Reaper DAW

I use Cakewalk Sonar 6, Studio Edition (though edition 7 is the current one), but I may take a look at this product: Reaper is getting lots of rave reviews in the Usenet groups and home studio recording crowd.

They've just released a new version and here are some of the features at a cost of $50 USD for non-commercial, personal use (though it's shareware, so you can try it out first for as long as you like before deciding to buy):

• Portable - supports running from USB keys or other removable media


• 64 bit audio engine


• Excellent low-latency performance


• Stunning multiprocessor performance


• Direct multi-track recording to many formats including WAV/BWF/W64, AIFF, WavPack, FLAC, OGG, and MIDI.


• Extremely flexible routing


• Fast, tool-less editing


• Supports a wide range of hardware (nearly any audio interface, outboard hardware, many control surfaces)


• Support for VST, VSTi, DX, DXi effects


• ReaPlugs: high quality 64 bit effect suite


• Tightly coded - installer is just over 3MB

Anything that will help you create the music! May the Muse be with you... and ci vedimes...