It is hard for experienced users to answer this since it's probably been so long. Many of us started with something and remain with whatever that choice was, or upgrades within that family. For me, it's Roland and Focusrite for hardware, and SONAR for software, going back many years. I agree with Charlie that many inexpensive hardware interfaces come with bundled DAW-light software, but I don't keep up with those offerings.


BIAB 2026 Win Audiophile. Software: Fender Studio One 8, Swam horns, Acoustica-7, Notion 6, Song Master Pro, Win 11 Home. Hardware: Intel i9, 32 Gb; Presonus Quantom HD8 & Faderport 8, Royer 121, Adam Sub8 & Neumann 120 monitors.