Worst: Gigastudio3

Best: Fireface800

Worst
Novation ReMote SL - I bought it so I can use it with Sonar, but Novation NEVER released an automap for Sonar (yet), while they released automaps for just about all the other major sequencers on the market.

Best
Edirol HQ Orchestral - Although I own highend orchestral libraries now, it was the one that got me started on orchestral writing, and I still use it a lot for sketchingt out ideas.

ORIGINAL: Clydewinder

Best : SONAR, Project 5 & Dimension Pro, Tranzport, Pod XT, my Voxengo Plugs, TC Powercore card, Rickenbacker 4003 Bass, AT4040 mic

Worst : Gigasampler ( ugh ), Lexicon Core 2 ( double ugh ), Pyro ( granted it was version 1.0 but it NEVER WORKED EVEN ONE TIME ), every Western Digital Hard Drive i have ever owned ( they are ALL dead now. )

Hello,

LOL. I completely forgot Pyro. I bought it early on. Yes, a piece of cr*p.

GK

ORIGINAL: buckybeen

If we're talking about all musical purchases...The best is my Mesa Boogie DC10 combo amp. The thing is a beast, and works like a champ gig after gig. The worst was a Boss modeling wah pedal, a real piece of junk. The piece I wish I never got rid of, a mid 70's Guild Polara S100, their version of the SG. I'll find a replacement someday.

My brother had that Guild SG, he got it in 73, his was all maple, probably the best SG i have ever played also.

Edit...

Nevermind....the buzz wore off and my senses are restored to normal.

Best,,, Sonik Synth 2, Sampletank, and Philharmonik. My go to sound source. I also got into a bunch of eSoundz Group buys for Sampletank sounds. I got into a lot of group buys, and felt I got a pretty good deal on every one I got into. I also bought a used Roland XP 60, which I love. I guess I have to add my DX7, which has been in my set up for around 20 years. It's been a reliable and good friend for all these years.

Tassman 4, FM7, Dimension Project 5, and V Sampler all are nice.

Worst,,, not many bad ones, but some that became "obsolete" quickly. My Ensoniq Mirage is the best example.

Best: Sonar, BCF2000

Worst: Edirol PCR-50 Midi Keyboard Controller (dead key issues within 3 months), BFD - OK if you are a drummer I guess but requires to much work to get anything useful out of it in my opinion.

Best:
Soft Synths - Rapture, Dimension Pro, Z3ta+, LinPLug's RM IV, Garritan Personal Orchestra, ReFX Vanguard, Pentagon.
Hosts - Sonar 6, Project 5 (2.5) Ableton Live.
Video & Audio editing - Avid Xpress Pro HD, Sony Sound Forge 9, CD Architect 5.2
Scoring - Finale.
Keyboards -Korg Kontrol 49 and an old Roland JV-30

Worst:
Synths - Sample Tank
Hosts - Acid Pro & Tracktion.
Video & Audio Editing - Adobe Premiere & anything by Pinnacle
Scoring - Encore
Keyboards - Edirol PCR-30 - Total garbage.

Sonik Synth 2, Sampletank

Had 2 demos on a free disk, but Sonik Synth crashed Sonar when I checked it out - I'll take a look at them again, if you think they're that good it. Maybe just a screwy install.

I've been buying and selling equipment for almost 25 years so I'll stick to the more recent stuff.

Best:

Cakewalk Pro Audio 9 -- it lead to Sonar 1 through 6 (and I can still unlock the mp3 encoder )!
Edirol PCR-800 -- great control surface, works great with ACT. Not the best keyboard action in the world, but you get used to it. I use it almost exclusively now.
Roland Fantom X6 -- installed the orchestral and vintage keys SRX boards. I'll probably have this synth forever.
William Coakley's Perfect Piano volume V -- loaded into the Fantom X6...it is my go to piano and it blows away the stock Fantom pianos
Yamaha S90ES -- great synth engine, great feeling keys, nice Sonar control surface for those times when I'm working a few feet away from the computer.
Spectrasonics Atmosphere, Trilogy & Stylus RMX -- great stuff...what else do I need to say?
Minimoog V -- pre-ordered this when it was announced. It was a big disappointment at first, but Arturia's updates inspired me to dig deeper and I've fallen in love with it.
GMedia MTron -- wonderful!
Voxengo -- whole bunch of things...best $700 I've spent on VST plugins.
Sonicprojects OP-X Pro -- OB-X emulation that sounds fantastic.

Worst:

OBTune -- a watered down, pace-ridden version of AutoTune that never worked on my computer.
SampleTank 2 & SonikSynth 2 -- bought ST2 at Guitar Center and crossgraded to SS2. The quality of the sounds is less than stellar (with a few exceptions) and the source sampling was sloppy. I have had these for years and the only sound I have ever used on a recording was an alto sax patch from ST2...it's pretty convincing.
NI B4 II -- foolishly upgraded the moment it came out. The Leslie simulation just plain sucks. I should have saved my $99 (especially since I have a new Korg CX3).
Roland VS-1680 -- bought this just before computers got powerful enough to record with. It was buggy and difficult to operate which detracted from its usefulness.
Pyro -- never worked...not even once.

I'm sure there are plenty of others in the "worst" category that I just can't think of right now...

Bill

Best: Sonar 1.0 (Those were the days). Tannoy System1200 monitors. Pro Tools HD

Worst: Behringer UB series mixers. Cakewalk Pro Audio 5 (Horr-i-bleee)

MOTU 2408 Mk3 + 424 (still won't work on my DAW)

Which begs the question:
What are you running for a DAW?

MOTU hardware was indeed more 'finicky' with mobo choice (at that point in time) than RME.
RME stuff is great... no doubt about it. Always has been... even before the Hammerfall/FF series
FWIW, I've been having very good luck with the new generation of MOTU hardware and current generation motherboards.
ie: Asus P5B-E or Gigabyte GA965P-DS3

The $300 charge does bite...
But... If you need an audio interface, that's less expensive than buying a new one.

There was a LOT of hardware that had issues with MP motherboards...

Thanks Jim...

I have been following a few other posts where you have given advice on systems - and I must admit I was nearly about to buy a system based on the following:

Core2Duo E6600
Asus P5B-E or P5K
2GB DDR2

That is until I done some further research and found that my 424 is actually a rev1 - therefore just as useless in a new dual system as it is in the current one!

So yeah - if i upgrade I suppose I better factor in the $300 Motu tax for the PCIe version of the 424...

(No such worries when I bought the fender rhodes - just replaced a few tines & gave it a tune up)

skeewiff

ORIGINAL: MurderDethKill

Best:
<snip>, ReFX Vanguard, <snip>

Must depend of the music you play. My friend has that, and I listened to every preset, and IMO, they all sounded like crap. Could see them working for trance though I guess.