Like the subject, can you guys recommend a Windows equivalent of Logic Pro X? This is for my brother who wants to compose music with guitar in conjunction with his band member buddies who use Logic Pro X, but he has a Windows laptop. I guess he needs to swap files with his buddies if that is doable.

The laptop is a year old and reasonably high spec.

Thanks

Sonar and Cubase are the two audio programs that come to mind. Plus Vegas, which is known for video, but initially there were Vegas Video and Vegas Audio projects and they merged.

I've used Sonar, and it's pretty good, though frankly, I would use Sony Vegas for straight audio recording and mixing and would use Sonar mainly for MIDI.

I tried a Cubase demo, but it didn't seem to match the way my mind is wired, so I dropped it before learning it. Some love it, but I can't speak to it.

If he's doing straight audio recording and mixing without MIDI and samples, and might want to do some music videos too, Vegas might be the thing. If he wants MIDI, samples and all that Sonar or Cubase...

The Vegas audio tools are quite substantial and support both VST and DX plug-ins and as good as most DAWs though it never supported MIDI or VSTi. Vegas 1.0 originally by Sonic Foundry was audio only. 'VegasCreativeSoftware' is now owned by MAGIX Software GmbH, the current version is Vegas 14. FWIW, Acid the original looping software, also developed by Sonic Foundry, supports MIDI and has video PB for audio-for-video post.
Reaper could be considered and was based on the Vegas platform by Justin Frankel (WinAmp).

Regarding ACID, it's great for loops and samples, but the last time I tried it with MIDI, it was not an acceptable solution. I use Sonar for MIDI projects.

ACID can be a bit weird to use for straight recording, unless you do it strictly to a metronome. Its loop-based nature really wants everything to be on the clock. It can be done though. That said, you can give it to a seven year old and they can create music with it. Seriously. Drop loops onto various tracks and music comes out. It's brilliant for processed "mechanical" music.

Vegas really is great as a multi-track recorder. It's powerful, straightforward, and reliable.