I've got way too much stuff, mainly due to NFR copies, either because I got it as payment or because I bought them in the marketplace. My first point of entry is FXpansion Geist. Love that thing. It's the main drum and percussion tool. I rarely use Battery or the Groove Agent One in Cubase anymore. Next element is bass - for this I either go to Diva, Zebra or my Virus - depending on the genre I'm working on. Alternatives are Kontakt (for electric basses) or Sylenth/ACE. Keys - always use Kontakt and almost always turn to the Dusty Rhodes from Precision Sound. Awesome dirty sound in that one. For synth keys I find Zebra and lately more Diva to supply excellent sounds for my use. Other synth parts are mainly my Virus, Zebra or Diva. That goes for lead sounds as well. Guitars - Kontakt is the only real option. HALion's scripting is still far behind. Padsounds - there's actually some nice ones in the HALion library, but Zebra, Diva and ACE rule this part. Effects - I always use Zebra in conjunction with Zebrify. Alternatives are Sylenth and FM8, and Reaktor for the odd soundscapes.
Looking at the list it would seem I dont use that many different synths. And I guess I dont, but fact is I've got a boatload of stuff, including the Komplete (v6) package, DCAM, BFD2, Tremor, Alchemy, Gladiator, XILS3, Z3ta+2, Albino, Microtonic, Synplant, CronoX3, ImpOSCar1+2, Minimonsta and then some...!
This year I've started getting into hardware again and got a Virus Polar TI and a Waldorf MicroQ. While hardware is a lot more hands-on, the sound they produce isn't that unique anymore. So if I add another hardware unit to the collection it will be something special and most likely in the analog modular realm.
