Best:

API A2D (Top tier preamp and conversion in one package!)
RME FF800 (Incredible reliability, qaulity, flexibility)
Martin D-35 (An acoustic "canon")
RODE K2 (Amazing mic for the money)
Samplitude 9.1.1. Professional (I love SONAR 6, but the EULA bothers me enough to take it down from "best" to merely "better", and Samplitude's editing and render capabilities are still without peer, IMHO).
Frontier Tranzport (Wireless DAW control for under $200? Say no more)
Mackie Big Knob (OMG, how did I live without it...no more mouse jockey for switching inputs and outputs!)
Adde later: AKG K701 cans (...simply astonishing.)
UAD-1 (Can't live without 1176LN, EMT 140 and Fairchild)

Adobe Audition 2.0 ... is slow to start up

This is true of all Adobe products for some reason - even the good ones. Like they're trying to dump the entire HDD into RAM.

In ear monitors. In a way they are really good, as long as you don't have to speak to anyone else on stage, speak to anyone in the audience, or want to hear the room without connecting an additional mic for the room. If anyone knows of a cheap fix for this, please let me know. $200 up in smoke...live an learn.

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.

same here! I hope they fix aa2.0, I really like the analysis tools...

Yamaha has a knack for producing some pretty great synths that are virtually impossible to program.

You got that right, tarsier. Every Yamaha product I've ever owned was exasperating to program, or to even navigate the UI. And my standards of user-friendliness are pretty low (I started out programming assembly code in octal).

Their user documentation is poorly organized and obviously written by engineers who don't get out much. They'd do well to hire away a couple tech writers from Roland.

That said, my current main instrument is a Yamaha MO8 and it still tops my list of all-time best-purchases.

For my worst, one product stands out. Adobe Audition 2.0

I have to break ranks with you on this one, though. I like AA2 and use it a lot. I have never had any problems with it. Yes, it's clearly a work in progress and Adobe is more interested in making it part of a larger suite than in making it faster and/or easier to use. But it has been reliable for me - I'll have to see what direction version 3 takes it. If it gets more bloated with useless features, bells and whistles then I may have to look elsewhere.

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.

I don't mind a certain amount of complexity, to me FM synthesis makes pretty good sense. The TX16W's achitecture was just wrong. I can't even explain it cause it made very little sense to me. Akai, Ensoniq and many others at the time, as well as most modern sampler plugins have a relatively simple design.

Oh, and I kinda meant a little bit of humor using the word "convoluted" since the TX16W used "convolution filters". Hardy har har... ok, not sooo funny I guess.

Best:
Sonar 6.2.1
Spectrasonics Stylus RMX with SAGE expanders
Any soundcard by Echo
Line 6 POD XT

Worst:
Yamaha DSP Factory
TC Electronics Konnekt 24D
IK Sampletank (worst copy protection implementation ever)

Best:


Ableton Live
Reason 3.0.5/Recycle 2
Mac Quad Core
Self Built PC
Korg Triton
Various E-MU Modules/Proteus X2
MPC 2000XL/4000
Fantom XR
Atmosphere/Stylus RMX/Trilogy
Nexus
Battery 3



Worst


Fostex VM200 Mixer...only because I've barely used it...


Absolute Worse:


Cubase SX...

BEST:
SONAR, Reason 3.0 , Sound Forge 8.0, RealGuitar 2L, Spectrasonics Trilogy, Ueberschall Liquid Instruments, Rapture, ReFX Slayer 2, Wizoo Darbuka, NI Elektrik, NI FM8, Reason Pianos. AND of Course EDIROL Orchestral.
Worst:
(i did not purchase, i tried them somewhere else)
ALL Steinberg VSTi's (AVG, VGEE, Plex, D'cota, Hypersonic, etc....)
my first soundcard (Creative SB Live!)
Plugsound 1-6
i cant remember more because i instantly try to forget traumatic experiences

Absolute Worse:


Cubase SX...

Amen