A digital audio workstation or DAW is a combination of hardware and software that allows for the recording, editing and playback of digital audio. Typically designed to record multiple audio tracks independently, DAWs are used both by professional recording studios who have switched from analog to digital recording as well as home enthusiasts and amateur musicians as prices for both hardware and software have dropped dramatically in recent years.

The hardware component of a DAW is typically a type of audio conversion unit which accepts input from a sound generating device and plugs into the computer, converting the analog audio source to digital or passing through audio from a digital source to be recorded by the software component. The software allows independent manipulation of specific tracks in order to cut, modify or rearrange sections of tracks, apply various effects such as reverb, delay and others, play back specific tracks while muting others, and much more. While typically almost any computer can be made to act as a DAW via the use of now very cheap equipment, the term is generally taken to refer to high-powered computer systems connected to high quality analog-to-digital and digital-to-digital conversion hardware, often dedicated specifically to the task of recording audio.