As someone who spent thousands of dollars over the years on software instruments as well as analog and digital hardware synthesizers, I can very comfortably say

As someone who spent thousands of dollars over the years on software instruments as well as analog and digital hardware synthesizers, I can very comfortably say that software does not get the full sound that hardware does. Additionally, hardware offers much more creative control in general, a tactile interface customized for the specific way it creates sound. The only downside is the hardware is it takes up so much space. To get the same benefits of hardware in software, it requires a significantly different (for me, much less creative ) workflow, a very large investment of time, and you still will not quite get there in sound quality. But, at least you can take your whole studio with you on a laptop.