All depends on the body. I have a pair of padded shorts I wear most of the time, simply because I bought them to try out and it is easier to designate them as my biking shorts, but when I wear regular gym shorts my bottom doesn't really seem to notice or care.

As to the original question, saddles are very subjective. People bash cheap, came-with-the-bike saddles all the time, but my most comfortable one is still the cheap plastic thing that came on my Scott MTB twenty years ago. I wish I could find a crate of NOS ones of those. The only name-brand one I have is an old Avocet Touring II, which I will admit is likewise very comfy.