I play guitar (pretty damned well) and that’s why I first got into recording on my PC. I was sceptical about digital recording back then (1997) but was amazed at the quality straight away.

I’d been using a portable four track and well, it was shown right up. The bonus of being able to digitally edit my tracks in the non destructive kind of way meant I knew I’d never go back to tape.

Then a seedy friend of mine know as ‘Leon’ showed me Rebirth. I loved it at once and still rate it as the best Soft Synth ever, ever! I think it’s because it makes me nostalgic, but I’d still back it in a fight. The size of the sound is amazing, I know it sounds dated but I think it’s still a ‘must have’.

Reason is a fantastic application as well. It is so cheap for what you get (yes I do own a registered version). The sound quality may not be the very best, but the ability to knock up the bones of a tune with little effort makes it the starting point of most of my tracks.

It also has the first software sampler I’ve ever owned, now considering I used to think the piano on my sound card was ‘alright’, you can see why I was blown away by it. I don’t work for Steinberg or propellerhead but in the "Software versus Hardware" battle, its soft synths for me any day. They are so cheap, and don’t take up any room.