>>Well, you can do worse than FLS for the price. Other alternatives would be Tracktion (
http://www.mackie.com - you just missed a free NFR version), Reason (bit more expensive, closed system - no VST support) and the Cubase variants.<<
The demo's great - can't save my workings, but otherwise I'm pretty impressed. Got a CD with over 500 r'n'b-"Neputes" style samples and they worked a treat - some very kick arse sequencing went on last nite
. Had to use the Tap to get the exact bpm, for some reason I couldn't set the bpm (perhaps just a demo limit?).
>> Monitors will be a big cost, but you can get acceptable (read non-pro) results on HI-FI speakers. <<
Yeah I figured as much. I'm thinking more of down the track (no pun intended) so I guess I can always save for a semi-decent set.
>>Try downloading some dems, and see which one pushes your buttons. kvraudio.com is a good resource.<<
Cheers mate