And the debate of hardware vs software continues!
It's true that if you just compare the costs, it might be cheaper to go the software route. But I mainly make music to go away from the computer, as I spend a lot of my days programming on one already. And the ability of pulling me away from the computer you can't put a price on :)
Plus, fiddling with real knobs that affect the sound in real-time, having a keyboard with a heavy feel, being able to turn on the hardware and instantly be able to use it (no fucking around with forced updates) and the ability to mod your own hardware with just a solder-iron is just like really really fun.