I remain appreciative of Native Instruments' original Massive VST [0], which has a good balance of dedicated interaction surfaces and tabbing. More recently, I think the Bitwig DAW has become a great contender for UI clarity and density (its layout is very configurable) [1].

[0]: https://www.native-instruments.com/en/products/komplete/synt...

[1]: https://www.bitwig.com/overview/