Ardour vs. Audacity?

[Mark Stuart Burge]

I would definitely recommend ardour if you want to record multi track 
and have any level of control.
Audacity is great for single track recording and chopping the results 
up, filtering etc and then exporting, but when it comes to recording 
multiple parts, lining them up, mixing down, automating fades, pan and 
inserts then ardour makes it all easy.

The learning curve is not that huge if that is all you need to do. It 
just takes a little getting used to.

Ardour I think is heading in the direction of midi compatibility also, 
which will be great if they do get there, as it will save having to 
learn yet another application just for the the times when you need to 
use synths etc.

Also,  ardour is likely to be around for a long time, so it is worth 
your investment (in time and effort as well as hopefully financially to 
support the developers)