[squeaky-clean]

Honestly, try the trial for both. Give Ableton and Bitwig a go if you have time as well. Or at least check out all 4 on youtube and see if a particular workflow strikes you.

Unfortunately the open source DAWs don't hold a candle to any of the paid ones. But once you're paying they're all pretty solid. It's like asking if you should move to vim or emacs or jetbrains after starting with Notepad++. They're all good and everyone will have their own favorite. Many people also use multiple DAWs the same way people use multiple text editors. Personally I use Ableton and Reaper

[schemescape]

Thanks! Yeah, it's subjective, but I thought the chances of someone making the same progression (LMMS to ???) on HN were pretty high. Of course, I left out tons of context that might have helped (e.g. some people want to make music live--I do not).

Really, it might make the most sense to just find music similar to what I've made (or want to make), and then ask/research what they're using. Edit: I think that's how I originally found FL Studio and Reaper, come to think of it!