Well i can say that i never expected this.
I am not new to music production at all, I have been working with DAW's and Soft-Synths for about 3 years and have been making trance style music.
Heres and example of my work.
I personally don't think that song i good enough but many others disagreed with me so i uploaded it, and i provides a good example i guess.
So in my quest for a great synth i have tried many many software synths and they don't cut it, They don't sound on par with hardware. I have tried a lot of Roland stuff but again they didn't suit me and i also don't believe that one machine can "do it all".
Nothing at guitar center really suited me, i want easy, seamless, and versatile and a lot of stuff either doesn't sound right or is a big CF as far as layout.
So im looking at the Virus TI. It is expensive but it almost seems perfect.
I have not done a lot of custom synth work. I know how to make sounds in soft synths like z3ta, vanguard, and 3xosc but thats as far as my experience goes into that.
But i wan't to make my own sounds, there is nothing like hardware knobs, using a mouse does not come anywhere close.
So would you recommended this for me? i can't try it out because no one here has one. I would be learning what probably half of its features are. I hear the Nord lead is easier to learn but i don't want to spend this much and not be totally satisfied.
Secondly what about the desktop vs non desktop. Can i fully integrate a USB midi keyboard (akai MPK series) and have it work just as well as the versions of the virus with a keyboard?
Now i use FL studio, but i'm converting to ableton and will be using it for everything.