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If you record on your own, what programs do you use/recommend?

I've tried Audacity...freeware....and Magix Music Maker 16, which is not.

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I currently have a Zoom MRS-4, and a brand new Zoom R-16 with Cubase, which I'm slowly learning how to use.  I tried Audacity.  I know it's supposed to be simple, but for whatever reason, I had problems with the program (although I finally did manage to import a track and use faders and reverb).  I'm not horribly tech savvy, so the new Zoom can go either way.  It's gotten incredibly good ratings on most web sites. It can function as a standalone recorder, a computer interface, and a controller. http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/R16/reviews?gclid=CPfG_IaK66YCFYHb4AodyViCGw

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I use Cubase but it's an older version. Mine is SX1 which is probably at least 10 years old. It's complicated at first but worth investing the time to figure it out. It's probably the same story with all the computer based setups. I did a full rock band cd with some local friends at the bass players house. He recorded everything on a portable recorder/mixer thing made by Korg. It was capable of 8 tracks simultaniously at 24 bit and worked great. You can also carry it under one arm. The biggest problem with it was the display screen was impossibly small. The machine was capable of editing and effects etc but the small display would be a huge problem for that. We saved the tracks on cd's and brought them to my place where I loaded them into Cubase to work on. On some of the portable machines you can plug in a regular computer monitor so if you want to work on the editing mixing, etc right on the machine, I'd try to get one with that feature.

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I've used Magix recording applications in the past. I find them very intuitive - by which I mean they work the way I want them to, coming from a background of analogue and then digital studio recording. I got a £10 Magix program called Music Maker that was very simple but a bit crude. However, I found that I can make videos on it too! I also downloaded a free version of Magix Samplitude which is excellent, but it's on my PC which only has a normal (****) soundcard.

For serious recording, I currently I have an iMac running Logic interfaced with a Focusrite Saffire Pro 40. Logic is very powerful; I doubt I'll ever need anything else. It is a bit of a monster, but if you want something that does everything, you can't really expect it to be very simple too. I took a patient day or so finding my way around with the manual and go back to the manual every now and again for advanced stuff now. But I've never had a problem looking up stuff in manuals - it just seems obvious to me.

The only gripe I have with it, is I'm constantly having to move and resize the windows and when you zoom out there doesn't seem to be any way of keeping what's in the centre of your screen at the start still in the centre at the end.

The Pro 40 sounds smooth and clean. It sits there and does its job with no fuss. I typically only use a couple of inputs at a time on it, but it has enough to do a small band session if I ever need to. It comes with it's own software mixer/router for monitoring purposes which is simple enough.

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Yes, the manuals are important. Quite a few people seem to think that they should be able to just load the program and inuitively figure it out. Any of the in depth programs are going to require a little help from the manual to get going. Especially if you've never used a computer based system before. It's worth the effort though.

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Absolutely Steve - it's so worth the effort.

When I think of the primitive equipment I was using when I first started recording in the 1970s - what I could do then and what I can do now, it's ridiculous. I can play guitar and mandolin, and sing after a fashion, but then Logic has several drum sets in it, plus a Steinway piano, a whole bunch of basses, organs and synths. I can crudely bash out a part on the keyboard and tidy it into exactly what I wanted with midi editing. It's heaven!

Now if only I could have as many musical ideas as in the 1970s - but it seems my inspiration has changed in inverse proportion to the ability to capture the ideas :0(

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The manuals are so important. I've been using Cubase for about 10 years, maybe longer and have done a couple of the upgrades but my version is nowhere near the current one. Although I've used my version lots and have no trouble using it, I still seem to learn something every time I use it. Occassionally I still have to dig into the manual to figure something out. In reality, I'm only scratching the surface of the power of it.

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Audacity is quite good I guess..

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Does anyone use Protools?