lush strings and pads

i desperately need to find out what joris voorn uses to create his lush strings and pads....im almost positive he does not use software synthesizers!

any ideas!

I don't know, but if it sounds "acoustic" it could well be. E.g. There's a popular ambient artist whose name escapes me whose main method is to run his acoustic guitar through thick enough reverb and delay that they turn into monster pads. They sound exotic, and it would be difficult to guess at their source.

Death in Vegas use this method to create their pads.