Very, very general question: I'm relatively quick to learn, and I dislike learning dumbed down things and having to move up from there. I'm wondering what software is worth looking at (cost aside) for mixing, composing, etc, on the computer.

I realize there are different things for different needs, so this is a very general question which is open to being answered from any angle.

I've got a list of software in mind based on my own research, but I much prefer real world opinions from other people. Ex. What do you think of Sony acid pro.