What in your opinion is the best music production software?
1. Reason
2. Cuebase
3. Logic
4. Abelton.
ableton all the way
There is no best. Each DAW works differently for different people and all are capable of making professional as well as commercial tracks… even musical chart toppers. You should use the DAW that you have the most FUN making music with. This forum is a little partial to Ableton Live.
Use the search forum above and you will find plenty of posts associated with this topic. 
Logic has always been the daddy of software and despite what some people will have you think is more than capable of doing anything live or cubase can do. how ever to get that good with logic you are gonna need to know the two huge manuals (back to front) plus all the crap that’s not in them too.
despite what i have already put about logic i would still recommend ableton. my way of thinking if that to really do anything in the music industry these days artists are going to have to start selling live performances, you’ll need to be a dj/producer/live act to make any money soon and if i’m honest ableton is the one piece of software suitable for all 3 jobs. abletons also very easy to learn and fun to use.
Reason is singly the most fun you can have with music software, its so cool to route everything around with the virtual wires and stuff but for me thats were it becomes counter productive. when i was using reason i spent more time making devices than i ever did making music.
Cubase is obviously good and has been at least the top dog for best part of its life, however i have used this recently and to me it seems really dated the included plug-ins (although it has some really great ones) generally suck. but i do find with cubase there are so many users on the web these days you’re not to far away from help if you get stuck
[quote]howiegroove (1/4/2010)[hr]There is no best. Each DAW works differently for different people and all are capable of making professional as well as commercial tracks… even musical chart toppers. You should use the DAW that you have the most FUN making music with. This forum is a little partial to Ableton Live.
Use the search forum above and you will find plenty of posts associated with this topic. :)[/quote]
+1
I started on Reason and loved it - it’s like a computer game mixed with a virtual studio. It’s not a DAW per se though.
I then thoguht one day I’d try live and I honestly don’t know why I didn’t try it sooner. I love it. the only thing I hate is the interface. The zooms in and out and the window scrolls are just too different and it took me too long to get used to them… I’m better at it now though and there are things you can use to change it.
Overal Live for the win for me.
I tried Cubase and didn’t get on with it really.
i use ableton live 8 and love it,i use it for production and djing and am doing a course at the min and using reason,i find it a bit complicated and annoying but i like the subtractor in it
ableton 100%
I tried Ableton for DJing but got so bored with it and also feel that my mixing sounds much more smoother and ‘human’ than what Ableton can do.
I use ableton for radio production and music production.
Only ever used Ableton - like it a lot can see the differences between this and logic though.
[quote]roben (1/8/2010)[hr]I tried Ableton for DJing but got so bored with it and also feel that my mixing sounds much more smoother and ‘human’ than what Ableton can do.
I use ableton for radio production and music production.[/quote]
I think the reason you got bored with it is because you were doing just standard mixing on ableton. You should try mixing 3 or 4 tracks together when djing with ableton. Thing is, its easy to get lazy when using computer aided mixing. Richie Hawtin said that when he started using traktor, his mixes got way more complex.
[quote]howiegroove (1/8/2010)[hr][quote]roben (1/8/2010)[hr]I tried Ableton for DJing but got so bored with it and also feel that my mixing sounds much more smoother and ‘human’ than what Ableton can do.
I use ableton for radio production and music production.[/quote]
I think the reason you got bored with it is because you were doing just standard mixing on ableton. You should try mixing 3 or 4 tracks together when djing with ableton. Thing is, its easy to get lazy when using computer aided mixing. Richie Hawtin said that when he started using traktor, his mixes got way more complex.[/quote]
It takes me seconds to beatmatch a track on CDJs anyways, the same time it would take me to make sure my time markers are set on Ableton.
I could easily do 3/4 tracks together and something i’ve done various times at the club, but - like effects units - sometimes, tracks are best left to play out as there is a lot to most tracks which keep it exciting. Plus it gives me time to entertain the crowd, watch & read the crowd and decide what track will work next.
If a certain track needs an edit, ie: added vocal 'pella, cuts, etc, i usually do that and burn to my disk.
I’ve heard mixes done with ableton before where the track just cuts out after 1 min and it can all be a little too fast paced for the listener which in turn doesn’t make it enjoyable anymore.
I’ve also watched a few DJs use Ableton for DJing ie: calvin harris, deadmau5, and i can hear a difference from the human touch on CDJs. ie: prok & fitch, James Zabiela, etc
Anyways this is going off topic now, each to their own preference in the end of the day. Like i’ve said before, it’s what comes out of the speakers that counts in the end of the day
i choose ableton as my main goal is not only production but doing a whole live set of my own music and ableton is designed to do all that in one…
i would never use ableton for djing though i can cue up just as fast on cdj’s or technics even thogh i stopped djing a cou[ple of years ago on the rare ocassion i get a booking i use vinyl/cd’s and as i dont do it all the time anymore when i do i get that satisfaction i used to get years ago when i first started no amount of software could ever replace the feeling of dropping a good tune into the mix and watching the crowd go wild lol some how that would never feel the same using software unless it was serato
ableton for live sets having your own production loops clipped and ready for live remixing = good
ableton for straight forward dj style mixes = bad
Ableton is very easy and straight forward to use for production.
I would use ableton, but I would definately do more remixing on the fly while I DJ with Live.