[stolio]

It's strange to have Ardour and Reaper up there with ProTools and Logic described as a MIDI sequencer. That's how it started but at some point it crossed over into a full-featured professional DAW and I'm not sure even Reaper has caught up to its live instrument mixing and editing capabilities.

Ableton is literally a sequencer (and much more) and probably belongs in your MIDI sequencer category.

[SwellJoe]

"at some point it crossed over into a full-featured professional DAW"

See what I mean? It's a DAW, but not like these other DAWs. It's a real DAW, you know?

Point stands: "DAW" means too many things to mean anything.

[stolio]

No, the point doesn't hold up. That's like saying 'workbench' or 'car' is too general to mean anything. It's a general category and you put adjectives in front of it as needed.

And if you're going to eschew the term and use descriptions instead, then it's important to get the descriptions right and not arrange them just so your favorites are up top next to ProTools even though they don't belong there.

Better categories: Professional DAWs - these do everything well: ProTools, Logic, (maybe) Cubase. Consumer DAWs - these aim to do most things well: Reaper, Ardour, GarageBand. Sequencers - geared for hip-hop and electronic music: Ableton Live (yes, it's awesome and will probably become full-featured), Fruity Loops. Trackers....

My point is being fussy about the term DAW derailed GP's question, when they asked if it's a DAW they're asking if it's a general purpose or specialty platform which is frankly a good question.