MusicRadar

DAWs (Digital Audio Workstations) are like football referees. If you've got a good piece of music production software, you'll hardly notice it's there; if it's not so great, it'll behave erratically and won't tell you why.

That said, it isn’t the case that everyone gravitates towards the same ‘best’ piece of software. Although there are some perquisite features for a good DAW - reliability, a sensible workflow and flexibility - each one works in a slightly different way, so appeals to a different kind of user. There’s also the issue of cost to consider.

It would be wrong, therefore, for us to recommend one DAW over all others, but we wanted to find out what you think is the best DAW in the world in 2011. Based on your votes, we’ve put together the following countdown - a revised and updated version of the list you helped us create in 2010.

We start with Acid: it may now no longer be a leading light in the DAW world, but when it was launched in 1998, its automatic audio timestretching and pitch shifting marked it out as revolutionary. These features remain Acid’s key strengths, though it should be noted that the program can now handle MIDI, too (and, as of version 7, video). It may not be the flashiest app on this list, but Acid remains fast, capable and easy to use.

BUY: Sony Creative Software Acid Pro 7 currently available from Thomann | Studiospares

FULL REVIEW: Sony Creative Software Acid Pro 7