I'm a new to synth guy at 39 and have played music for 10 years as a semi-pro. Gaia was my first synth, knowing what it does well- teaching synth. I found the others in the price range too dependent on menu's or not that much better sounding for more money. The next best thing for me is real analog and came across the 1985 Juno 1 and it works great with the Gaia. I like doing slow manual filter changes while playing lead on Juno which has brassy DCO's. Fast envelopes that give an attack not capable of even high end VA's but only 8 voice polyphany to the Gaia'a 64.
Point is make your gear work for you. The only limits of imagination is imagining it can be limited.