Tools I use and recommend

Productivity

Things

Things by Cultured Code is my absolute favourite task manager app that I’ve been using for years. It’s clean, simple, reliable, and works beautifully. And it’s a one-time purchase, which is a blessing in the world of subscriptions.

iA Writer

A note-taking app that helps to write clean and concise. I like that it highlights all filler words and cliches and allows to write in a distraction-free mode. The app is pricey, but one-off purchase.

Notion

Notion is my go-to app for organising things. I’m using it for a record label release pipeline, content production schedule, home collections (plants, books, boardgames, Lego), workout tracker, and whatnot.

Screen Studio

The best screen recording app out there. It records internal audio without a routing hassle, creates a webcam overlay, shows keystrokes (great for tutorials), and has many other well-thought-out features. Here is a demo from my Patreon page.

Raycast

Raycast is like Mac spotlight but super-charged. It’s a command-line that allows to quickly open apps, search files on the disk, do the maths and lots of other things. I also like its snippets feature that saves and recalls any text, like templates.

Timemator

Timemator is an app that automatically tracks time of your work, which is pretty handy for freelancing or genuine curiosity. I like that it can track time of a certain project based on triggers, for example, when files from a specific folder are opened or when you browse a specific website.

Podcasting

Buzzsprout

I moved my Rave Podcast to Buzzsprout pretty recently, but it has instantly become my favourite podcast hosting platform which I wish discovered earlier. I love their simple interface, versatile feature set including Dynamic Content, and heads-down the best human support.

Marketing

ConvertKit

ConvertKit (soon-to-be Kit) is an email, automation, and monetisation platform for creators. If you want to build an email list for your business to grow and connect with your audience, this is the tool for you. I like that it’s a small-ish company compared to alternatives, and you can feel that human touch in its product.

Plausible

Plausible is a simple, open-source, lightweight Google Analytics alternative that doesn’t use cookies, doesn’t collect personal data and is compatible with GDPR. I also like the way the dashboard looks, which is an important factor to me too.

Finance

Monzo Business

Business bank account that is nice to use, and has built-in invoicing, tax pot, international payments, and more. Great for sole traders and limited companies based in the UK.

Anna Money

Anna is a business account tool. I’m using it for payroll, direct filing with HMRC, bookkeeping, and corporate tax calculations. I tried a bunch of other services, but I keep coming back to Anna because of its sleek interface and great support.

Money Pro

Home budgeting app that I’ve been using for keeping track of my accounts for many years. Great for scheduling recurring bills, filtering transactions, and showing total balances across accounts.

Web

Reeder

Reeder is a beautiful RSS reading app. For those who don’t know, RSS is a way to subscribe to any regular content, like personal blogs, news websites and even social media pages, and this is how I read interesting things on the Internet.

Arc Browser

Arc is a cool new browser alternative to Safari and Chrome. I like that it has profiles done right, website tabs on the left pane instead of a typical top bar, an awesome search bar, and more features.

1Password

1Password is my password manager of choice. It generates long secure passwords for each websites, autofills login credentials, and stores additional items like ID numbers and other private documents.

Transmit

FTP-client that doesn’t suck, which I use for uploading files to my remote servers. I love that it’s a proper native macOS app that utilises its familiar UI.

Nova

Coming from the same developers as Transmit, Nova is a beautiful yet powerful code editor alternative to Visual Studio Code (which I never liked as it’s too Microsoft-ey). It has lots of nice features and a huge attention to detail that I appreciate.

Video tools

VidIQ

VidIQ is an AI companion that helps creators to grow their YouTube channels. It can generate video scripts, optimise title and thumbnails, suggest relevant keywords and descriptions, show outliers, analyse competition, and more. I’m using it on my channel since the day one.

Motion Array

All-in-one platform for creators with licensed music, video footage, sound effects, motion graphics, and photos. There are a lot of good assets, and I like that they include everything in one subscription.

MotionVFX

Amazing plugins, templates, and elements to make videos come to life.

YouTube gear

Sony ZV-E10

Compact, budget-friendly, and beginner-friendly video and photo camera. It shoots 4K at 24, 25, and 30 FPS 100Mbps and has interchangeable lenses, a large APS-C sensor, and a rotating flip screen, which is perfect for one-person recording. You’ll see my results of using this camera soon :-)

Sigma 16mm F1.4

Interchangeable lens for mirrorless Sony E-mount cameras with a nice depth of field and a pretty wide angle allowing to put the camera at a close range.

Aputure Amaran 60d S

Compact yet powerful 65W key COB light with 5600K, adjustable brightness level, and NP-F battery plate. It has Bowens Mount, meaning it’s compatible with plenty of light modifiers, and I like that it works quietly.

Neewer Lantern Softbox 65cm

Omnidirectional balanced light softbox with standard Bowens Mount and quick release installation and disassembly. Surprisingly well constructed and easy to use compared to other softboxes I used in the past.

Neewer Heavy Duty Stand with Casters

Super solid tripod stand made of stainless steel, with 360° swivel casters for convenient mobility. I love its heavy mass and clever design.

Sennheiser Profile Streaming Set

USB-C powered cardioid condenser microphone with an adjustable boom arm, LED indicator, gain control, and headphone volume control. It has an excellent built quality and it sounds great. This is the review that sold me the mic, and I’m glad it did! Here is my audio example.

IVISII G2 Pocket RGB Video Light

Compact but powerful RGB light with a full-colour gamut, perfect for adding an extra colour to the background. I like that it has aluminium that makes it feel solid and a built-in 4300mAh rechargeable battery that lasts for 3 hours.

Camera Hard Case

Portable, perfect-fit, waterproof hard case for Sony ZV-E10. Great for storing the camera or taking it anywhere with you.

Lens Shockproof Case

Lens bag with hard shell bottom to keep the camera lens safe, made of robust and water-repellent canvas nylon that protects against moisture, dust and scratches.

Elgato Cam Link 4K

A ‘magic box’ that turns the camera into a webcam via HDMI. I connect my Sony ZV-E10 to Cam Link using a Micro HDMI to HDMI cable and then plug it into the computer via a USB C adapter. The result is a crisp 4K video that I can record or stream from my laptop (or even use in conference calls) without overheating the camera.

Neewer NP-FW50 Battery Charger Set

A charger and two 1100mAh NP-FW50 batteries, compatible with Sony ZV-E10 camera. These batteries last the same as the original Sony batteries, and I like that this charger is slim and fits into the Hard Case I mentioned above.

Neewer NP-F970 Battery Charger Set

A charger and four 6600mAh NP-F970 batteries, compatible with Aputure Amaran 60d S, with a backlit LCD screen showing the charging status of each battery.

Neewer AC-PW20 Dummy Battery Kit

A ‘dummy’ battery kit for continuous camera power from the AC outlet. While other alternatives might ‘fry’ the camera, this kit works properly and is fully compatible with Sony ZV-E10.

DJ gear

UDG Travel Bag

I’ve been having tons of DJ gigs (including international travels) with this backpack for over a decade, and it still looks like new — crazy how durable it is! It fits my 16-inch laptop, controller, accessories, and more extras. Hands-down the best DJ bag.

UDG Hardcase

Small but durable hard case to carry USB sticks, SD cards, headphones adapters and other little things that are easy to lose but crucial for a successful gig.

Bellroy Tech Kit

A very well-made, compact yet spacious zip case that I use as an everyday carry for all my tech accessories: USB cables, adapters, chargers, a power bank, and more.

Sennheiser HD 25

Monitoring DJ headphones that have excellent sound quality and noise reduction. They are lightweight but sturdy, so it’s no surprise they are considered the industry standard in DJ booths. You can see me using these headphones at every DJ set.

Corsair Voyager GTX

Blazingly fast, durable, and reliable USB stick for digital DJ players. It’s expensive compared to typical consumer-grade USBs, but fast music transfer from Rekordbox and reliability during the sets make it a worthy investment.

Tascam DR-40X

A four-channel external audio recorder that I’m using to record DJ sets with crowd noise. It connects to a DJ mixer via XLR or 1/4-inch jack connectors and has a proper line level and adjustable volume level, so the recording is always clean.

Allen & Heath Xone:K2

One of the most flexible and versatile four-channel USB MIDI controllers with a built-in audio interface. Although I’m using Pioneer players as my primary DJ setup, this controller has been serving me well for over a decade both in the studio and on stage.