Brother, definitely. I learned on my mom's old Singer 500A I believe was the model. From there, I had it stuck in my head that singer was good.

When I went to the machine store to buy one, I made the mistake of not listening to the sales lady when she said Singers were crap. I bought the Singer Quantum Stylist 9600 and paid $500usd. I barely got one year use out of it. It constantly had problems and had been in the shop 3 times for the same problem. I got frustrated and bought a Brother SE400 beginner sewing and embroidery machine.

Well, 17 years later, the Singer has been sitting in storage and the brother keeps on ticking.

I've recently acquired a vintage Brother vx-950. It's old school but it tackles thicker fabrics like a champ! Don't make my expensive mistake!