I'd like to buy a program, but am too lazy to download and thoroughly try out a dozen different demos. Also too cheap to buy something as expensive as ProTools.
I've been using FruityLoops to make rock music. Not synth guitars or even soundfonts. I create a whole drum track with soundfont, then export to mp3 and record live bass, guitars, and vocals along to that, then trigger them as samples. I am fairly pleased with it as is, since FL has built-in plugins for effects and stuff, plus I can create keyboard lines with soundfonts too.
But the really big pain in the ass is that when I'm working on a song and editing it and stuff, if I want to hear how it sounds 1 minute in or something, I have to play the song from the beginning to hear the guitars and everything, as they are triggered as samples.
So I need a program that basically will allow me to use soundfonts (and probably trigger samples), be able to use plugins for effects (like delay, reverb, chorus, compression, EQ, the works), and be able to hear the guitar recordings when I listen part way through the song instead of having to play from the beginning to hear how they sound anywhere in the song.
ProTools would probably be great, with Reason as a plugin, that way I can control soundfonts/samples and hear the wav recordings of guitar, etc, wherever I want, plus layer on effects. But in my current situation, this is not financially feasible.
Any ideas? My budget is not very big, plus I don't need anything elaborate with various synths (making FL kind of a waste for me as I don't really make electronica, and when I do it's just with square/saw/triangle/pulse oscillators) or anything.
Thanks