Have to add my two cents. Software synth-wise, I have a hand-full, including most of what comes with SONAR version 5 and X1 (TTS-1, ZT3A+, Dimension Pro, Pentagon, Studio Instruments, Session Drummer, Rapture and True Piano) Granted, none of those are high-dollar high-end soft synths. I also have Coyote, Sample Tank, and Garritan. I'll use Coyote with BB only as a quick and dirty draft. With Notion, I'll used either the Notion instruments, Garritan or Dimension Pro, and my hardware synths. With SONAR, I use a variety of those SONAR associated synths, and always use one of both of my Yamaha hardware synths (classic Motif keyboard and rack-mount Motif ES). I use the rack Motif ES for my synth-enabled guitars. Even though my Yamaha synths are long in the tooth, for both live and studio, they are hard to beat for realism and extremely low propagation delay compared to soft synths. With programmable velocity and after-touch, and, the Yamaha breath transducer, you can get some realistic flute and sax such as reed/breath chirps. There is a large degree of control and customization available in these hardware synths that don't require another VST plug-in. Now, if I looked at the newest Yamaha Series, I definitely would be writing a large check...but they are astounding. The software synths definitely have come up in quality, but I don't have any software glitches in either of my hardware synths or bus competition to deal with. And, unlike some of the software synths (usually mid to high-end), I don't have to connect to the internet just to re-validate a license.