I highly recommend Logic Pro X for people getting started with composition. It includes very high quality instruments which make it possible to compose entire orchestral pieces without having to buy extra instrument packs. I also swear by it's stock plugins. I am an audio engineer and I have used many top-of-the-line plugins, and often times I have found myself gravitating towards some of the stock plugins in Logic for certain applications. For the low price of $200, you can't beat it.

I will say that for straight audio recording, especially in high pressure sessions, I often prefer Protools because I find it to be more stable. I have had occasional frustrating glitches in Logic that can get in the way of workflow. Logic X is still fairly new though so I'm sure these issues are being dealt with. Overall, Logic is my favorite DAW.

I've been using Reaper myself.

If you have the money, Pro Tools is the way to go. There's a good reason a nice Pro Tools system will cost you about $5,000 more than the next most expensive setup on this list. Don't get me wrong I've tried PreSonus and Reaper and they're great programs, but it's like comparing MS Paint to Adobe Photoshop. If you're a great musician you're going to make great music even if you're using garage band, but you'll always be able to do it better with Pro Tools.

used cubasis for more than 10 years, fully recommend. Briefly experimented with cakewalk. interested in pro tools.

I use about 2 year Logic Pro X by Apple and want to say that is really full of options DAW. And it has a lot of helpful stuff for creating music for video games, trailer and so on. Earlier of it i used Pro Tools and it's high quality product, but the Logic gives you more flexibility. imho

I've avoided the ProTools hype and disappointment myself, and have been a happy Nuendo user. We've either had Nuendo or Reaper in-house.

Quite a versatile tool I use it for post, sound design and composition.

I didn't even know you could compose in ProTools - last time I used it - the midi support was horrible :)

Had experience with most DAWs and found Ableton Live to be the most conducive to the creative process. Add to this the huge array of possibilities with Max for Live and Live has become quite a powerful tool over the years.

One of the most intuitive I've used is Acoustica Mixcraft Pro. They all have their strengths.