I’ve got a soft spot for FM8 so whether I had the hardware or not I’d have it but the real reason I have value for both platforms is because every app, plugin, daw, and piece of hardware feels different. I always wince when I hear people describing daws like they are all interchangeable -why don’t you just use ableton why don’t you just use cubase, just use logic or reaper etc…, none of the daws feel identical, and none of the softsynths feel identical… of course none of the hardware feels identical so there is no way at least for my use that I can feel like it doesn’t matter whether i use the hardware I have or some software that was created for the same use case, they all feel different.
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To be fair your picture of a Windows Home Screen would be better compared to a Prophet still boxed up in cardboard for shipping. VSTs can be beautifully designed and just as visually stimulating.
Some other reasons for vst/apps would be space and availability.
I love my Model D app and Behringer’s poly D is basically the hardware version but I’m put off by the size of it. It’s so much more convenient to just plug a usb from my M:S into a iPad and jam within AUM.
Also say you wanted a Synthex, Cherry Audio has a reasonably good emulation but if you’re diehard analog only good luck trying to get your hands on a real one.
Says the obvious robot man. I see you!!!
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I’m still to find a hardware synth that can come anywhere close to the power, workflow and UI of Arturia Pigments.
That’s been the one soft synth that was able to completely change my view of soft synths.
Since then I’ve also become a big fan of Bleass soft synths for iOS and desktop… and a few others on the iOS world.
The fact an iPad can sit comfortably on a lot of controller keyboards brings them up a notch, and I think iOS sits somewhere between regular desktop softsynths and hardware.
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I’ve tried a few VSTs but wasn’t impressed by the sound of most of them. Maybe that’s because I don’t own an audio interface and I listen to their sound through my laptop’s DAC and my crappy headphones?
Maybe that’s the reason? Or maybe it’s just that I’m biased against VSTs, I don’t know.
Anyway, the only VST whose sound I really like is TAL Sampler.
I’ve tried Dexed, which is ok - but I like the sound of my Reface DX way better (If only Yamaha had released a good editor for it, damn)
I like to come up with the structure of a track in my head first which lends itself well to working in Logic. Once I have a project roughed out I like to switch to hardware to elaborate on certain rhythms and melodies. I find the constraints imposed by hardware actually allow me to create things that would otherwise not have come to life in a DAW. Then I bring these sequences back into the project and and mix from there.
I appreciate both ways of working but if I had to choose it would be based on this:
When I use a DAW my eyes ache, my back hurts and my mouse finger starts to cramp.
When I use hardware I spend most of my time either laughing or dancing.
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Recently I buy a cheap second hand deepmind 12.
I wanted a hardware synth with physical knob and sliders and decent polyphony.
I can say that after near one month I have more fun with this one than with most of my vst. And I have a good midi keyboard for my vst.
Reason is simple, it’s integrated, it power on and being able to be used in less than one minute.
It has a decent sound, not great but fine.
It can do thing but not everything.
There is no indication of what time it is on it and no mouse.
When I look at it it tell me : play with me 
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people either buy shit they need or they buy shit that makes them happy. there’s your answer
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M8, Polyend Tracker, Amiga ProTracker: Excel spreadsheet readers, or magnificent musical instruments?
Yeah but that set would look cool if they hit play then stood there scrolling through Twitter on their phones, just because of the location and camera work!
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Actually, the appreciation of a ‘Polivoks feeding back on itself through two different analogue distortions and a quadraverb’ is for nerds. 
Computers are for normies.
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This is dumb. VST’s are good for some things and analog synths and pedals are good for others.
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Maybe learn how to make better use of your laptop?
I get the feeling that people who think that jamming on a synth is somehow more inspiring than making music on a laptop just don’t really know what they’re trying to achieve. They are just hoping that inspiration will find them. They are hoping for that out of body flow experience. Pretty cool for that to happen to you once and a while, jamming in your bedroom by yourself. However, if you’re recording and trying to produce songs, in the end, no body cares if it was played on Moog hardware, or with Massive X and a midi keyboard. Nor would they be able to tell the difference.
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Probably looking for a workflow they enjoy and what inspires them. I don’t think most people into synthesizers even want to make finalized tracks as efficiently as possible.
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Indeed it doesn’t matter. What matters what inspires you and what makes you create what you want to create. If that’s hardware, software, or a combination of the two, perfect. No?
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Definitely. All I’m saying is don’t pull your hair out worrying about it 🫠
Hearing is a human sense.
But so is touch.
It’s the simultaneous experience of hearing and feeling which makes hardware excel at providing a certain emotional experience. Some people don’t care about that experience. I cannot relate to them.
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Crack makes me happy.
I need more crack.
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