Display MoreI've gotta agree with the users suggesting Reaper. You really can't go wrong with it.
Its free, and the free version has no limitations compared to other "free" versions of DAWs. You can use Reaper for free for as long as you want, and when you end up wanting to purchase it, it's super affordable (only $65 for a lifetime license)
Plus, right now Reaper is giving out a free license until July so, you'll have the paid version for the first few months.
I used to use ProTools, Ableton, and Cakewalk. I prefer Reaper for the customization capabilities, simplicity, and consistency.
Reaper doesn't crash often in my experience and I can't recall a single time the DAW crashed during heavy in the box work.
I'd highly recommend it
Just note that reaper is NOT free ... The evaluation period is not limited in time, the the evaluation version is full featured (only a pause of 5sec at startup). But it is not free ... AND really cheap 65$ lifetime license and eligible to get all the current version updates AND the next major update (so the version 7.0) and its updates as well..