I have nothing but admiration for your work, but I think that the notion of more$$=higher quality is false in the present environment.joel hamilton wrote: In all things, INCLUDING audio, you get what you pay for. It is not a fun pill to swallow...
For an extreme example, xhip is a free VSTi plugin that is as good as most synthesizers you will ever see. The creator is a lunatic/genius who lives to code, and who implements users suggestions, sometimes within a day (or at least the ones he likes).
Try it. Be amazed. There aren't many presets, so it might take some getting used to, but in terms of sound quality, modular routing capabilities, and filter quality, it is clearly better than many synths costing over $1000.
Really.
These are cool times to be a musician.