It’s Sonar for me, though I’ve not moved on from X3 to their latest version so I’d be reluctant to give a review of it in case it’s had features changed for the better or worse.
Protools for me.I like Reaper but always have cpu issues with it and have never been able to work out why.
My protools runs solid as a rock
Yes, let’s not let this get into an argument about “which is best” because there isn’t a “best” when it comes to DAWs IMO. Having a one-stop thread with key features for folks just starting out, however, is very useful just so folks can get started on considering their options. @Jonathan can update the OP with stuff that appears down-thread so that new readers can just grab the first post. Should work fine if we all keep this in mind! 
And I’ll be glad to list some Mixcraft features for the list later this week when I get a minute.
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Thanks man. You use Samplitude…right? If you get a sec, list out some things you love about it!
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@arber87 Its totally Indie dude.
in·die
ˈindē/Submit
adjective
1.
(of a pop group, record label, or film company) not belonging to or affiliated with a major record or film company.
There definitely is NOT a ‘best’ DAW until you start listing all kinds of qualifications of what you need it to do. Its been interesting, though ‘trial by fire’ to discover how different they are. Some DAWs clearly do certain things better, but no single DAW does everything ‘best’. I’ve always been in a weird position where I had to work with multiple platforms. I still see a lot of threads out and about, asking which one should I choose?
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yep totally agree Ptalbot!
i have no urge to try and learn a new daw no matter what it promises. learning what i need to know in my current cubase was bad enough!
after all the daws are pretty much the same nowadays for the average user. maybe if you`re video editing and syncing then i dont know maybe there are better than cubase. but for me cubase wins. winners use cubase lol
Reaper for me, totally customizable to your workflow, and with SWS/S&M extension and Reapack it is a beast. A bit difficult to get your head around all the options and capabilities at first, but it’s superlong manual and even longer extention’s manual help a lot:) Custom actions, custom toolbars, track manager, routing matrix, media manager, user scripts and much more. Do I think it’s the best DAW? If you like to dig deep maybe, for the easy workflow out of the box I liked Studio One better.
@CosmicSea, can you elaborate on what some of those things are? I’d love to quote you up top…if you can give me the feature and a half sentence explaining what the features does. Or if someone else can.
I don’t think he’s looking for info on Reaper… it’s more of a discussion of what do YOU personally like about your DAW of choice
- powerful plugins included
- easy to open projects from other DAWs
That kind of thing 
haha! good catch. I’ll blame it on autocorrect. But yes, I don’t think. That’s generally true as a statement 
I love working in Reaper .Everything is just a click away like busses and sends etc.
A very very quick workflow. I could do a mix in half the time it takes me in Protools
I’ve been using Sonar for years and years. I always liked that it came with lots of plugins and what not, and once I learned it I just stuck with it. While the newer version has a lot of nice features and improvements, it also has some workflow annoyances for me compared to the older version I was using. It was almost like learning a new daw when I upgraded. I might give Reaper another try. I used Reaper for a song or two a few years ago to test it out and I remember really liking the fact that it let you route tracks into other tracks.
The one that really bugs me in Sonar is the console view - I want to see more than 3 vst plugs and two sends per track!
I don’t know about sends but in Sonar platinum it shows more than 3 vsts on tracks and busses. I came from Sonar 8.5 so I’m not sure if Sonar X 1-3 was weird like that. I had a lot of problems adjusting when I switched but that wasn’t one of them.
jumps on google images
My god, you’re right! That’s the most compelling reason I’ve found yet to upgrade.
I like new things so i am happy that Sonar updates each month and seems to continue to improve overall. There can be some frustration with that but overall i like it.
So it was an x series thing I guess. Yeah that would piss me off too only being able to see 3 vsts. Glad I missed out on that. I probably would have switched to Reaper right then and there! Seriously though Sonar is nice.