i guess it depends what you're looking to do... Reason is synth based... acid, ableton, and fruityloops are all loop based.... my boy that's produced tracks for capadonna used to swear by ACID and Fruityloops, but he probably uses protools now that he's got an mpc... haven't really had a real conversation with him about it in a couple years now that his egos inflated. cocky bastard.