Ardour is a very competant DAW in the open source world, and free. The fact that it can handle a wide number of commercially available VST, Ladspa and lv2 plugins is a big plus and its ability to connect to the jack server, OSC and midi controllers to stay synced with other applications and hardware is a big big plus however it can be run without the need of jack server, It allows for very complex mixer routings with multiple send effects and bus tracks, its ability to create and play virtual midi instruments is great. It's a complete daw with no bits and pieces missing, and at an absolutely rock bottom price. The companion Ardroid App on android seves as a good remote control app with OSC standard.

Ardour has a clean user interface and is easy to pick up and pleasant to work with. In fact, it is quite similar to other DAWs, but it is virtually for free. It is very versatile: it can be used for recording, mixing, soundtrack editing, even live performance. It has a very comprehensive feature set, including everything an artist is likely to need.