We went through every published truerecs gear guide, 1,099 artists in all, and counted what they use. Every item in a guide links to a dated public source: an interview, a studio tour, a rig rundown. Below are the DAWs, synths, drum machines, plugins, mics and more that come up most, with the number of guides behind every figure.
The short version
- Ableton Live is in 50% of guides that name a DAW (258 of 518). For dance artists it is 59% (191 of 324).
- Pro Tools leads pop, hip-hop and R&B at 48% (31 of 65), against 11% for dance artists.
- The Roland Juno-106 is the most listed hardware synth: 57 of 402 guides (14%).
- The TR-808 and the TR-909 are tied, 41 guides each (of 171 that list a drum machine). Roland is in 62% of them.
- Serum is the most listed plugin (72 of 416, 17%), with Omnisphere second (64).
- The Neumann U 87 and the Shure SM57 are the most listed mics, tied on 32 guides each (of 246).
DAWs
N = 518 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
518 of the 1,099 guides name at least one DAW. 193 of them name more than one, so the shares add up to more than 100%. Ableton Live leads overall, ahead of Logic Pro, and dance music is where it pulls away. Pro Tools is the pop, hip-hop and R&B pick.
| Main genre | Guides naming a DAW | Ableton Live | Logic Pro | Pro Tools | FL Studio |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Dance | 324 | 59% (191) | 33% (107) | 11% (37) | 16% (51) |
| Pop, hip-hop and R&B | 65 | 28% (18) | 28% (18) | 48% (31) | 12% (8) |
| Rock and metal | 36 | 25% (9) | 31% (11) | 36% (13) | 3% (1) |
| All guides | 518 | 50% (258) | 31% (163) | 20% (106) | 14% (74) |
Rock and metal guides rarely name a DAW (36 of 296), so read that row as a small sample.
- 258 guides, 50%
Listed by David Guetta, Skrillex, Armin van Buuren and more.
- 163 guides, 31%
Listed by David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Armin van Buuren and more.
- 106 guides, 20%
Listed by Skrillex, Four Tet, Imogen Heap and more.
- 74 guides, 14%
Listed by Kaytranada, Lane 8, Mike Dean and more.
- 57 guides, 11%
Listed by Adam Beyer, Nathan Fake, Hannes Bieger and more.
- 27 guides, 5%
Listed by Adam Beyer, Sango, Shadow Child and more.
- 22 guides, 4%
Listed by Skrillex, Alvvays, Louis Cole and more.
- 9 guides, 2%
Listed by Jody Wisternoff, Marie Vaunt, Tom Quayle and more.
- 6 guides, 1%
Listed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Clams Casino, DJ Dahi and more.
- 6 guides, 1%
Listed by Stardust, Alan Braxe, Bon Jovi and more.
Hardware synths
N = 402 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
All ten of the top ten are Roland, Moog, Korg or Sequential instruments. Software synths are counted under plugins.
- 57 guides, 14%
Listed by Tame Impala, Rodriguez Jr., Moon Boots and more.
- 42 guides, 10%
Listed by Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Marc Romboy, Rodriguez Jr. and more.
- 41 guides, 10%
Listed by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Tycho, Snarky Puppy and more.
- 40 guides, 10%
Listed by Max Cooper, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Maribou State and more.
- 38 guides, 9%
Listed by Kiasmos, Maribou State, Kelly Lee Owens and more.
- 35 guides, 9%
Listed by David Guetta, Octo Octa, Maribou State and more.
- 34 guides, 8%
Listed by Declan McKenna, Hania Rani, Jordan Rakei and more.
- 32 guides, 8%
Listed by Tame Impala, Bonobo, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith and more.
- 26 guides, 6%
Listed by Rodriguez Jr., Space 92, Wehbba and more.
- 25 guides, 6%
Listed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Armin van Buuren, Chris Lake and more.
Drum machines
N = 171 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
63 guides list an 808 or a 909 (37% of guides with a drum machine), and 19 list both.
- 41 guides, 24%
Listed by Marc Romboy, Kerri Chandler, Shadow Child and more.
- 41 guides, 24%
Listed by Armin van Buuren, Octo Octa, Marc Romboy and more.
- 16 guides, 9%
Listed by Octo Octa, Rodriguez Jr., Octave One and more.
- 14 guides, 8%
Listed by Four Tet, Kerri Chandler, KiNK and more.
- 12 guides, 7%
Listed by Peggy Gou, Richard Devine, Auntie Flo and more.
- 11 guides, 6%
Listed by Christian Löffler, Wehbba, Cora Novoa and more.
- 11 guides, 6%
Listed by Hania Rani, Kiasmos, BLOND:ISH and more.
- 10 guides, 6%
Listed by Shadow Child, Daft Punk, Beach House and more.
- 9 guides, 5%
Listed by Stimming, Kelly Lee Owens, Surgeon and more.
Samplers
N = 175 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
- 22 guides, 13%
Listed by Octo Octa, Black Milk, FJAAK and more.
- 19 guides, 11%
Listed by Danny Byrd, !llmind, Empire of the Sun and more.
- 15 guides, 9%
Listed by Moses Boyd, Sungazer, Aric Improta and more.
- 14 guides, 8%
Listed by The Emperor Machine, Portishead, Squarepusher and more.
- 13 guides, 7%
Listed by Black Milk, Ian Pooley, Mark de Clive-Lowe and more.
- 13 guides, 7%
Listed by Boards of Canada, Moloko, Portishead and more.
- 11 guides, 6%
Listed by Octo Octa, Matthew Dear, Wehbba and more.
- 10 guides, 6%
Listed by The Alchemist, !llmind, Daft Punk and more.
- 8 guides, 5%
Listed by Junkie XL, Dire Straits, Polo & Pan and more.
Plugins and software instruments
N = 416 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
Synths dominate the top of the list: Serum, Omnisphere, Sylenth1, Massive, Diva and Nexus. The first mixing tool is FabFilter Pro-Q.
- 72 guides, 17%
Listed by David Guetta, RÜFÜS DU SOL, Fred again.. and more.
- 64 guides, 15%
Listed by David Guetta, Four Tet, Chris Lake and more.
- 56 guides, 13%
Listed by David Guetta, Skrillex, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and more.
- 53 guides, 13%
Listed by David Guetta, Skrillex, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike and more.
- 47 guides, 11%
Listed by David Guetta, Four Tet, Ben Böhmer and more.
- 42 guides, 10%
Listed by David Guetta, Lane 8, Ben Böhmer and more.
- 41 guides, 10%
Listed by David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, John Summit and more.
- 31 guides, 7%
Listed by David Guetta, Machinedrum, Shadow Child and more.
- 30 guides, 7%
Listed by Tame Impala, Bonobo, Chris Lake and more.
- 30 guides, 7%
Listed by Tame Impala, Chris Lake, RÜFÜS DU SOL and more.
Microphones
N = 246 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
- 32 guides, 13%
Listed by Jacob Collier, Maribou State, Samantha Fish and more.
- 32 guides, 13%
Listed by Tame Impala, Elise Trouw, Angel Vivaldi and more.
- 28 guides, 11%
Listed by Skrillex, Olivia Dean, Jacob Collier and more.
- 24 guides, 10%
Listed by Tame Impala, Fred again.., Declan McKenna and more.
- 16 guides, 7%
Listed by Nick Hakim, Hannes Bieger, Dennis Ferrer and more.
- 6.AKG C41415 guides, 6%
Listed by Jacob Collier, Elise Trouw, Giorgia Angiuli and more.
- 14 guides, 6%
Listed by Nick Hakim, Ash Soan, Dennis Ferrer and more.
- 12 guides, 5%
Listed by Imogen Heap, Novo Amor, Adam Melchor and more.
- 12 guides, 5%
Listed by Tame Impala, Elise Trouw, Ash Soan and more.
- 10.Sony C-800G12 guides, 5%
Listed by Mike Dean, Hit-Boy, Post Malone and more.
Audio interfaces
N = 171 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
Universal Audio's Apollo line is in a third of guides that list an interface (57 of 171). Product lines are grouped (any Apollo model counts once).
- 57 guides, 33%
Listed by Novo Amor, Kaitlyn Aurelia Smith, Kiasmos and more.
- 22 guides, 13%
Listed by Ben Böhmer, Rodriguez Jr., Richard Devine and more.
- 11 guides, 6%
Listed by Fred again.., Jacob Collier, Octo Octa and more.
- 7 guides, 4%
Listed by Giorgia Angiuli, Ola Englund, San Holo and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by Grimes, Scott LePage, Flume and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by Ola Englund, Greg Kurstin, Mason and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by Sarah Davachi, Nili Brosh, Darude and more.
- 4 guides, 2%
Listed by Nick Hakim, Sara Landry, Nicky Romero and more.
- 4 guides, 2%
Listed by Tame Impala, Mac DeMarco, Pendulum and more.
- 4 guides, 2%
Listed by Kelly Moran, Hainbach, Vicetone and more.
Studio monitors
N = 194 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
The Yamaha NS-10 is the single most listed model, but Genelec is the most listed brand: 44 guides (23%) list at least one Genelec speaker.
- 22 guides, 11%
Listed by Mike Dean, Shadow Child, Fedde Le Grand and more.
- 10 guides, 5%
Listed by Peggy Gou, Qrion, Nili Brosh and more.
- 7 guides, 4%
Listed by Danny Byrd, Darude, Childish Gambino and more.
- 7 guides, 4%
Listed by Armin van Buuren, Fred again.., Laurent Garnier and more.
- 6 guides, 3%
Listed by Space 92, Monte Booker, Boys Noize and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by Tame Impala, Frank Dukes, Kevin Saunderson and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by David Guetta, WondaGurl, Solomun and more.
- 5 guides, 3%
Listed by Moderat, Enrico Sangiuliano, Vicetone and more.
- 4 guides, 2%
Listed by Sasha Carassi, Lone, Mason and more.
Headphones
N = 81 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
- 11 guides, 14%
Listed by Four Tet, Lee Ann Roberts, FISHER and more.
- 7 guides, 9%
Listed by Max Cooper, Danny Byrd, Marsh and more.
- 6 guides, 7%
Listed by Elise Trouw, The Avener, Patrick James Pearson and more.
- 2 guides, 2%
Listed by Porter Robinson and Jon Batiste.
- 2 guides, 2%
Listed by Hannes Bieger and Slushii.
Guitars
N = 433 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
Guitars are grouped by model line: every Stratocaster, from a 1962 original to a signature model, counts once per guide.
- 157 guides, 36%
Listed by Slash, Jack White, Billie Joe Armstrong and more.
- 146 guides, 34%
Listed by Tame Impala, Tom Misch, Khruangbin and more.
- 110 guides, 25%
Listed by John Mayer, Jack White, Tom Misch and more.
- 51 guides, 12%
Listed by Tame Impala, Jack White, Wet Leg and more.
- 51 guides, 12%
Listed by Larkin Poe, Samantha Fish, Snail Mail (Lindsey Jordan) and more.
- 45 guides, 10%
Listed by Slash, Samantha Fish, Pete Thorn and more.
- 28 guides, 6%
Listed by RÜFÜS DU SOL, Samantha Fish, Soccer Mommy and more.
- 24 guides, 6%
Listed by Slash, Jack White, The Last Dinner Party and more.
- 23 guides, 5%
Listed by Declan McKenna, Alvvays, Holly Humberstone and more.
- 17 guides, 4%
Listed by Holly Humberstone, Jared James Nichols, Mei Semones and more.
Amps and amp modelers
N = 380 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
Amps include modelers and profilers. The Axe-Fx, Quad Cortex and Kemper together sit next to the AC30 and the Twin Reverb.
- 52 guides, 14%
Listed by Slash, Jack White, Soccer Mommy and more.
- 46 guides, 12%
Listed by Tame Impala, The Last Dinner Party, Yvette Young and more.
- 29 guides, 8%
Listed by John Mayer, Khruangbin, Wet Leg and more.
- 28 guides, 7%
Listed by Plini, Lastlings, Tom Quayle and more.
- 28 guides, 7%
Listed by Billie Joe Armstrong, Marcus King, Jared James Nichols and more.
- 27 guides, 7%
Listed by John Mayer, Tom Misch, Khruangbin and more.
- 24 guides, 6%
Listed by Tom Misch, Tycho, Billy Strings and more.
- 24 guides, 6%
Listed by Plini, Cory Wong, Ola Englund and more.
- 23 guides, 6%
Listed by Soccer Mommy, King Crimson, Wes Borland and more.
- 21 guides, 6%
Listed by Vulfpeck, Wet Leg, Larkin Poe and more.
Pedals
N = 420 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
- 40 guides, 10%
Listed by Jack White, Squid, Mike Dawes and more.
- 37 guides, 9%
Listed by Slash, Khruangbin, Tom Morello and more.
- 37 guides, 9%
Listed by Tame Impala, Snarky Puppy, Billie Joe Armstrong and more.
- 36 guides, 9%
Listed by John Mayer, Tom Misch, Joanne Shaw Taylor and more.
- 34 guides, 8%
Listed by John Mayer, Billy Strings, Wehbba and more.
- 32 guides, 8%
Listed by John Mayer, Tom Morello, Mark Lettieri and more.
- 31 guides, 7%
Listed by Tame Impala, John Mayer, Jack White and more.
- 31 guides, 7%
Listed by Jack White, Billy Strings, Rabea Massaad and more.
- 27 guides, 6%
Listed by Slash, Tom Morello, Christone "Kingfish" Ingram and more.
- 27 guides, 6%
Listed by John Mayer, The Last Dinner Party, Samantha Fish and more.
DJ gear
N = 145 guides that list at least one. Ranked by how many guides list each.
- 29 guides, 20%
Listed by David Guetta, Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, John Summit and more.
- 25 guides, 17%
Listed by Dimitri Vegas & Like Mike, Octo Octa, Subtronics and more.
- 24 guides, 17%
Listed by Octo Octa, Kerri Chandler, Black Milk and more.
- 23 guides, 16%
Listed by Armin van Buuren, Subtronics, Sasha Carassi and more.
- 18 guides, 12%
Listed by Kaytranada, Lane 8, REZZ and more.
- 17 guides, 12%
Listed by Kaytranada, Richie Hawtin, Sasha Carassi and more.
- 16 guides, 11%
Listed by Adam Beyer, John Summit, KiNK and more.
- 12 guides, 8%
Listed by James Hype, Above & Beyond, Grimes and more.
- 10 guides, 7%
Listed by John Summit, Statik Selektah, DJ Premier and more.
- 9 guides, 6%
Listed by Adam Beyer, John Summit, Space 92 and more.
Computers
90 guides name a computer. 78 of them name an Apple machine (87%), and the MacBook Pro alone is in 51.
Secret weapons
We also looked for the most common "secret weapon". There isn't one. Across 1,099 guides, no piece of gear is called a secret weapon (or a secret sauce, or a desert island pick) by more than one artist in the quotes we keep from their sources. A few we found:
- Simon Doty on the Mackie Mixer: “A bit of a secret weapon of mine. I like running stuff through this old Mackie mixer to add a bit of edge and character.” Source
- Chromeo on the Korg M1: “Our secret weapon on the first album was the cheesiest keyboard of them all” Source
- Tujamo on the Vital Audio Vital: “free! Nice secret weapon!” Source
- Dom Dolla on the Ableton Erosion (Live audio effect): “My secret sauce plugin would definitely have to be Ableton Live's Erosion.” Source
- Joris Voorn on the Spectrasonics Omnisphere: “it would be my desert island plugin for sure.” Source
How we counted
- What: every published truerecs gear guide on 2026-10-27: 1,099 guides with 21,580 items. Each item names one product and links to a dated public source. Records, books, clothes and other non-gear items are left out of these counts.
- Once per guide: a guide counts once per product, however many times the artist mentions it or owns it.
- Same model, one name: entries that are the same model under another name, an older software version or a hardware revision are merged (Logic Pro and Logic Pro X, Serum and Serum 2, U 87 and U 87 Ai). Different models stay apart (Prophet-5 and Prophet-6, TR-8 and TR-8S, Juno-60 and Juno-106). Guitars, amps and audio interfaces are grouped by model line, and the list says so.
- N: every share is out of the guides that list at least one item in that category, not out of all 1,099. A guide lists what a source confirms, so a guide without a DAW does not mean the artist has none.
- Genre lanes: from each artist's main genre on MusicBrainz and Beatport. Dance is house, techno, breaks and bass, trance, EDM and ambient (397 guides). 203 guides have no genre on file and count only in the totals (518 guides name a DAW in all).
- Who: gear guides cover artists with public interviews and rig videos about their setup, so this is a picture of working, well documented artists, not of every producer.
- Sources: each guide lists its sources item by item. How we source gear guides.
For live rankings that also count verified artist pages, see most used gear, including the DAWs artists actually use.