Getting back to damienwgreen68's original post, he is looking for a software package that is both high quality and simple to use. I think he wants to sound "more professional", not necessarily indistinguishable from an industry recording studio.

I think that disqualifies ProTools and possibly Q base if you are talking "easy to use". Software that I use even though I have access to ProTools, is Adobe Audition which used to be called Cool Edit until Adobe bought it.

Adobe Audition is much more intuitive that ProTools. It let's you pick your bit rate and you don't have to worry about all the plug-ins you wish you had, because it has plenty and they are easy to access. It runs of a PC and you can import a number of audio formats.

I usually record tracks on a portable Roland digital recorder, pop the card out of the recorder and transfer to the PC. That way I don't even need to worry about how good my PC sound-card is.

From inside Adobe Audition, I go to "Multi-track" mode and select "Insert". If I had four tracks on the Roland, I can import them all (up to 32 on mine). They all show up on a Multi-track time line and the are in sync. I can play, muting what I don't want to hear, open up a virtual mixing console, isolate a track and add effects, on and on. Very easy. Export lets you save you final mix as mp3 (Protools amazingly will not let you do this without a plug-in),or any of several other formats.

But by using Adobe Audition, I don't expect my productions to be as good as something coming out of a typical studio in Nashville or LA. It isn't the software though- it's me and my limitations.

Any software, in the hands of the right person is capable of producing recording that are amazing. But expecting your music software to make your music sound professional is a little like asking Eric Clapton to trade guitars with you and then expecting that you will sound amazing playing his guitar.

All of music, from learning to play, to recording to marketing is all done best by a handful of the best. It doesn't mean you can't make good recordings, but don't expect the same results as a studio using the best musicians, the best sound stages, the best software, and the best technicians. To paraphrase Shakespeare, "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our software, but in ourselves that we are underlings".

The people who are really good at recording production are also the very best at telling you what the limitations of free or cheap software are. The difference probably isn't the technical quality per sec, but the ease, precision and creative intricacies that they find in the software of their choice. When they make their recommendations, they are talking to people who are already quite sophisticated.

Since you have to start somewhere, get the free software because the interface will still have multi-track, envelopes and volume control, possibly R and L Pan controls, a few effects like echo or reverb. Play around and if it is your cup of tea, you will have fun.

"Imagination is more important than knowledge." - Albert Einstein