Home studio recommendation needed

Hi there!
 
tl;dr I'm looking for a home studio setup that is fun to use. I can totally see a scenario where I spend $1000 on the wrong stuff and stop making music right away cause it sounds bad. I'm not afraid in using a "complicated DAW" cause I've done that in the past for a while.
 
Please allow me to introduce myself with a quick "music" bio: I've been into making music for almost a decade back in the 90s/2000s. Back then I've used an old version of Cubase VST along side with some free plugins. I was pretty jealous towards a friend who had a complete home studio alongside with the recent Calkewalk, because I couldn't afford it. Unlike him I also made pretty bad music. :D
I stopped making music around the year 2005 because my wife and I started a family and I became selfemployed. So I totally lost track on whats' going on today, more than a decade later.
 
Now that I've settled and business is running well, but mainly due to the new "fair" pricing models of Cakewalk I'm considering to start with my old hobby again. I don't have a ton of money to spend so I'm interested in your opinions on what you think would be important for me.
 
What I own already:
- A very decent PC with an i7 6700k overclocked, 32GB of RAM, SSD, Terrabytes of storage and what not.
 
Main focus:
- I want to produce mainly "Minimal Dub" and "Ambient" music
- I don't need to record analogue music
- Want to go "all digital", I've sold most of my hardware and from my point of view most hardware would be pointless for me with the few exceptions mentioned below
- I want great sounding, virtual instruments with decent presets out-of-the-box
- Same for FX-plugins
- I know that I'm bad - so a good kind of "sound library" / premade midi loops is welcome
 
Nice-to-have:
- I want to be able to produce "jingles" / "intros" for Youtube videos as part of my main business
- I want to mix / post produce audio tracks for Youtube videos. Not sure if any of that's ever gonna happen anyway...
 
How should I split my budget?
- I need probably studio monitor speakers alongside with a fitting amp. Which budget monitors should I buy? Does the amp really matter for me?
- Do I need a separate sound card or can I go with the onboard sound chip (realtek)?
- Which version of Sonar would be good for me? I'd say "heck, Platinum, all the instruments" but I don't know if it's wise to spend most cash on that right away, especially cause of the "fluid upgrade possibilities" and I don't know if I really need platinum.
- I live in a noisy apartment so I don't know if "Mastering with headphones" is a thing - if so, please give hardware recommendations, too.
- EDIT: Do I need a keyboard? I'm not a very good keyboard player, more of a guitar player. Those small  2-octave-keyboards with some sampler-like pads seem appealing to me, but again I'm not sure if I really need that.
 
Thanks for your time and input and happy xmas holidays!
 
 

Ok thanks guys already for your answers, exactly what I was looking for.
 
So on the monitors again: Any specific recommendation? Pricing around $200, is that realistic? Consider that this will be a hobby for me mostly.
 
I also forgot to ask, are there any bundles that may fit my purpose? Like "soundcard + Sonar Software" bundle?

Just to let you all know, I'm working intensely through all your posts trying to find what's right for me (while searching google and youtube for all the different features with limited success).
 
A quick one on the room: The "noisy" refers mostly to bad insulation and even worse neighbours. That basically means I myself have to keep the volume low most of the time. I've tried to overcome with cork + carped, some studio foam diffusers, thick curtains etc. so probably not the worst conditions either.

Quick update: You people here have been wonderful and helping me out a lot!
 
So I now bought Sonar Professional and I must say I'm overwhelmed. Also in terms of quantity but more in terms of QUALITY - Effects, Instrumets, the mixer, ... it's a dream come true. And that makes it a lot of fun, it's addictive.
 
With xmas around the corner I will take my time with ordering the hardware stuff. But one thing I still miss right now:
Midi Loops!
 
What about the loop packs from the Platinum version. Are those any good? Can you purchase them separately?
 
I've been digging around the internet and collected lots of freebies and midi teaser packs. But I have to say most of them where of bad "musical" quality. Beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder, sure.
 
I didn't expect it to be that hard. Yeah, I can make my own tracks, and some of you may feel embarrassed for me, asking about premade loops. But please consider that I primarily want to have fun with Sonar, I wanna spend my time playing with sounds and plugins more than with the piano roll. I hope some of you can understand that. Be assured that I had more than 15 years of "proper musical instrument education" (guitar, flutes and trumpet), about 10 years of producing my own music, a few gigs and been listening on a daily basis to a super broad selection of music, electronic, metal, classical, scores, world music, etc. I made my choice consciously.   

 
For better understanding - this is from Magix Music Maker 2015, I got it as a freebie. The rest of the "DAW" is very limited (I didn't say awful) but I find this library really useful, especially when I want to play around with sounds. You can find drum or bass patterns with a click and just drag it on a track. Even content-wise the Magix Library isn't so bad, compared to the libraries I found on various websites.
 
I'd love to see that in Sonar, but I guess a well sorted library would also do. I know I won't get much love for asking about that, but this is a real time saver and much fun to play with. Also this would give beginners a head start. I could create one myself - and I'd rather do that than creating the same old drum patterns over and over again for years. I never wanna do that again. 
 
BTW: After playing with Sonar for a day I decided that my first step will be creating a handful of templates - something that was advertised to me during install. And I also can see the point of it. I've been creating channels with the same instruments and setups over and over again for years, this can take up to an hour easily.

Well I looked at Kontakt and the whole new "ecosystem" of Steinberg, I totally agree with you. For the sakes of flexibility alone I wouldn't want to use any of their recent tools. I'm always on the move, try new things, split, combine, remix... I don't like things that are this rigid / static. It reminds me of Apples strategy. Then there's the price tag. No friend of that. The tools may be awesome, but I think there are alternatives that let me be more creative and dynamic. 
 
Analog loops just don't cut it for me, I've used them for years, but they are as well, static, I wanna move a note, or a whole bunch of them, or just keep the "groove". WIth analog loops I always ended up building my whole song around that one drum loop. Tools got a lot better, allowing me to use analog loops in a more flexible manner, beat slicers, time stretchers etc. so it may be worth it for me to see things in a new perspective. But thanks for your input on that anyway, I don't even know what "acidized analog loops" are, so I definitely will give it a shot.

Cactus Music
You might want to check out our Software and the DEAL's forum here. I have gleened many great freebies by paying attention. Right now as example there is a free giveaway of Air Software at DJWORX. The file has so much content I have to wait until the end of the month as I'm sitting at 96% of my bandwith right now. I imagine a lot of it is midi loops. 

Thanks mate!!! Just place the order and get your key, I'll keep a copy for you in case you miss the time window.

If you live in a noisy apartment, forget serious monitors at home. Switch between good headphones, iPod style ear plugs and cheap computer speakers. M-Audio sell "monitors" for around $100, the tweeter seems to be common in many TV bar speakers. Most of your audience will be listening over gear like that.
 
Once you have something you want to seriously publish, grab your laptop and just rent some studio time. Most are struggling and will probably be happy to give you an hour or so. Do your last tweaks there. Mostly it will be things like too much bass.
 
I have M-Audios, Adams, Neumanns and 8" Yamahas with a subwoofer, and yet when I go to my friend's proper studio, with sound damping and enough space for correct positioning, I still pick up something I missed. And he has the exact same 8" Yamaha speakers!
 
Oh, and don't forget: Listen over various car systems!

cparmerlee
 
Any thoughts about how to find the right balance, considering that people are listening on such a wide range of technologies?
 

You need to find a baseline (no pun intended) for a flat frequency.  This is the best that a recording can do, considering we have no control over what listeners will use to play the music (anything from a costly studio setup down to 2 people sharing a pair of $10 earbuds).
 
I recently bought Sonarworks Headphone Reference software and a pair of headphones that are on their "tested models" list.  They have tested to see what frequences are changed, and basically have an EQ preset to compensate for the headphones' unique style.  In theory, this gives the user a flat baseline which will give a best average sound for recordings that will then be played on sources out of your control.
 
Sonarworks also has a "room compensator" that i've never used but should do the same thing.  In my old home, I used KRK Ergo, which measures the frequency responses from many points in the room, and then EQ's out the oddities to (in theory) give you that balanced room.
 
This is one of the hardest components of a recording, for me anyway, and probably the main reason that some musicians will still use a "pro" studio that's been designed for proper acoustic response (and costing a fortune to build).