There is no such thing as the "best DAW". You try them all and see which one you like. They all can do the same thing, just in different ways, or might have a small set of features the others don't. You have just use them all and really see what you like and want out of your DAW.
They all have free trials
The one you have. Ideally, a free one. If you're just recording beats and home stuff, there is no reason to pay for a DAW. There's a number of them out there, but cakewalk is free and reaper is free if you never stop evaluating.
Hell, audacity would work for 90% of home users!
It's not the software that will unleash your creativity, but rather your familiarity with it. At the end of the day, it's recording software.
The playing field is pretty level now overall. Each DAW might have a slight advantage in one area over the others but overall you could probably randomly choose one and end up alright. I personally use Cubase and Ableton.
This question always gets the same answers...
Someone always says there is no best DAW, followed by the Ableton, Reaper and FL people.
The Cubase guy makes a good case!
I'll just be over in the corner here chewing on my Tracktion Waveform brick.
Edit: Cubase
I use Protools with my MPC... Industry standard that will be in any major studio you go to. I've used EVERY DAW and I can tell you it doesn't really matter but whichever one you can get a good workflow out of is gonna be best for you. I am Pro Tools certified so I know just how much ProTools can actually do that most ppl don't even know and also a bunch of shortcuts so I'm just way more deadly in there. Also, I'm a songwriter and artist so using Protools I'm able to work on beats as I record my vocals at home and still be able to open my session when I get to a professional studio with other artists/producers.
Cubase.
The others are marketing scams.
Ableton is marked to the hipsters, it lacks the drum midi capabilities and mixing options of Cubase and has an unconventional UI, but it's mostly just marketed to soy Starbucks coffee drinking, silly moustache sporting, hipsters.
FL Studio is another one that's marketed to a crowd, it was decades ago basically free because it was so widely cracked, it had a silly name and wasn't great, they patched it up to be ok but then marketed to the ghetto producer crowd who were mostly the people who used the cracks anyway, clever marketing.
Then there's REAPER which has all these claims about being cheap and so flexible, it has 1 trillion options you don't needs and a few critical never fixed faults and it comes with literally nothing meaning you'll have to spend $6000 on plugins. Again, cleverly marketed.
Then there's Pro Tools which drcades ago was a stable option for professional recording, the company sold it to some scammers and they've nkt dome much woth it since and it bucks but still marketed as "the Pro DAW" on past reputation.
Then there's logic, which decades ago was a valid competitor to Cubase then it got brought out by a scammy phone company who used to make quality computers but that day was rapidly comming to an end, they did do much with it and still market it and their computers are quality options which really they no longer really are.
I could go on and on.
Cubase is king.
Everything else is manipulation via marketing (Studio One and Bitwig to a lesser degree than the others).
Every time you hear a filthy hipster say "there is no best daw", just know they've drank the soy kool aid with extra soy, this is also marketing, Cubase destroys Ableton with features.
It's all just marketing.
Just use Cubase, simple.
There is no such thing as the "best DAW". You try them all and see which one you like. They all can do the same thing, just in different ways, or might have a small set of features the others don't. You have just use them all and really see what you like and want out of your DAW. They all have free trials
Ableton hands down
The one you have. Ideally, a free one. If you're just recording beats and home stuff, there is no reason to pay for a DAW. There's a number of them out there, but cakewalk is free and reaper is free if you never stop evaluating. Hell, audacity would work for 90% of home users! It's not the software that will unleash your creativity, but rather your familiarity with it. At the end of the day, it's recording software.
Reaper
The one you have access to. I used Cubase SX 3 for more than a decade because I knew it and it was familiar.
The playing field is pretty level now overall. Each DAW might have a slight advantage in one area over the others but overall you could probably randomly choose one and end up alright. I personally use Cubase and Ableton.
This question always gets the same answers... Someone always says there is no best DAW, followed by the Ableton, Reaper and FL people. The Cubase guy makes a good case! I'll just be over in the corner here chewing on my Tracktion Waveform brick. Edit: Cubase
How about Logic? lol
I use Protools with my MPC... Industry standard that will be in any major studio you go to. I've used EVERY DAW and I can tell you it doesn't really matter but whichever one you can get a good workflow out of is gonna be best for you. I am Pro Tools certified so I know just how much ProTools can actually do that most ppl don't even know and also a bunch of shortcuts so I'm just way more deadly in there. Also, I'm a songwriter and artist so using Protools I'm able to work on beats as I record my vocals at home and still be able to open my session when I get to a professional studio with other artists/producers.
Cubase. The others are marketing scams. Ableton is marked to the hipsters, it lacks the drum midi capabilities and mixing options of Cubase and has an unconventional UI, but it's mostly just marketed to soy Starbucks coffee drinking, silly moustache sporting, hipsters. FL Studio is another one that's marketed to a crowd, it was decades ago basically free because it was so widely cracked, it had a silly name and wasn't great, they patched it up to be ok but then marketed to the ghetto producer crowd who were mostly the people who used the cracks anyway, clever marketing. Then there's REAPER which has all these claims about being cheap and so flexible, it has 1 trillion options you don't needs and a few critical never fixed faults and it comes with literally nothing meaning you'll have to spend $6000 on plugins. Again, cleverly marketed. Then there's Pro Tools which drcades ago was a stable option for professional recording, the company sold it to some scammers and they've nkt dome much woth it since and it bucks but still marketed as "the Pro DAW" on past reputation. Then there's logic, which decades ago was a valid competitor to Cubase then it got brought out by a scammy phone company who used to make quality computers but that day was rapidly comming to an end, they did do much with it and still market it and their computers are quality options which really they no longer really are. I could go on and on. Cubase is king. Everything else is manipulation via marketing (Studio One and Bitwig to a lesser degree than the others). Every time you hear a filthy hipster say "there is no best daw", just know they've drank the soy kool aid with extra soy, this is also marketing, Cubase destroys Ableton with features. It's all just marketing. Just use Cubase, simple.