Cubase/Cakewalk/Cool Edit Pro/Pro Tools/Nuendo/Sonar- What would you suggest for

[13ghostsofscoobydoo]

Using exclusively external instruments and recording to the computer in at least 24 bit sound. Furthermore- one track at a time. I'd like it also to not matter how long the song is, and mostly I'm looking for a good program to EQ and mix down many individual tracks to then burn to CD-R. Bells and whistles and especially software instruments aren't needed, but effects are more than welcome. For this purpose what would the wise peeps on this board suggest? If there are major cheap, moderately priced, and expensive alternatives I'd like to know what they are, how much they cost, and what the differences are. THANKS! I've been reading good things about programs such as Cubase, but perhaps for my needs Nuendo would be good? Perhaps I don't need something as expensive as these anyway? Thoughts?

[blue halo]

hey there... as a user of both cubase and nuendo, i'd recomend either... if your interested in software that has impecible midi timing, go for cubase, if audio editing is moe of a concern for you, then nuendo... both are 32-bit, 96kHz capable... killer plug-ins hat come bundled with either software... also, in both programs, lenght of the song is irrelevant... don't bother with any cakewalk product, it's all garbage... pro tools.. well, let's not go there...use nuendo, and you'll see what pro tools is no longer about...

[medmike25]

You should also consider Logic Audio Platinum. Even without dual processor support (not until V5 is released early next year), this is without doubt one of the most solid and well designed DAW platforms. I have acheived over 1400 hours of continuous recording without a glitch...can't say the same for other platforms in my collection. If you need advise on pulling together a total hardware solution...let me know.

[ldemetri]

....how about SAWStudio?
Have you checked that out?
www.SAWStudio.com (http://www.SAWStudio.com)

[misterh]

I'm kind of in the same boat. Just added a SB Live Platinum 5.1 card to my computer and boosted the ram. The SB came bundled with Cubasis VST (sort of a lite, learner-type program), before I try to figure that out, is there something that I should step up to? I was going to try a portable DAW, but before I shell out +/-$1500 I thought I ought to educate myself a little about wave files, looping, mixing, eq-ing and the rest of the stuff there is to learn in digital recording. I'll be doing mostly guitar, bass, vocal and occasional keyboard stuff. Any mic suggestions?

What version of Nuendo, or is there only one; and how much? I'm more interested in FX also.