Why O why O why Good point. Well now?... I've used..mainly.. Software Audio Workshop for about 8 years. It's good - a fine audio rendering engine which gives a warm sound lacking in, for example FLStudio. For a final mix - I would always choose SAW. However the interface is basic - you're getting a virtual model of a multi-(99)-track tape recorder - designed for old Audio Engineers who didn't like the idea of using a computer; and its keyboard shortcuts are ...idiosyncratic. But, it's getting long in the tooth - it can only really cope with 16-bit 41/48 KHz wav files - can't handle 32-bit; 96Khz, MP3; Flacs - all that stuff. But playing to the "old Audio Engineers" it is painstaking about the sound quality. Wave; Cool Edit; Goldwave; - basically sound designer stuff, not much use for someone wanting to record guitar/vocal, and where audio quality isn't as studied. Good fun for making beeps and clicks and raw material for samplers, but... limited. ( CoolEdit was been bought over by Adobe ) so now good for PowerPoint presentations! Abelton Live - OK, but, like all brands, it's own workflow, which I didn't take to - that's no criticism. It's a bit "clubby" for singer songwriters IMHO. Reason - (when I looked at it for about 2 days) - bit of a toy (I'm sure I'll get flamed for this! And probably justly. ) - spending more CPU making its interface dance than actually focussing on the audio. Again, "techno clubby" in its perceived market IMHO. Other stuff which I can't recall - mostly checking out freebies - generally you get what you pay for. It's either a scutter to use, or crashes when you hit the save button. Though I loved CSound for a season - again for a really fine audio quality - great for making bells and gongs for your sampler - or really off-the-wall audio experimentation; but incredibly time-consuming learning the Maths ;-) Not good for singer/songwriters. I haven't used Cubase; Prosounds ( though I have a mate who thinks it's the beez-knees; it's sophisticated with a concomitant learning curve); Nor various other commercial stuff for no other reason than SAW had the quality I looked for from the outset and an interface I was used to. I would still always opt for SAW for Sound quality. Why I recommended FLStudio? You get everything in the one box - Synths; drum machines; Beep Oscillators; Samplers; Audio tracks of course; and a plethora of good quality FX/EQ, etc., which of course you can add to with Freebie VSTs. (It can be used as a VST in its own right with other software.) Why I am banging on about it is because it *is* contemporary - it's not phased by ASIO, newer sample rates, and what have you. It is very simple to use: has that rare quality that I can imagine a sound I want to hear before I go near the computer, and know how I might make it in FLStudio (near enough!) You can use it straight as "a multi-track tape recorder" - so OK for Singer/songwriters. But - suppose the song you are imagining has a synth pad way back in the distant background - you could do that too - almost as fast as you can think it. I considered it would be a great beginner's package for the price - it's not all that expensive, in fact free to try - so no nasty surprises if it's exactly what you don't want you've lost nothing. "Calm down, dear"; it's only an advert. As far as hardware is concerned - though I use it and have no complaints, I'm not really knocked out by M-Audio stuff. Power spikes, and it will crash, and freeze your computer and unsaved work. Most of the time, tho', it works, is reasonably priced, and up-to-date vis-a-vis compatability, etc. I point to it so you can see a picture of the sort of thing, but sure there are lots more vendors of that type of thing. Eridol has a reputation for good sound quality, but pricey? I don't recommend a PCI card, because you can take outboard stuff to other computers, or carry it across when you upgrade to a new system - even if you only use it as an extra input. So assuming you have a good enough computer; a guitar; and a mic. FLStudio ;-), and some sort of input hardware would get you up an running with plenty of creative headroom to get most of what you want done, and I believe (haven't checked) - it's cheaper than all the Prosounds /Cubase stuff - however, since it is a free trial download - I wasn't considering price. If the other companies aren't prepared to offer a similar free demo version, then "go figure". I'm afraid I don't have the time or interest, to do price comparisons for you - you'll have to do that yourself. Sorry about the essay, but you asked. :-) jmmp