doubleshotmaestro

This is the quintessential music producer starter-pack. It Has everything you need (other than a DAW) to make computer-based music. Whether you want to be the next EDM superstar, or a classical film composer, this has everything you need to get started. My favorite features are FM8, Absynth 5, and Guitar Rig for sure!

A power conditioner is one of those boring, grown-up purchases that everyone needs to make. It serves nothing towards your creativity or skills, nor does it have any interesting functions. But its among the most important purchases to be made in your studio. To make a comparison, a power conditioner is to your gear what insurance and regular maintenance is to your car. It isn't exactly a fun buy, and hopefully never necessary, but It has your back when you need it. Furman makes an exceptional product.

This is an absolute essential in any plugin library. It has the possibility of subtle saturation, or extreme, over-driven, bit-crushing madness, and everything in-between. Multi-band plugins are becoming more and more popular, but out of all of them, this is certainly in my top 3 most essentials.

Okay, my title is a bit misleading. Having used Massive for such a long time, I still tend to use it a lot, just because I know how it all works under the hood. There is a ton of learning to be done to understand Serum. But when you do, your possibilities are truly limitless. It's the most expensive sounding (and looking ;) soft-synth I've ever had the pleasure of using, and I couldn't give it a more stellar recommendation.

I love analogue hardware as much as the next guy. Sometimes, It's inconvenient/inaccesable though, and Nothing ever seems to capture the sound and soul quite right; Until now. Synth Squad is an incredible, and straightforward collection of virtual instruments, with focus on every detail, including the accurate representation of analogue synthesizers. Certainly among the best sounding virtual synthesizers money can buy.

It's one of the most expensive DAWs on the market. And there is a clear reason for it: The layout, efficiency, and workflow have been ingeniously thought out, and prepared for use by anyone in the music industry. It is a learning curve, especially coming from other mixer-based DAWs, but its worth every second of that. The effects, and included instruments and libraries are all professional grade, with a very simple ease of use. Certainly the most important tool in my studio.

I love how clean and revealing these are. They have so much depth to their sound, It's like an incredible pair of super tiny studio monitors. They reveal every little detail in my music. I'm beyond pleased.

They're tough, sound good, and will last forever. There's nothing I could say about them that hasn't already been said.

I like these a lot. I don't consider them studio-grade, super accurate headphones. But they were never made to be. They're super rugged, loud, comfortable DJ headphones ready to stand up to any thing a nightclub could throw at it. I don't DJ very much anymore, so they do make excellent general listening headphones as well (I don't always want the analytical power of my monitors/IEMs). All in all, they're a solid purchase.

I can't talk highly enough of these. They're German made. They're from a company with a stellar reputation. They're beyond comfortable. And most importantly, they sound phenomenal. By far, the best reference-level headphones for under $500 if you ask me.

It does everything I need, and more which is great, but I just don't love it. It seems slightly over-hyped. The UAD plugins are amazing and all, however, I hate being tethered down to a piece of hardware to use my plugins when I travel. It sounds really good, and has awesome conversion, and Preamps, but I feel like It's just not the interface for me when all is said and done.

I compared these with several monitors within their price range (KRK Rokit 8s, Persons Eris, Yamaha HS8, etc..), and each time I use them, I'm blown away. They've certainly raised the bar for budget-range monitors. The sweet-spot is among the widest I've heard in any monitors in any price range, also!

I'll be honest, I rarely use this for more than super-saws (Which it excels in, by the way), however, It's a tremendous option to add into any performance or studio rig. It has a simple, to-the-point layout, which doesn't require much of a learning curve. It isn't my go-to, but its still an excellent option, especially considering the price.

This was my first synthesizer, and I wouldn't easy part with it. Its incredible for the newbie to learn on, as well as a great addition to the collection of a seasoned pro. Must-have!