Best: -My Godin Grand Concert Multiac SA
-1970's Fender Super Reverb
Worst:-Guitar Center cables-Don't get me started!!
-T Racks stanalone-could never get anything I liked from it no matter how hard
I tried-very dissapointing.
I'll probably be back to make another installment.
pete

One more> Micro Logic AV and Logic Audio Gold. They were my best friends but they have abandoned me. I was saved by Sonar.

Best:

Sonar, Dimension Pro
UAD-1 card
Reason (including the the following refills: Bitword Wavefront and XSynth)
Ivory
Stylus
EZ Drummer (except the DKFK and Percussion expasions)
BFD.

Moving to the best of the physical realm:
Yamaha U1 piano
Nord Electro 73
Manley EQ and compressor
Dynaudio BM15 speakers
Grace Preamps.

Worst:

EWQL Colossus. It certainly did not deserve the "Key Buy" award that Craig Anderton gave it in a magazine review...which prompted me to buy it. A lot of wanky velocity-switched patches that are difficult to control).

Yamaha P80 digital piano, which is OK on its own but 100 is the highest velocity value it will transmit via MIDI which makes it useless as a controller.

ORIGINAL: jsaras

Worst:
EWQL Colossus.

That kind of surprises me. I can't think of a better go-to sound set, really. But yeah, if you're heavy into some particular instrument or another, you'll want something dedicated just to it.

On the subject of softsynths, I'd like to offer a nod of approval to EW's Ra. And not just for "way-out-there" "ethnic" instruments - its Hardanger Fiddle is the only sampled violin I've ever found that sounds like an honest-to-god solo violin recorded by a real live musician, and not a smooth, syrupy orchestra or a mellow and too-perfect Hollywood score.

That stuff may be great for classical, but to me those violinists-found-in-amber-and-recorded-by-angel-engineers samples just don't fit in with other styles.

BEST:SONAR( but not version 6, way to many bugs), vox tonelab, edirol ua5, acer 19" lcd monitor, fxpansion dr008(rock solid stability), Carvin Allan Holdsworth humbucker pickup

WORST:Microsoft Vista 64 bit, EMU 1212m

whoops I left off one very important worst purchase, second only to Vista 64bit:Giga Studio(you can't rewire a TURD) CAN I GET AN AMEN!!!!!

Bests:
1939 Hammond Model D with 1962 Leslie - Many years ago I had traded my brand new Korg M1 and flight case for these. I've since modified them and I can just sit there and play them for hours...sheer ecstacy!

Soundscape mixtremes - I bought my first one in 1998. Anybody still using the same sound card that they had in 1998? 16 ins/16outs, 24 bit and drivers supported by even the newest Windows?

A flat panel touch screen - saves me hours of mousing around. I can't beleive these aren't more common!

Roland JV880 w vintage keys - Only a handful of presets that I use but wow, very distinctive sound.

Korg O1/w - I'll never let this one go.

Korg Triton LE88 - This board's presets just inspired the heck out of me - the action is awesome. Strangely, the acoustic piano sounds are horrible and some notes are even out of tune. But the rest of the sounds are lovely, go figure?

Yamaha TG77 - one of the most powerful and expressive synths ever made. Yeh, you gotta be a total geek to program it but hey, that's what I am...

Yamaha p150 and p200 digital pianos - if you gotta go portable digital piano, they are close enough to the real thing. And very durable.

Yamaha PSR9000 - A wonderful GM synth with 128 note polyphony and for midi tracks, it's hard to beat. Works great with Sonar.

Sonar - of course.

Adobe Audition - for all stereo mastering and editing.

Reason - I never get tired of the posibilities. I've sampled most of my drum machines and use Reason's sample players. Love Subtractor.

Shure KSM32's, SM58's, SM57's, beta58, beta57

AKG shotgun mics (circa 1972 which I use for drum overheads)- every drummer I have come in here tries to take them from me!

JBL control5 speakers - studio workhorses. I love them because I have used them since 1992 and know them so well. And I have Yamaha NS10m's which I love/hate.

I could go on...1963 Fender Strat, JP8, TR808, TR909, TB303, trading my Simmons drums for REAL drums, Alesis HDR24...

Worsts:
Yamaha TX16W - I'm a geek but this damn sampler kicked my ass. So much potential, so f'n convoluted that it was impossible to use.

I guess I have a few others but I'll have to get back with you on that! I've been a gear junkie for sooo long.

ORIGINAL: oldsneakers

Traded a Teac 2 channel reel to reel tape deck in 1974 for a 69 Gibson Les Paul Custom. Still got the Les Paul. I imagine the tape deck is in a land fill somewhere.

OMG I hate you! No but really, who was the sucker?
Best;
Sonar, DAW software that does audio and midi and works? wow.
Moogerfooger lowpass, its the water.
Digidesign R1-$50 on ebay, makes a great transport control for Sonar.
Ovation Magnum (solidbody electric bass), one of my all time favorite basses hands down.
Mesa Bass 400, I stopped blowing things up and just got plain LOUD!

Worst
Lexicon core 2 audio card, when it worked it sounded excellent. But the drivers were ass and caused numerous crashes, Lexicon told me to get stuffed with my AMD system. They only supported Intel chips on Intel chipsets. Sorry no refund.
Ampeg svt 450th-blew about 10 speakers before I realized the head was cursed. Solid state drools, Tube heads rule! But the chorus sounded good.
Tascam DP-1 (I think?) portable "pro" dat. Died one week after warranty expired. Bastards.
Community CSX57- there is no amount of EQ that will make these sound good. The physics of the horns make sure that no 2 people in the audience hear the same thing. Heck no 2 ears in the audience!

ORIGINAL: calaverasgrandes

Community CSX57- there is no amount of EQ that will make these sound good. The physics of the horns make sure that no 2 people in the audience hear the same thing. Heck no 2 ears in the audience!

Now that is the funniest true thing I have ever read.

ORIGINAL: craigwilson
Soundscape mixtremes - I bought my first one in 1998. Anybody still using the same sound card that they had in 1998? 16 ins/16outs, 24 bit and drivers supported by even the newest Windows?

Yep, still using my WavecenterPCI. I think I got that in '98.

[best]
Yamaha TG77 - one of the most powerful and expressive synths ever made. Yeh, you gotta be a total geek to program it but hey, that's what I am...

[worst]
Yamaha TX16W - I'm a geek but this damn sampler kicked my ass. So much potential, so f'n convoluted that it was impossible to use.

Waaaiit. The TG77 is a best, but the TX16W is too convoluted? I'd say that the TG77 is just as convoluted. Yamaha has a knack for producing some pretty great synths that are virtually impossible to program.

As for my bests and worsts... I've got some things that I like, but nothing that I can't live without. I would say the M-Audio Audiophile 2496 stands out for "just working". It's not the best sounding card out there, but it has worked reliably for years, and its control panel/mixer applet is pretty useful. Plus, it supports ac3 passthrough, so I can verify my ac3 encodes.

For my worst, one product stands out. Adobe Audition 2.0. I absolutely love version 1.5, but 2.0 is a bloated buggy pig. It won't playback reliably, is slow to start up, and they changed some user interface elements so that they don't respond to the keyboard anymore. I rarely use it, I mostly stick with 1.5.