i feel that what u sample on makes a difference...but it is all about getting what u want and some get what they want on what they feel most comfortable with......i use nuendo and reason...when i first started i used e-jay2
Acid pro 4.0 is a good way to chop the samples and use whatever hardware you use for the beats, also cool edit is pretty good, my friend has it, you can add some effects and filter stuff right out on there.