Do hardware synths sound better than software (e.g. VST) synths?

Most new devices use a computer to generate the sound. They are often referred to as DSP synths, because they contain a computer micro processor, which is a bit faster on processing signals (in this case audio signals) than the traditional PC and Mac computers are. However, that's the only thing that is different from your Windows and Mac computer. The DSP processors are just ordinary computers. That's why DSPs don't sound better than a VST or AU instrument (but it might give you more voices). Instead it depends on which sound card the computer has and which sound I/O the external gear has. If a filter sounds good on a DSP synth, then it's not because the hardware is good, but because the actual filter algorithm (the code) is good. A crappy sound card might be noisy, but it will still be able to play all those great software synths. DSP processors might utilize the smartest algorithms ever to produce the sound, but if the D/A converters are crappy you might suffer from a noisy output. ...  more