www.digidesign.com (www.avid.com)
Digidesign ProTools, now owned by Avid Design, is the industry leader in computer recording. It comes in HD, LE, and M-powered varieties for both Macintosh and PC (except the HD version, which can be used only with Macintosh). Of course, you will need to buy some additional hardware in order for the program to work. HD systems require an HD card and I/O interface, LE systems need an Mbox or other Digidesign interface, and M-Powered systems are compatible with a number of M-Audio interfaces.
www.steinberg.net
Steinberg has some of the best recording software around. Steinberg audio-recording software comes in 4 varieties: Cubase, Nuendo, WaveLab, and Sequel for beginners. Each program has a different set of specs and computer requirements, but any of them can be run with a DirectX-compatible soundcard, or an ASIO-compatible sound interface.
www.cakewalk.com
Cakewalk carries a huge variety of recording products ranging from music-production software for beginners to sophisticated hardware for professional studios. The most popular home recording software they carry is SONAR, which you can use with any Windows-compatible audio interface.
audacity.sourceforge.net
While it may seem strange to include free software such as Audacity in this list, it is one of the most popular audio-recording and -editing programs available, and it works with any type of audio interface. Also, Audacity is notable because it is open source, meaning that the source code for the program is available for anyone to edit and improve. Expect great things from Audacity in the future.
www.adobe.com/audition
Adobe Audition is modeled on an earlier program called Cool Edit Pro that is no longer available, although you can still find copies of it floating around. Adobe also released an audio-recording program called Soundbooth CS5 that is geared toward the beginner. Both Adobe programs listed here can be utilized with any sound card you plan to use.
www.sonycreativesoftware.com
Sony's ACID audio-recording and multitrack editing software is innovative and functional and can be used with any sound card available. The same goes for SoundForge, and audio editing and mixing is even possible in Sony Vegas, although Vegas is designed primarily for video editing.
www.multitrackstudio.com
Multitrack Studio has been given great reviews by some audio industry professionals, but it is geared more for home recording. This software is great for beginners and can be used with any sound card available.
www.acoustica.com/mixcraft
Mixcraft is a fully functional music production and recording program that is great for the home recording enthusiast. The software also includes video-editing capabilities and can be used with any sound card available.
www.pgmusic.com
PowerTracks is an audio recording program from an innovative software company, PG music, which is also responsible for a unique program called Band-in-a-Box that automatically creates professional-sounding musical scores for you. Also, PG Music has released another program called RealBand that combines all their audio software into one powerful music-production and -editing workstation.