Personally I play on a home made Korean Fantasia stick that works wonders for me, but it's always going to be personal preference. Honestly making a stick yourself isn't that hard, but if I were to suggest anything I'd say go for the TE. It's a really solid stick that you can many times find on sale (Usually they advertise sales during streams fyi). They are pretty stable, not too costly, and you always have the side option of adding your own artwork.
As far as what gate to play, when I play on Sanwas I prefer octo-gate, but most of the time that is when playing SF, in which I primarily play charge characters. Personally I find it easier to make sure I hit the correct direction when I know exactly where it is, like making sure you are using charge b~f instead of charge b~d/f. Again it's personal preference though, as some folks like to know they can immediately find the d/f when doing the dp motion (like above). Honestly though you'll want to keep your motions short and precise in the long run, so either one can work once you've adjusted to it.