I guess I’m going to have to try Ableton
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+1 for operator. I made a tune years ago where I challenged myself to only use operator (and some basic effects) and it was surprisingly pretty easy to do 
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…hmmmm…on second thought…if i had to choose between all my fancy hw instruments and my mbp running wild with putting all the wigs on all the bits…
i’d always grab my cans and run…with nothing else but that damned mbp under my arm…
oh, and speaking of software…wanted to buy that little convolver plugin today…
and guess what…right that moment, the bitwig newsletter came in, to inform me, convolution and a new delay+ are coming with their next new update… 
never ending stoooooooryyyyyyyy…aaaahhaaahaaaaahaaaaaa…
transpose…
never ending stOOOOOOORYYYYYY…AAAAAHAAAAHAAAAA…AAAAAA…
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This is EXACTLY how it is (IMO)
Well my blackbox just crashed and deleted a day’s work in the process.
So I think both hardware and software stink and I hate them both 
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Why buy a synthesizer when the app is just as good?
cuz the ladies think they make the studio look so much cooler than a laptop.
flag if inappropriate
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You mean like all the ladies in this thread? 
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Some apps are fun to dick around on.
I make music with synths.
Havent touched my super power laptop with ableton and a bunch of vsts for a very long time.
Ive got an ipad for work now, I have the Moog model D app. Its ok. Doesnt inspire me to make any tunes though.
Walk into my studio and all I want to do is play synths and make music.
Some people just like physical controls. Others are happy with apps.
Whatever.
What’s got me hooked on software instruments is all the great sample libraries we have today. I’ve had a Yamaha Montage and it can’t touch the depth, quality, and realism I’m getting out of my Spitfire, UVI, and Kontakt instruments.
“what’s your style?”
“my style? you can call it the art of hardware without hardware.”
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“Synthesis was once a desire to hear new sounds, make new music, go places that hadn’t been heard before. That idea started to die with Tomita and is now truly dead when you’re trying to emulate some noise from 40 years ago.”
What a phrase. I’ve been thinking that since I started my hardware journey. There are really few instruments that trully innovates in a significant way.
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To expand on my unhelpful previous one-liner, I’d say it’s mostly about how you prefer to interact with your tools. When you want to you can make anything sound “good” or “right” in context, regardless of its origin. For me, sound “quality” shouldn’t even be part of the discussion.
One thing I think has been missing from the synthesis world is novel interfaces. There’s been an increase in them over the last decade or so, but things still seem largely bound to the standard western keyboard or step sequencer interface (or a visual representation of them accessed with a standard computer interface). Tactile non-keyboard interfaces with physical feedback that you can expressively play are still rather uncommon, or at least not widely appreciated, at least in regards to synthesizers.
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Since using my nob controller I’ve found software sounds better than it did before.
Even MIDI controllers tend to allow less resolution than using a mouse. This controller turns the mouse pointer into one very nice feeling knob.
Probably the number one reason for it sounding better is that it lets me adjust the controls with my ears instead of my eyes.
It also requires 0 setup and works on anything the mouse works on.
It’s hard to realize but we still haven’t gotten all the way to hardware (analog) emulation in software. Listen to something like Softube’s Model 84 and compare that to the Arturia version. I can’t even use the Arturia one anymore.
So I’d say we still aren’t 100% there in analog, the rest is a toss up.
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Yes, I was out testing the OpSix when shop dude said, “why dont you try the plug-in first?”.
I’ll never preach that hardware is superior to software, but the simple fact is that as an artist I perform with Synthesisers, not DAW’s, and if I wanted to try the plug-in, then I’d have to install some DAW, which I never liked using (and believe me I tried), so I felt like it’s FORCING a DAW on me.
As much as I was liking the OpSix, all of a sudden it “felt” cheap and nasty. It had ticked all the boxes, but the fact it could be installed on my Mac at 1/5th the cost was like telling me my perfect $3k Fender Jazz Bass and Bass rig could be installed on my Mac, which is bullshit.
So “why buy a synth when the app is just as good”? You may as well ask, “Why have real sex with a real person, when you can have online sex with a screen”?
Being ITB has a lot of benefits, mainly portability I would think. But you can also eschew various issues related to hardware - ie like running out channels, flexible routing, no limitations with tracks, voices, etc. The full palette of frequencies is available, sans the analog warmth which may make patrons leave your gig in disgust if missing lol
At the end of the day a computer is a synthesiser (and hardware!), so really in ‘hardware’ it’s that tactility that gives you something other than QWERTY and trackpads.
Keyboards and mice do give you access to all parameters, but in a sense this is more about control than performance (to a degree).
Environmental cost is another factor imo, whether a room full of synths vs a laptop is more environmentally resourceful though I can’t truly say.
Hardware sure is a lot of fun. I’m a bit of a minimalist tho so prefer to keep the studio pretty focused, and prefer an ITB lifestyle with a few pieces of kit to compliment (dedicated, processing, and controllers).
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Yeah, this first reply resonated with me the most.
It got me thinking, I had to go through a bunch of iterations of gear to realize this.
Somewhere along the way I decided to stick to a set up, overtime this helped me understand concepts like limitation vs endless scrolling.
Thats the main “pro” for me and hardware.
I end up learning to use the dedicated machine completely, and hopefully it continues to power up and do it’s thing much longer than my computers have.
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I enjoy both software and hardware, but my focus recently on hardware only is to get a break away from the computer. I’m staring at a screen all day at work, last thing I want to do is continue to stare at one when trying to be creative and escape from the routine of work life.
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All these points have been made, but votes are votes:
Hardware:
- dedicated UI/UX
- immediacy (turn on and go)
- lack of latency
The dedicated UI/UX is key for me…the physical muscle memory works with the sense memory of how sounds are shaped in a way that I haven’t been able to replicate with soft synths, even using MIDI controllers.
Software:
- flexibility
- abundance
- focused utility
- affordability
- project-specific memory
There’s lots to be said for both…for what I do I generally prefer to leave my computer off and just work with my few devices. It’s a real joy. Every now and again I’ll run a signal chain through Ableton, and that can be a blast too. Certainly some of the effects go a really long way in cleaning sounds up and enlarging a track.
Hybrid!!
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Omnisphere breakes the rules somehow, as it had midi mappings for real instruments, like prophet or moogs sub 37 and could be used to provide additional layers to it. I personally think they were very creative with the amount of possible modulation to every parameter, providing chaos type modulation, or extended curves to modulate also the fx while the patch does complex drawn curves to every parameter possible. I wish for a omnisphere hw box though. Maybe Waldorf Iridium is alredy that…
From a music standpoint simple sounds are often more usable, maybe certain genere are more fitting for experimental sounds than others.
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