iBizzet

The best program made even better. Ableton has always been able to optimize my workflow and the upgrade to 10 only made it faster. Putting groups within groups is one feature that has completely changed my approach to mixing and applying effects on bus groups instead of individual tracks. I use Echo, Wavetable, and Pedal a lot more than I thought I would. Wavetable is like a CPU-light Serum once you learn how to use it. You can use it for basic sounds much faster than Serum without my computer wanting to kill me. I would highly recommend the upgrade to anyone currently using Ableton 9, it's worth the cost, assuming that you put enough time into it to get your money's worth.

My portable interface. I bring the 2i4 anywhere as part of my portable studio. Since it's the largest Scarlett that doesn't require an external power source, you can bring it anywhere and power it with your laptop. Has an amazing sounding DAC and a powerful headphone amp, and two Scarlett preamps that can run almost any mic with tons of headroom. Would recommend to anyone looking for a rugged interface with fantastic preamps, latency, and headphone amp.

Best studio/DJ companion. With Ableton, this is the best controller to trigger clips and mix your session live OR in the studio. I use this at small DJ gigs (weddings, reunions, graduations), or anywhere they need tracks/sound effects with flawless transitions. The APC40 MkII is a fantastic alternative to decks while DJing. You might not look as cool, but you can DJ just as well on an APC-40 as you can on CDJ's for 1/10th of the price.

These hold my KRK's wherever I go and always are super sturdy and reliable. I've been through a lot of crappy stands, but these will stick with my my whole life.

My favorite babies. If you know me, you know these headphones. They've been absolutely EVERYWHERE with me, and every tune I've ever made was mixed and mastered on these headphones. The M50x's are built like tanks and can take a beating, all while looking beautiful and sounding fantastic. Highly recommend to anyone looking for the best-in-all-cases headphones. I can't stress enough how important it is to get to know your monitors and headphones rather than upgrading. If you know your headphones' frequency response like the back of your hand, you will be able to train your ears to mix and master like a professional using $20,000 monitors in a treated studio.

Serum is without a doubt a must-have in any aspiring sound designers. It offers an easy interface to learn about sound design while also making it fun to create new patches. Completely worth the price, and if you can learn this plugin inside and out, you'll be capable of tackling and genre with ease.

Best in certain cases. It can't do everything other soft-synths can do, but it does very well what it is meant for, being a clean-sounding subtractive synthesizer. Massive is where I learned sound design and it helped me understand basic techniques including Filters, FM Modulation, LFO's, and Wavetables. Would reccomend to anyone looking for a user-friendly way to create crazy sounds without overloading your CPU.

Best for chords and pads. Sylenth has the best sound when it comes to polyphonic midi inputs and is my go-to with any tune that emphasizes chords and atmospheric pads. Worth the price, would recommend to anyone who wants a powerful, clean sound.

Can't master without it anymore. This plugin is an all-in-one mastering suite, and it lives up to it's price. I use this at the end of every track to trick listeners into thinking I got my tunes mastered professionally. Mastering without Ozone is nearly impossible to me now that I've gotten to know this plugin.

The Perfect EQ. Everything about this EQ is perfect. The sound, the look, the features, the workflow. I love this EQ because, although I use it mostly for subtractive EQing, the additive EQ sounds super transparent, especially in the higher frequencies. I'd recommend getting to know whatever EQ you have already, but if you have the money to spend, get to know this one instead and it will most likely improve your production quality.

Editing vocals becomes fun with this plugin. I use this to pitch-correct my vocals, and I don't try to hide it. I know I don't have the pitch I want, and this plugin can correct that without it sounding too artificial, and sometimes giving my voice a cool formant-shifting effect. Would recommend to anyone who doesn't feeling going all the way with Melodyne, but still wants to have fun working with their vocals.

Fattens up all my sounds. I know, it's a meme. But I can't help but use this when I'm stumped on making my sounds fatter. I'll try distortion, reverb, EQ, but sometimes all it needs is a turn on the fatness knob and my instrument suddenly fits in the mix as if it was magic. Worth the price, can completely change your workflow in terms of audio processing.

This is endless creation. Shaperbox allows you to change a sound into something completely different, in a good way. Sometimes you feel like your stuck to making the same sounds over and over again, and this can change that. Depending on your knowledge of the plugin, you can either use it to do some simple sidechaining, or you can real-time warp your audio to get a "stretch" sound effect. This can be a creative lifesaver, when you've hit a block and all you need is a new sound to get you inspired again. Would recommend to anyone looking to improve production quality.

I've put trash on some tracks right before I'm about to delete them, and created sounds that ended up being the staple of the tune. Working around the presets can be super exciting, to see how much you can change the original sound. Trash 2 is the type of plugin that makes people hear your sounds and go "how the f**k did they make that?" Highly recommend.

Saturn is actually my backup distortion behind Trash 2 and Ableton's Saturator, but it has proven itself useful many different times. The multi-band controls are the best I've ever used and can be such a relief to use an plugin with an interface that is this easy to navigate.

I will never need another piano again. This upright piano is worth every penny and then some. The first time I played a song on the Gentleman Demo I bought it within 5 minutes, and haven't looked back. The Gentleman is on every song I've ever made, and has proven to be my go-to compared to any other piano out there. The reason I love it so much is because of how emotional it sounds at low velocities. I almost exclusively play my piano on the soft side, and this can give you the chills if you can write the right chords and notes.

This thing hates me. I put it through so much, yet it continues chugging along. I got my Macbook without the intent of producing music. But after I started using Ableton, it has been through a lot. This little guy is my life, all of my passion, inspiration, and dreams are taking place on it. I'll eventually upgrade, but I love every inch of it.