Music and Synthesizers

[Skyrius]

So, what a way to make a first post huh? XD

I was curious about all you music guys out there, since there actually doesn't seem to be that many. Basically, my friend let me borrow her version of Reaktor 5 and it was beautiful and amazing and so many other adjectives I could spew out if I was more creative. Unfortunately, it was just to borrow and try out and she needs it back soon. And since I don't really want to spend 500+ dollars on a new synth software, I was curious if anyone wanted to share their experiences with free or cheaper synthesizers? I actually don't know that much about the different programs themselves. Writing music? Sure. Difference between Arturia and Omnisphere? Uhh....400 dollars? XD;

But yeah, any input would be great. It doesn't have to be amazing, but I'm hoping to find some freeware that will work relatively well for me, so any ideas would be awesome.

[Dharma Fish]

Cakewalks VST synths are amazing, for hardware I like my Alesis Photon x25

[Skyrius]

That's true. I'm going to have to re-find all the plugins I want too XD, especially my effects. T_T I've never heard of Cakewalk actually, so I'll have to go look that up. Right now I'm mostly concerned with a good orchestral instrument synthesizer, or just a large library of samples. All the ones I've browsed through aren't that goo. :\