Sampler Vs Virtual, Opinions: MachFive; Spectrasonics; other Options

[trip]

Looking for high-end bass, percussion, and orchestral sounds. Has anyone used MOTU MachFive? or Spectrasonics? I'm using G4 OS X 10.2.6 and Digital Performer. Opinions appreciated.
Newbie.

[Synthetic]

lep, I hear what you mean... true just like synths with their filters and such... each has a little different sound but I guess I always look at sound devices more functionally than dig that deep into them... I usually look at the final sound which many times I like to process with preamps, weird fx and layer to create unrecognizable sounds so I never think of it that way... I just like the fact that I take such a huge sound library that I can manage on my computer and instantly access the samples in other apps too. But then maybe i need to try a sampler like the Ultra... I have looked at new AKAI 24bit samplers before I got the ESX24 but too much $$$ for me.

But everyone is going to have a preference in how they like to work. I know from reading REMIX magazine that many electronic musicians who have been doing it for many years started out with hardware samplers and so are more fond of them vs. software but then some have also seen the ease of software and switched too... part of me will always think that I would rather have good ol' hardware for all my sound devices (I like having something that physically looks worth its cost) but when it comes to cost and sometimes interface and convenience... its hard for me to pass up software