No. 1
27 artistsEmpirical Labs
DistressorUsed by Kenny Beats, Elise Trouw, Ash Soan, Childish Gambino, Clean Bandit, Disclosure and 21 more.
Most used outboard gear, 2026
The outboard gear artists actually use.
The most used outboard gear among artists on truerecs includes Empirical Labs Distressor, Tube-Tech CL 1B and Neve 1073 Mic Preamp. Empirical Labs Distressor leads with 27 artists. We counted 571 artists with outboard gear in their setup, each counted once per item.
Each item is ranked by how many artists use it: verified artist pages on truerecs plus published truerecs gear guides, each counted once per item. Every gear guide item links to a dated public source. Ties go to items you can buy now. How we source gear guides.
Top 25, by artists using them
No. 224 artistsTube-TechCL 1BUsed by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Mike Dean, Hit-Boy, Danny Byrd, Adele, Ariana Grande and 18 more.
No. 322 artistsNeve1073 Mic PreampUsed by Tame Impala, Mike Dean, Hit-Boy, Danny Byrd, Ariel Rechtshaid, Billy Joel and 16 more.
No. 421 artistsRolandRE-201 Space EchoUsed by Kiasmos, Ash Soan, Voicedrone, At the Drive-In, Brittany Howard, Dubfire and 15 more.
No. 521 artistsRolandSpace EchoUsed by Rival Consoles, Ian Pooley, Tornado Wallace, M. Geddes Gengras, Alexander Robotnick, alt-J and 15 more.
No. 614 artistsUniversal Audio1176 compressorUsed by Maribou State, Adele, Air, Ariana Grande, Benny Blanco, Break and 8 more.
No. 713 artistsKorgKaoss PadUsed by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Booka Shade, Brian Eno, Drew Shirley, GusGus and 7 more.
No. 813 artistsThermionic CultureCulture VultureUsed by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Shadow Child, Jody Wisternoff, Voicedrone, Clark, Feed Me and 7 more.
No store page for this one.
No. 912 artistsUsed by Stimming, Overmono, Richard Devine, Colin Benders, Alan Braxe, Bombay Bicycle Club and 6 more.
No. 1012 artistsTeletronixLA-2A leveling amplifierUsed by Ariana Grande, Bombay Bicycle Club, Bon Iver, Calvin Harris, Drake, Infected Mushroom and 6 more.
No. 1111 artistsAvalon DesignVT-737SPUsed by Bonobo, Imogen Heap, Air, Ed Sheeran, Eminem, J. Cole and 5 more.
No. 1211 artistsUniversal AudioOX Amp Top BoxUsed by The Last Dinner Party, Mary Spender, Pete Thorn, Eric Haugen, Brothers Osborne, Buddy Miller and 5 more.
No. 1310 artistsShermanFilterbankUsed by Octo Octa, Overmono, Clark, London Elektricity, Mefjus, Nine Inch Nails and 4 more.
No. 1410 artistsBricasti DesignM7Used by Stimming, Childish Gambino, Empire of the Sun, Kali Uchis, Lasgo, Mitski and 4 more.
No. 158 artistsElektronAnalog HeatUsed by Tycho, Amtrac, Chet Faker, Christian Smith, Flume, Moderat and 2 more.
No. 168 artistsAlesisQuadraVerbUsed by Autechre, Jeff Buckley, Moderat, Modeselektor, Moloko, Poolside and 2 more.
No. 178 artistsTC Electronic2290 Dynamic Digital DelayUsed by FJAAK, Coldplay, GusGus, Jonny Buckland, REO Speedwagon, SNAP! and 2 more.
No store page for this one.
No. 188 artistsAlesis3630 compressorUsed by Alan Braxe, Calvin Harris, Daft Punk, Erol Alkan, High Contrast, Mark Farina and 2 more.
No store page for this one.
No. 198 artistsEventideH3000Used by Chromeo, Empire of the Sun, Étienne de Crécy, Riton, Sylvan Esso, The Edge and 2 more.
No store page for this one.- Fractal AudioAxe-Fx II XL+
Used by Devin Townsend, Gwar, Keith Urban, Opeth, Robert Fripp, Silversun Pickups and 2 more.
No store page for this one. 
No. 216 artistsUniversal Audio1176LNUsed by Danny Byrd, Ariel Rechtshaid, Calvin Harris, Diplo, Greg Kurstin and Madlib.
No. 226 artistsUsed by Solvent, BLOND:ISH, Daniel Lanois, Ed O'Brien, The Edge and U2.
No. 236 artistsTC ElectronicD-TwoUsed by Carlos Santana, Daniel Lanois, JAY-Z, Lasgo, Public Service Broadcasting and Squarepusher.
No. 246 artistsRolandRE-501 Chorus EchoUsed by Overmono, Air, Jimi Jules, Steve O'Sullivan, Talking Heads and The Clash.
No store page for this one.
No. 256 artistsUsed by Steve Hauschildt, Christian Burkhardt, Massive Attack, Plastik Funk, Roosevelt and Ty Segall.
No store page for this one.
Questions
About these outboard gear.
What is the most used piece of outboard gear?
Empirical Labs Distressor. 27 of the 571 artists on truerecs who list outboard gear use it.
Which outboard gear do producers use?
The five most used on truerecs are Empirical Labs Distressor (27 artists), Tube-Tech CL 1B (24 artists), Neve 1073 Mic Preamp (22 artists), Roland RE-201 Space Echo (21 artists) and Roland Space Echo (21 artists).
Who uses Empirical Labs Distressor?
Kenny Beats, Elise Trouw, Ash Soan, Childish Gambino, Clean Bandit and 22 more, from their artist pages and truerecs gear guides.
How is this list ranked?
Each item is ranked by how many artists use it: verified artist pages on truerecs plus published truerecs gear guides, each counted once per item. Every gear guide item links to a dated public source. Ties go to items you can buy now.