Most popular virtual synthesisers tend to have knobs on display (tehe) so you won't miss that. It's just more convenience, having all your synths in one place, alot less time spent fiddling with settings, and well, just generally cheaper. After my mate bought me a birthday studio lesson off
here, real synthesisers freaked me out, just couldn't deal with that many wires. What programs have tried using to record? Since you say you couldn't get to grips with it.