I know that the orginal poster did not ask this question but…
There are synth sounds and then there are synth sounds.
The original 70/80s synth sounds were a genre of their own. Often the devices that produced the sounds were electro mechanical, they had grit and character not found in basic VSTs - they sweated and farted in just the right way. For this kind of synth emulation, the place to check out is Arturia.
Then if your looking for a VERY powerful modern synth, then look no futher than Omnisphere 2. Considering its power its pretty easy to use. It’s heard all the time across many genres of music. Omnisphere can build a sound from wave forms, it can layer and tweak in powerful ways, but it can also work from real world samples - your own if you like. Working with real world samples makes the sound sound real - for example Omnisphere can take the sound of a bat or a seagull and give it a dangly shimmer from a crystal bell. The early synths could not do this, they were wave form manglers, this is that synth sound of the 70-90s. Omnisphere can do this but more. You can also add Trillian bass module and Keyscape ( retro keyboards) to Omnisphere, and then you will have an extremely top class synth - expensive, but well worth it
I’m quoting myself because frankly, Max Martin, if you read the long interview …says the same thing. What works today isn’t going to work a few months from now.
This is so true, particularly in the more ephemeral genres like EDM and the more commercial side of pop, once something hits the mainstream it’s effectively on its death bed. Most people don’t seem to realise stuff is produced months if not a year or two in advance and things move so fast in those, and other, genres.