I've been using RTL2832U based dongles for SDR work since late 2013 and have now graduated to an SDRplay RSP1 which uses a 12 bit ADC giving a better noise floor then the RTL based dongles and I use SDRuno, HDSDR and SDR console V3 as my receiver GUI and I have something that approaches the quality of professional receivers costing kilobucks for a fraction of the price.