djfriendzone

Perhaps one of the least expensive DAWs on the market (Save Reaper and Mulab), Logic is a real powerhouse and has lots of features that other DAWs don't have. Its ashame that its Mac only, and some of the plugins look a bit outdated, but its perhaps the most feature-ridden DAW I've ever used. The MiDI event window is especially powerful, and it comes with a ton of great sounds/synths (ES2 anyone?).

While its a bit pricey, there are tons of great expansions (Hollywood I and II, Dance Orchestra in particular), and it is really inspirational to dial up a sound and get started on a track. Fantastic for trance, and the pianos are quite good.

It seems like everyone who uses it has some reason for why they love it; some think it has an analog flavor, while others say it has a "virus-like" sound. Either way this synth is something special and quite quick to dial up patches!

Traktor Pro is arguable the best DJ software due to its wide support and modularity, and S4 MK2 integrates seamlessly with it. The S4 also works with Traktor DJ (for iOS), is well laid out. It would be nice to have extra hot cue buttons, however; I find myself using more than 4 on a regular basis.

Does exactly what it says: its a simple yet flexible way to create great sounding kick drums, and makes the process a lot of fun. Dance producers in general are always looking for "The Perfect Kick," and this plugin makes that journey a bit more attainable. You can even import your own samples. The only issues are that you can't drag samples from your DAW (that I'm aware of), so you actually have to manually find it, plus graphical overlays are not available to see where, for instance, the volume of the kick is relative to the pitch.

As a wise man on YouTube once said "And here, ladies and gentlemen, is the best software synthesizer in the world." This is probably due to the excellent modulation routing, the creator of which deserves a nobel prize because it's a lot of fun to try out new combinations of modulation. It can steer toward a colder, more edgy sound, however, so if you're looking for "warmth", additional post processing may be required. But if you're into EDM, you almost need this in order to follow the current trends. A lot of great resources and tutorials out there for this, too.

Really nice for mangling up sounds beyond recognition. Great randomizing features too for instant inspiration.

So many free patches; plus its easy to program and its a classic modeled after the Nord Lead 2.

Very nice sounding Compressor, especially for edgy stuff!

Man, this synth has some of the coolest features ever. You get two parallel synths running in sequence, easy pluck features, the ability import images and sound for resynthesis, and you even draw your own filters.

It make FM Synthesis way easier than it has any business being.

The dev. is a great dude and the synth is a powerhouse monster Perhaps too much synth power for any one person to wield at a given time.

Great sound, great synth, great people behind it! It has a very crisp yet warm tone to it that is fitting for electronic and includes some great filter types, onboard effects, and presets. Its a bit of a CPU hog though, so be careful when trying to run multiple instances.

Its a great piece of gear and it has transport controls which is a nice touch. The keys have a very nice springy "synth action" (like the Virus keys), and the whole thing is very lightweight and reliable.

Freaking love this thing. The true merriage of hardware and software!

I got it free from CM magazine. Its a real powerhouse, although its not as easy to program as to use the excellent presets...

It was cheap, but it sounds really nice and has some cool features like the G-Envelope and some nice filters and oscillators that make it a steal at its price.

Can't complain; it came with Studio One. I actually find this preferable to a giant mixer setup, since I don't have to search for the specific fader that is correlated with the track; it is automatically adjusted to the selected track. Also, the fader is motorized, which is a nice touch.

It came with Reaktor and is great for wobbly stuffs!

Its like Additive, Subtractive (does that cancel out?), and FM all in one. It has a neat unison engine and features separate AM and FM matrices similar to FM8. The GUI is a bit small, however.