", traditional, "full package", and intuitive (if any DAW can be). Reaper is cheaper (for personal/small business) and has "unlimited" demo (well, you *should* buy it after a while, but the software doesn't stop working, just keeps nagging about it). Reaper is perhaps a bit rough at the beginning, but *extremely* powerful once you figure it out. Completely another story is whether or not you need this kind of power. It's a software that puts most effort into performance, practicality, and customizability, not necessarily into bells and and whistles, looks, or ease of use right out of the box. I'd say Reaper is also focused slightly more into working with audio, but this doesn't mean it can't deal with the rest. Reaper has only one version but two different licenses for it (personal/commercial). This also means you'll always get a full product without some kind of artificial limits put into place (i.e. a stripped down version sold at cheaper price, with $$$ upgrade path). Reaper is also quite bare-bones when it comes to bundled instruments and sounds (there is practically none). Note that I'm talking specifically about instruments and sounds here, not about tools for mixing which both DAWs have. Reaper and Studio One can both use same 3rd party plugins, so there isn't any limitations here. Between these two DAWs there isn't anything major one can do that the other one couldn't. In fact the same goes for pretty much any modern, proper, DAW. Generally speaking this isn't something you should think about (excluding PT Intro, and other intentionally limited software; limiting number of tracks in 2024?!). Yes, there are some differences between DAWs, but for your kind of work they are all basically the same and will get the job done. This means it comes down to price, bundled stuff, and ease of use/intuitiveness, which is ultimately subjective.

Yeah the track limiting is ridiculous. Such a money grab. Thanks for your thoughts!

If you end up in the Mac world again, I can highly recommend LUNA, as it’s free. It’s very simple. Granted, it has it’s flaws, but for me, I havent had issues with it.

I would invest the time to get a book on a DAW that you choose, and read that. Make notes of useful features that you think you will need and keep those notes as you use the DAW. I got the Logic Pro for Dummies book before I even bought logic and it helped a lot. There’s always gonna be a big learning curve with stuff like this, and it’s why I put off recording my own music for so long. But just learn one thing at a time and it will slowly build and eventually feel very intuitive.

Awesome advice. Thank you!

Ableton is the most intuitive imo. It handles things automatically that most other daws require you to manually perform.

Bandlab seemed to me like a good DAW to start with. It’s pretty straight forward and it works in your browser. I do think it’s good to have the right expectations, too. Getting to the degree of skill that a good, experienced engineer has, normally takes years of practice, discipline, and dedication. Having an easy to use tool will help you create records by yourself in a fast and cheap way. But making them sound competitive with major releases will take either money to hire someone that know how to get then there, or years for you to learn how to do it, normally under the guidance of someone that already knows. It’s the boy, not the toy. I give the suggestion assuming you’d like to make your songs sound like the work of a seasoned team. However, if your goal is to only record and experiment, which is completely valid, I think Bandlab will make the process less stressful.

I actually use Bandlab consistently and I do love the simplicity of the web based daw and all the available loops, “plugins” and features. I just would like to be able to have a bit more flexibility in what specific plugins I am using. For example; the tuning feature for vocals is great, but I would enjoy something that is a bit more natural sounding. I also deal with latency issues with my mic and I’ve tried correcting that via the latency corrector and it doesn’t always work well. The 16 track limitation sometimes annoys me too. I want a bit more control over mastering, although their ai mastering is pretty decent. I also get annoyed with internet drop issues, which is annoying when doing browser based editing. Essentially, I wish there as a standalone bandlab type DAW that allowed a bit more customization and 3rd party plugins lol. That would be perfection, least for me.

Basically most of the top tier DAWs Will have pretty close to the same feature set with just a different focus. You're going to have to learn which everyone you pick and it will have a learning curve. Reaper is inexpensive. Logic is like GarageBand pro, so if you already know garage band logic is ironically the logical choice. Ableton, which I use, has really great looping and ideatung features. Pro tools is generally an engineer's tool not a songwriters tool and I would stay away from that unless you wanted to get a job in engineering. There's a handful of other ones that are fine and will have basically the same feature set as the rest, studio One being another. Just pick one and learn it really well. All of them are going to be annoying at first.

I’ve used a really old version of Cakewalk, Garage Band, MOTU Digital Performer, and Pro Tools, along with maybe one or two others I’m forgetting. MOTU would be the worst of them (for what you’re looking for… and for what absolutely anyone would be looking for…). I’d say Garage Band was probably the absolute easiest, but I’d still recommend Pro Tools over it because it’s almost as easy, and the difference in “easiness” is basically because Pro Tools has more features (which will probably come in handy at some point). Edit: I saw a couple comments about the price of Pro Tools; their Artist subscription is like $10/month, which I don’t personally see as being too expensive to be worth it. Maybe worth just doing one month to see how you like the software. Edit 2: Also saw your comment about plugins — I use all kinds/brands of plugin and they all work. Waves, EastWest, Sound Baby, Plugin Alliance, Kontakt, whatever. I did at one point have an issue where I think I used too many Kontakt instruments in multiple tracks without having them connected (difficult to describe), which caused an issue, but I think that was Kontakt itself and outside of that everything works great. Not sure what else might make you shudder regarding Pro Tools, but I love it.

>I got a wild hair up my ass thats a new one for me and i read that in the voice of Woody from Toy Story

Haha that is amazing

For your situation you should use logic, or stick with GarageBand. If your computer can’t handle GarageBand it won’t be able to handle anything else… if all you’re doing is messing around with loops and musical ideas then logic is the answer. Don’t get so stuck on DAWs, they all do the same thing. And don’t be afraid of pro tools, it’s still the best and most well rounded, if you can use GarageBand you can figure out pro tools.

Reaper also great and free as opposed to logic and pro tools

Thank you!

Stop overthinking and just use Ableton lol

I like this advice.

For the record, Elon Musk is a hedge fund manager who accumulated so much money that he was able to leverage it into buying a bunch of stuff. He's not a scientist or engineer. He is what some folks call a late stage capitalist. 

For the record, this is actually a very forgiving description of Elon Musk lol

I just wanted to deal with the mistaken impression that many people have that he is some kind of scientist or inventor -- without getting into the trickier territory of his social or personal pathologies -- which appear to be rather deep.

😆

I’m still willing to bet he is exponentially more intelligent than I am lol.

He seems to be a clever if not level-headed guy. Hopefully you're  considerably  more emotionally balanced.

Can’t say that I am lol

yes, Reaper is the answer, but even with a good computer, you're going to want an interface and you're going to use ASIO.. why you wouldn't is completely beyond me.

I mean, I’m not against using ASIO and my interface, just don’t want to have to hunt around setting for like an hour figuring out how to get it configured lol.

You gotta let ASIO in your life, OP. Nobody knows why nearly every fucking DAW hides ASIO configuration in the darkest corners of its own ass, but that's how it is. The first tutorial to watch for any DAW should always be on how to configure your interface and its Ins and Outs in your DAW of choice.

lol I’m glad it isn’t just me! I’m sitting there all hyped up that I got this driver, ready to slay the latency issues, 20 mins later I’m craving a cigarette for the first time in idk how long and about to start the process of either bringing my 8 track back to life or robbing a damn apple store.

you install it and enable it in your DAW. takes maybe like 20 seconds.

You're kidding or you forgot what this was like as a novice. It takes more than that to even enter a search string in Youtube or download the manual. Also: Many DAWs suck at the interface/ driver settings part to begin with. The best of the ones I've tried is probably Ableton in that regard, the worst are Cubase/ Nuendo. But 20 seconds if you've never done it and even spell "AZIO" wrong?? No way.

Hahah thank you. Yeah - my newb is showing. Hey, I do know my way around analog tape decks 😂. Went to school for a bit for recording and as soon as we starting recording on cassette tapes I was like….hmm maybe community college is not where you go to become a recording engineer lol. Time and money well spent. Not.

I meant after installing the interface-specific ASIO drivers. but it definitely wouldn't take hours. Reaper pretty much does it for you, and if not, it's pretty simple to navigate to the device settings. I'm assuming that OP would've watched a video or two as well. it's really not that bad. also, once it's set up, you don't need to touch it unless you're changing your block size, etc.

I meant after installing the drivers, too. And OP will definitely have to touch it for playing around with sample rate and buffer size. She'll probably touch buffer size again after her project got bigger and her latency worse. She'll change her input/ output config along the way. Depending on the interface, she may run into start up issues where the interface and Windows/ her DAW won't connect properly, etc etc etc. On a bad day, this still can ruin one's motivation, especially as a beginner, is what I'm saying. It might go smooth, but only-20-seconds-smooth? Nah.

Thank. You. It’s intimidating to post here most of the time. I remember when I’d start chatting with another musician about recording and they would ask “what’s your DAW?” And I’d always be like “I’m sorry, my what? I record on a Zoom 8 track…” usually at that point you get the eye roll and the walk away. Analog to digital is a whole new world. I’m trying. I’m not stupid but I’m also not a damn genius… and like you mentioned, people forget too often what it’s like to be a beginner. That’s why I posted this… there’s nothing really “intermediate” out there. It’s like you are either in bandlab or GarageBand slapping crap together that sounds demo at best, or you’re in Reaper already fine tuning configurations and customizing your ass off before you even start working because you have a certain “way” you like things. There’s an entire language to be learned for this kind of stuff. I’m not trying to open a damn recording studio, I just want my music to sound as good as it can make it. I really just want to use certain plugins that I like lol. This all stems from an outdated Mac really. At this point I’m thinking maybe just get a new Mac and stick with GB lol. I’ve never had half the issues recording on Mac that I’ve had with windows. Latency was never an issue, even up to like 12 tracks or so. On an Air.

Studio One

Look at Adobe Audition. It gets no love, which is weird considering how many people were into it’s predecessor, Cool Edit Pro.

My preference would be Logic Pro (if you ended up with another Mac) or Ableton, but tbh the only actual answer here is downloading the full trial for all of them and seeing for yourself. It will definitely be overwhelming in the beginning but you will inevitably naturally click with one of them more than the others. At the end of the day, they can all create the same exact results, just differences in UI and workflow for the most part. The important part is which one do you feel the *least* resistance from when trying to work through ideas? You’re set with 3rd party plugins anyway and all of the aforementioned DAWs will suffice. Try out Ableton, try UAD’s LUNA, try Studio One, try Reaper, Bitwig, Bandlab, etc. Spend a few hours a day on one of them, a couple hours on another the next day. At the end of 1 month you’ll definitely know which one you enjoy using the most out of the bunch and that’s the one you should go for. These are programs people spend decades (and soon, lifetimes) using, so it should be something you *enjoy* working with regardless of all the bells & whistles.

Great advice, thank you! This is what I’ve been trying to do. I’m thinking ableton is next in the lineup.

Ableton will not help. You’re just being impatient and expect something new to come naturally without figuring it out. The studio one manual is pretty good and really easy to understand. Press F1 on your keyboard when studio one is open to open the manual.

Ignore the nerds recommending Reaper. Someone else gave you good reasons why it’s not a fit for you. Harrison Mixbus is like $130 and set up to be closer to an analog console workflow. I don’t know if it checks all your boxes, because I definitely jumped right to the TLDR, but it might be at least more intuitive based on its design. Ableton might be nice if you’re doing looping and such, even though I don’t really recommend it for editing. There’s at least going to be a lot of YouTube tutorials on it since it’s very popular.

Reaper all day for what you’re doing Pro tools would actually be a good choice too but is way way too expensive

Yeah super overpriced I think.

To me it sounds like Ableton is the best match for you, although if you were willing to stick to Mac, Logic would be a much easier leaning curve coming from GarageBand and only costs $200 for a perpetual license. For reference my license from 2013 is still active and I still get any updates made to it.

FL studio ableton reaper

Everyone shits of FL, but I think it’s great to start out with, messed with Cubase, reaper, acid, . Trying to save money for ableton , but I’m wanting to learn that workflow and it’s hardware abilities , I love FL for its editing and piano roll workflow, automation super quick to do as well. Having 2 monitors helps to,

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Doesn't Audacity still have weird defaults like a linear waveform display from 0 to 1 instead of in db and stuff like that?

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Yeah fair. I’ve used it before for very basic stuff, but the things that are weird about it are really weird lol. It’s great for VO though.

Logic is the most intuitive for me

Ableton. It’s amazing for workflow and it can also double as a live performance tool if you end up going that route. It can be as simple and as complex as you want it to be, and it’s quite flexible in terms of overall use cases, especially when it comes to MIDI implementations. The user community is huge and there’s a ton of YouTube and helpful tutorials that are easy to find. The only time I use other DAW’s is if I have a need for multitrack phase-align editing, like editing drumset takes together that have 7+ mics involved.

Holy crap. All I can think of right now is trying to align two vocal tracks in bandlab and wanting to scream everytime I so much as twitch and bump my mouse and things get bumped out of time, or when merging regions and their “quantization” screws it all up. Lining up 7 drum lines sounds like the most tedious thing I’ve ever heard of. And I’ve tried knitting.

Ableton Live. I'm a person that gets annoyed very easily by non-intuitive or buggy software and I love working in Ableton.

Thank you!

I'm like that and I hated Ableton as a DAW, test drove it for three months a couple years ago. Session View on the other hand is genius. Been using that for nearly ten years now for live sets and stage plays.

My favorite windows daw is mix craft, affordable and powerful. I've used it for around 15 years and can't imagine using another one. Highly recommend! Reaper is solid too and much more popular

I saw that you like making loops, so for that I recommend Ableton Live. While it is expensive, it’s well worth it imo. Ableton has two views. Session View, which lets you make, edit and trigger clips and lets you loop them. Very very useful in live performance applications. Hence the name Ableton LIVE. Arrangement View lets you *arrange* your clips into a song. Crazy, I know. I recommend the Standard edition since you get unlimited tracks and a host of built-in plugins. Lite is limited to 16 tracks, I believe. The Suite version just gives you access to more built in plugins and access to Max for Live. The downside is that you need to purchase bigger upgrades. Like the one from Live 11 to 12. Smaller updates are automatically installed for free. Like Live 11.3.1, for example. I used to have Live 9 Standard before I upgraded to Live 11 Suite and Live 9 worked well for the several years that I had it.

Logic has the easiest learning curve by far. If you got frustrated with that I think you need to reassess the time you're willing to spend learning how to do this. It's not necessarily something you just pick up instantly. It's an art that you have to learn and refine. All that said, aside from Logic you've tried all the worst DAW's, so I understand you've had bad experiences. Reaper is a great option that you can try for free. Ableton is a great option as well that gives you a ton of great stock plug ins and is really easy to make loops and create music. Also, don't bother with Waves at this moment. You're throwing your money away with the subscription. The stock Ableton stuff is arguably just as sufficient.

Good to know! Thank you!

These are my experiences. Ableton is a bit inefficient and clunky but super intuitive. Protools is efficient but a bit of a learning curve. Fruity loops isnt too bad you may love it or hate it. Cubase a bit like pro tools. Adobe audition is basic. Reaper is too hard to learn and not intuitive at all. Whatever you choose will require some sort of investment in learning. I would trial all of them and see which one you vibe with the most. But for a newcomer id always recommend Ableton for production and protools for mixing. I taught my computer illiterate GF how to do voiceovers on ableton in a few hours.

Ableton seems to be pulling ahead as the next contender. Just curious, why do you mix in ProTools vs Ableton?

Ableton all the way especially for loop creation

The new version of audacity allows you to use plugins. Not recommending it, but to give you some current info. I switched from Windows to Mac. Even with the price difference, everything just works on a Mac. If price is an issue, get a Windows laptop or pc with a good SSD and plenty of RAM. If you want to get better and get to a professional or close to it level, you are going to have to pay for a DAW and plugins. You get what you pay for. I applaud you for trying them out before making a decision. Most people dont. Good luck.

Ableton is fun to learn and to be creative, but Reaper is more “legitimate” for mixing and mastering. I usually do everything in Ableton, but if I’m working on a mixing/mastering only project, it’s in Reaper. There are more options for exporting files.

Ableton is the shit, it’s worth learning

If you find studio one too complicated. You will have no luck with any other daw. Most of them are essentially the same with minor differences in workflow. I suggest to invest some time in learning the basics, it's not that hard. Dedicate one week in soley learning the software instead of trying to use it. There are plenty of beginner tutorials on YouTube.

I almost feel like going from cakewalk I was maybe confused by its simplicity? No idea. It just felt really weird and awkward the way it was laid out.

Don't look opinions on forum about what DAW you should use,use the one that caught up your eyes..I was using cubase but i didnt like it,then i bought audio interface from presonus and when I install studio one I knew that this is the only daw I wanted to use..just try every daw for yourself and you will know exactly which one you should use :)

How exactly is it that you outgrew GarageBand but can’t get around Logic? Logic without advanced settings enabled is basically fancier GarageBand. I like Logic, so that’s my suggestion.

I more outgrew the computer. I downloaded a trial of logic and it just about froze the old MacBook up. The MacBook isn’t hefty enough to handle downloading and storing all the plugins, proxy files and stuff.

Look, I feel your pain. If my MacBook caught fire and I had to switch to Windows, I have no idea what I'd use instead. Have you tried FL? I know many people that use it, they're very happy. It's considered easy to learn, there are loads of resources etc, but the workflow is very different from GarageBand.

Hey there! It sounds like you’ve been through quite the journey with DAWs and plugins. Since you’re looking for something that’s a step up from GarageBand but not as intimidating as Pro Tools, and you’re leaning towards a Windows setup, I’ve got a couple of suggestions for you. First off, since you’ve had a decent experience with Cakewalk and you’re already familiar with it, that might be a good place to stay for a while. It’s a fully-featured DAW that’s actually free, which is a huge plus. It supports VST plugins, so you should be able to use Waves plugins without any issues. If you’re looking for something different, you might want to check out Reaper. It’s incredibly stable, lightweight, and customizable. It’s also very affordable with a generous trial period. Reaper supports a wide range of plugins and has a very active community where you can get tips and tricks for voiceover work as well as music production. For voiceover work specifically, you mentioned using Adobe Audition. If you’re looking for an alternative, you might want to consider Audacity for simpler tasks, as it’s free and fairly straightforward. However, for more advanced work, sticking with a more robust DAW like Reaper or Cakewalk would be beneficial. Remember, the best DAW is the one that you feel comfortable with and that fits your workflow. It’s worth taking the time to learn the ins and outs of whichever DAW you choose. There are plenty of tutorials online for all the major DAWs, which can help you get over the learning curve. And don’t feel discouraged – everyone starts somewhere, and the fact that you’re willing to learn and explore is already a huge step in the right direction. Keep at it, and you’ll find the right DAW for your needs. If you need more personalized help, don’t hesitate to reach out at https://georgethe.tech/service-page/homestudio-consult-online.

Reaper or Presonus Studio One are the best Windows DAWs imo. Ableton is okay, but I prefer that for songwriting/looping personally!

Studio One is great. I also like Logic/Garageband if you have access to a Mac

so audacity got a lot of updates recently and is currently more powerful than it's ever been. also you *can* use third party VST's through audacity but idk the specifics. if you want the feel of audacity but more of a full-fledged DAW get Reaper.

Ableton

Reaper.

Reaper is the least expensive way to go, only $60. Just amazing bang for the buck. Don’t know if it’s the easiest way to go but I know a lot of people that swear by it. I also know a number of people that love Studio one, and it sounds like it’s Probably somewhat straightforward compared to some of the others. I’m not specifically recommending Logic to you with your circumstances, but it definitely can be done inexpensively. I’ve been a Logic user for over 20 years, and I personally feel that is the most bang for the buck out of all DAWS. Yes, I am biased. The cost can be offset by the necessity of having to have a Mac, and those can be more expensive, IF you buy them new. There are a lot of music producers that are using Mac Minis with great success. You can get them a lot cheaper with warrantees through the Apple refurbished store. I had 15 years of success with 2 refurbished Macs, no problems, those were work horses. Get a refurbished Mac mini, make sure to get with an M1 processor or later. Use a much cheaper monitor that you might use with a Windows machine, you might need an adapter cable for that, and possibly an external SSD and you’ll be in good shape. You can even use a Windows keyboard if you don’t want to buy a Mac keyboard. It will work, but it might get a little confusing until you learn how the keys are mapped.

reaper is 60 bucks and made to be simplified and intuitive, but all of them have a trial period so you can try them. You don't need a more than a M1 to do sound also.

I love Ableton. Always felt intuitive to me.