ORIGINAL: jinga8

And do those count as "hardware" or "software" or maybe "nagware"...

Actually, I looked it up... "Gimme, gimme, gimme!-ware"

Gimme, gimme, gimme!-ware

Hey that sounds like a good line for a song.

What about "Hardware - It counts!"

Sorry, I know this is an old thread (but it is a really good read), I don't get here much but here's my contribution...

Worst:
A Roland GR700 + GR707 guitar synth - Sounded ok. But the tracking and tuning......especially live under hot lights and sweaty fingers......more screaching than an eagle with it's knob in a vice. And they even had the nerve to put a whammy bar on there!!!

Gigastudio - promised loads, delivered nothing (except an overdraft) for me although others swear by it.

Marshall TSL100 2 x 12 combo - bought for studio use but spent most if it's life back at Marshall. Sounded pants too IMHO.

A VW Sharan 1.9 TDi - a little off topic I know, but it needs to be shamed in public. There, I feel better already.

Best:
A Fender US Deluxe Strat - pure s*x to look at and hold, so much variation in tone and character, and when played through my Marshall DSL50 + 2 x (4 x 12) cabs cranked up = sheer heaven (well for me anyway).

MOTU Ultralite - After a ropey experience and putting up with M-Audio for 3 years, 3 months of absolutely no problems whatsoever and a whole brand new CD done in a fraction of the time it used to take.

Sonar 6 - Enough said really, not perfect but IMHO still the best.

Line6 PodXT - a liberating piece of kit. I use nothing but valve amps (maybe I'm a snob but I honestly think they sound better) but this unit, especially for the money, is absolutely great for quick silent recording sessions. I work at odd hours so a mic'd amp is not an option, but you know what it's like, when you've got to play, you've got to play!!!

Many thanks for reading this rubbish - all the best to you.

SB

Superbirch,

If you like the PodXT Pro, but miss the sound of mic-ing up your cab... try using a Palmer PGA 4. It's not an amp simulator, but a cab simulator. It allows you to crank up your own amp and record YOUR SOUND directly into your DAW.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.asp?m=802361

Use it all the time here. Love it. I recommend.

ORIGINAL: SteveD

Superbirch,

If you like the PodXT Pro, but miss the sound of mic-ing up your cab... try using a Palmer PGA 4. It's not an amp simulator, but a cab simulator. It allows you to crank up your own amp and record YOUR SOUND directly into your DAW.

http://forum.cakewalk.com/fb.asp?m=802361

Use it all the time here. Love it. I recommend.

Hi SteveD

Thanks for that link, definitley going to check that out!!!

SB

The worst thing I ever bought was a vice with an eagles knob in it. It sounded just like my guitar playing. Best purchase was my bike. My guitars go out of tune everytime I turn the tuning pegs and my amp thinks somebody else should be playing through it. Apart from that Sonar works. I just have to summon up some enthusaism

BEST: M-Audio Delta 44. Bought it in 1999 and it's still going strong - in fact, it's the oldest electronic device in my house.

WORST: Shure Beta57a. Takes the life and sparkle out of everything.

Best: RME FireFace 800, Sonar Producer, Sony Oxford Plugs, Voxengo plugs, Dimension Pro, Ampeg SVX (and all of my hardware Ampeg gear!!!), Alphatrack

So-so: BCF2000 (worked ok, but the alpha track is MUCH better and easier to use). ART MPA Gold... sounds great but the light bulbs inside keep blowing and it's a pain in the *** to change them, Behringer UltraGain Pro (guess I was being cheap)

Worst: None yet!!! I've been lucky!

Best purchase is usually my most recent acquisition is, whatever that may be. There is this wonderful interval during which you're happily exploring all the new features but haven't yet smacked up against major limitations and disappointments.

At the moment, my favorite new toy is Jamstix, which I'm having a blast with.

Best:
1991 Carvin DC127 (Worked all summer in high school to afford it and I still use it all the time)
Mesa Mark IV (bought used and beat up for cheap and then fixed it up. LOVE it.
Sonar 4, 5, soon to be 6 (and 7)
building a small studio in the garage (see pic in the avatar)
Voxengo mastering suite.
Weber Mass attenuator

Worst:
Digitech dsp256. Looong time ago.
$99 GC special Epiphone bass. (but nice or buy twice...learned that one)
Line 6 pod 2.0 Sounds like some people can get good tone out of these, but I apparently am not one of them...

Erik

0.Many of these are not actually purchases. I typically get musical goodies at Christmas from my wife (yes - some marriages actually work and we still like each other after 8 years), so many of these, she purchased.

Best:
VDrums and all the upgrades - most recently the TD-20 brain, which I really Love for its variety, simplicity, midi capabilities, etc
Sonar 6PE (or prev versions, but so far, of course, 6 is the best)
My Line6 Stuff - I've got a variax 500 guitar, 705 Bass (5-string), the Toneport UX2 and the Gearbox VST plugs - I just like all their stuff, and there's always something to dislike, but I generally don't find it in these. Their quality surpasses my abilities, being primarily a drummer.
Contour Shuttle Pro V1, when it worked right in XP with the "old Sonar plugin"
Sonik Synth 2 - Lots of good sounds (though some a few bugs) for just about any keyboard/synth sound you could generally need, with lots of tweaking options and stacking, evolving things that can be done with it. It's fun just to play around with it, even if not record. Sample Tank 2 is in this same class, though I think I like the sound library of Sonik Synth2 better, the interface and updates are better for ST, which can open the SS2 library anyway, and SS2 has a new version now that has 16 parts multi-timbral, etc.

So-so:
BCF2000 - I generally really like this and want to like it. I need to make some overlay templates so I don't FEEL like I'm using something so generic - and so infrquently that it's always a bit of a learning curve to get into again, so I fall back to the mouse and worsen the cycle.

Worst:
Contour Shuttle Pro - Under Vista, it isn't as cool because a. if Sonar is not in focus, it starts to control another app, which I can't seem to stop it from doing, and if I could, it still would do nothing instead of controlling Sonar unless Sonar was in focus, and b. because the shuttle/jog can't be set to a resolution below "measure" and it just moves to fast that way and not to the places I usually like to shuttle to - like a measure and a half before I want to start recording to give pre-roll and an even measure of the tune before I have to go - or something like that.
added: this is not THAT bad - I just don't really have a lot of crappy purchases. I guess the Peavey 1600x fader controller was a bad one - the product was ok, but the usefulness of non-motorized faders and nothing like ACT around, it just sat there.