As a person who has used Acid and Cubase for 6 years and Sonar for 3, I agree Abelton is confusing....to me. I have learned Acid, Cubase and Sonar, which treat audio visually linearly. When I helped a friend get up and going with the Abelton that he got with his Line 6 Tineport.... I was lost! I honestly had to relearn everything I knew about sequencers. The arraangement page is a huge departure from the Cubase/Acid/Sonar idium. That said, I have heard awesome music produced with it, and I am sure after your learning curve has straightened out, you will not be able to live without it. For me... I will stick with what I know and concentrate on the music. Sometimes, the more tools you have, the less time you spend learning how to use them properly and the less time you actually concentrate on YOUR music.