... but IMO for most of us, the convenience and price savings of the "keep it simple" approach, far out weighs the benefits of using the real-world hardware counter parts. Many of us have to balance out the time we have for our music projects and it is very nice to be able to pick where we left off in a matter on minutes
I'm absolutely agree.
Furthermore, We have virtual effects and synths that sound as good as hardware counterparts.
So...
I'm not saying that ALL virtual effects and synths sound as good as hardware counterparts. Just SOME. And NI FM7 is one of them, furthermore the VST is even easiest to program and have more capabilities (like filters and noise generator) than the real thing. There is more, especially effects that sound as good as real stuff, OK not all.
It is very true, the software cannot hold a candle to the real hardware; and today, many are even going back to hardware analog synths and saying the hardware digital synths lack the punch that cuts thru a mix...
The analog versus digital is a discussion full of myths. IMHO.