torturecrush

First guitar I ever really fell in love with. Archtop + silver-plated strings is the sound of angels. Piezo pickup is mediocre at best, if you're going to record this thing you also want to mic the front too.

This thing pumps out a wide range of tones. Very versatile. Clean tone on the high end won't get twangy, but also doesn't get close to the brightness of a telecaster since this thing has a mahogany body and humbuckers - boosting highs can be useful for lead parts IMHO. Highly recommend playing with Ernie Ball's M-Steel or Cobalt line for a really full set of harmonics from this guitar.

It's warm and nice. Definitely required oomph from the preamp in a way other mics do not. I'm pretty satisfied with this mic but I will admit it took me a long time to really understand how to use it most effectively, and what preamps to pair it with.

If you can afford it, get it. It's fun to program and the possibilities are endless. Blind listening tests show people cannot tell the difference between this unit and the units it is modeling. Terribly efficient over time when you consider all the features and combinations possible.

Seriously, perfect combo. Just get it. I haven't even fucked around with any of the other onboard amp/cab modes because I'm so into the modeling of the Helix through the flat mode.

Warm, nice, pumps it out. Can't complain too much.

It's honestly been really solid for the price I paid. It survived a cross-continental move. The sound quality is good, the key weights are more than adequate in terms of feel, and a USB-to-MIDI cable means I can also use it as a controller. Sometimes I think it takes up too much space in my studio but whenever I sit down and remember how it feels I quickly forget about that.

Doesn't capture the essence of the original it's based on. Construction feels cheap. The plastic protector on it took the ink it was protecting right off when I unwrapped it! I'll probably use this in a few places for ear candy and then gift it to someone else. May consider trying to find myself an earlier Dubreq model instead. Love Stylophones in general as a concept though.

I swear by these when writing and doing early mixdowns. They're also my cans of choice when recording vocals. There isn't anything these babies can't do.

I love them. Not a bad thing I could say about them.

A really creative suite of plugins. I haven't even explored all of them yet. GOD that DECAPITATOR THO.

Very first saturator plugin I ever got into. It's simple and effective.

I don't know what else to say other than that.

I don't use this plugin as much as I used to now that I do most of my vocal mixing by hand, but Nectar does a fantastic job. If you have a vocal take that you know you want a simple treatment on and won't require a lot of individualized finesse, this is the plugin for that track. Set and forget.

As far as subtractive EQ goes, this plugin is a workhorse for mixing. Does alright with boosts too but they lack the flavor of analog gear, so I use them sparingly in favor of other EQs.

This Preamp + EQ can make almost anything sparkle if you know what you're doing.

Great for catching sibilance of any kind, on any instrument. I treat snares and hats with this to remove harshness all the time.

Saved so much time when it comes to vox pre-processing. Compressors added after end up being more about flavors.

Pairing this with my Rode NTK I can get some really nice sizzle. I see a lot of potential for this EQing rock mixes.

Far superior recording/comping interface, latest features make it pretty competitive with Ableton in a lot of ways it wasn't before.

I have a great songwriting workflow in Ableton. I also love that this DAW has a content browser that I find extremely customize-able and usable compare to other DAWs.

I switch between DAWs and I'm too chicken shit to do a live show at this point in my journey, so I might end up selling this. It won't be because it's a bad piece of kit though. This tool is so deeply integrated with Ableton in such a thoughtful way you can compose entire tracks, sets etc. all without every touching the computer.

I never thought I'd feel grateful to have spent $200 on a piece of foam, but this piece of foam absolutely changes the game. Definitely adds a little boxiness, but you were always going to do a subtle cut in 300-500 range to remove mud and increase clarity anyways, right?

Fantastic starter interface, but if you really get into music production you will outgrow it quickly.

It is beautifully designed but it's capabilities are massively overstated. The FX modules are great, the synth modules are solidly OK, the recording/comping interface is a nightmare. This unit is also prone to grounding issues when you have both the 1/8" jack and USB power in use at the same time - good luck trying to play live.

Save yourself some time and just get a Focusrite 2i2.

Not glamorous but understated. A great practice amp and you get some excellent grit when you overclock it.