Sugar Bytes Artillery 2

I had no compatibility issues with Artillery 2. I run it on a Macbook Pro i7 core with a Fireface 800 in Ableton 8 and it purrs like a Tiger. This is yet another plugin that I have never had to reach for the manual. Everything is pretty self explanatory. I really enjoy the way you map the effects to the keyboard. You can drag out the effect so it spans any number of keys, very hands on approach. The setup and configuration is fairly simple. You obviously need to know the workings of the effects (some I had to play with in order to realize what they actually did) but most are your standard types: phaser, delay, distortion, pitch shift, etc.... but you also get a host fun "Stutter" style effects that are where the real money is with this guy.
The typical functions are all easily accessed via the GUI.


SUITABILITY/PERFORMANCE

I have never had any issues in ableton other than using more than one instance of Artillery can really eat up CPU. Other than that, its solid. So far I have never had a single crash with this plugin.
I have to give it a 10 out of 10. I used it for quite some time but then got Stutter Edit by Izotope, thinking that Artillery 2 would end up collecting virtual dust. I was wrong, I have already brought it back into the mix. Nothing against Stutter Edit, its great, but Artillery offers different effects and usability so its going to stay. I have been using it for about 10 months now.

OVERALL OPINION

What I like most about this unit is you can stack a ton of effects and stutter style edits and more into one plugin. Overall that helps reduce cpu usage by not needing 20 different plugins to achieve the same thing. I notice no degradation in sound quality when using this. I do notice that the distortion isn't mind blowing, but Izotope Trash and D16 plugins are the only ones who even come close to an analog distortion pedal in my opinion. This was my first "stutter" style effect plugin. I use Stutter Edit in addition to Artillery now but I find they both have there benefits. Yes, I recommend this plugin over Stutter Edit actually. Having both though will make you really happy.