depends on your definition of excellent. to me "excellent" means a
device that can render your work goals as good or better than anything
else out there. that narrows the universe of excellence.

i am unwilling to call something like RME or Audio Technica as
"excellent".

Here are some excellent manufacturers:
Millennia Media, Neumann, Weiss, Telefunken, Westlake, SSL, Manley,
Brauner.

there *is* a difference.

i would say that 95% of the equipment out there can produce adequate
results for people with low to medium expectations.

xy wrote:

i would say that 95% of the equipment out there can produce adequate
results for people with low to medium expectations.

And 1/100th of 1% of the people out there can produce great results on
almost any equipment.