The end user is mostly irrelevant. Lots of great songs were produced with rompler synths, and many of the killer electric guitars sounds people want to emulate

The end user is mostly irrelevant. Lots of great songs were produced with rompler synths, and many of the killer electric guitars sounds people want to emulate were from people buying gear they could afford. The minimoog is probably one of the most ubiquitous synths in popular music ever. I own one, and while it does have some qualities that VSTs can't reproduce, mostly it is how you interact with it that matters. If as an artist you can connect to your tools, you can make great music. While different than todays electronics, the E-mu Emulator was popular because it let you explore in a fairly intuitive way. If you have ever worked with partials in a DX7 you will realize why so many songs used the presets. People loved music even on 78rpm records, because it is all they had. I like my EmU Procussion, because it brings back memories, none of which will ever be detectable on the end audio and modern daw samplers are far superior. People buy expensive guitars and amps and justify it with a 'sound' but if you are creating music, it is just your connection to them that matters. If you are trying to copy a sound, that is different.