So I used to be heavily into music production and sound design more than 10 years ago. I used to be on this forum also. I stopped for various reasons and different priorities. I am looking into possibly starting up again as a hobby, or at least winter time hobby, maybe even something I can do with my kids.

As someone who has been completely disconnected from the scene I am not sure where to start, which daw to get, which good plugins are available for free these days etc. So I would really appreciate some advice.

Back in the days I used Ableton live and Studio 1 as daws. I think I would want to use Ableton again, possibly even get a second hand Push. Is Ableton available to get for free, like a nice stable version? It wasn't a problem 10 years ago, I wonder if that stayed the same. And also, if I get Push, will it work with a free full version of Live?

Also in terms of plugins, I guess I wonder if some of the ones that used to be good back in the days are still around, like Native instruments, Sound toys (I remember there used to be some issues trying to get newest versions of those available, I wonder if that has changed). I used various synths, of the top of my head Vanguard (which was a bit buggy), Waldorf Attack, sylenth, Predator... Are those still available and can be run as stable plugins?

And also, have there been new plugins worth of note?

I would appreciate your input on these questions and anything else you think I should be aware of just starting out (again).