Q: what advantages are there in using a DAW over audacity/garageband? am i missing out on anything huge?
A: perhaps it's me missing something, because i thought both those things you mentioned are in fact DAWs. i don't tend to use that term because it feels pretentious, but if those 2 you mentioned actually don't count then it's even more pretentious than i thought. in which case, the advantage, of course is the prestige