I composed without theory knowledge for a long time. I think there are two types of "banging things together".

The first is when you don't have any expectations. You're playing random things and seeing what catches your attention.

The second is when you have half an idea already or you want to add a layer. You can hear where you want it to go in your mind's ear, but you're not sure how that translates to actual music. So you end up mindlessly testing things and it can get really frustrating the longer the search for the sound you want goes on. You feel lost.

In my experience, learning theory has helped the former by allowing me to add a catalyst to my noodling when absolute freedom isn't fruitful. And it's decreased the latter as I now know how my intuition translates into the craft. From being on /r/musictheory, this seems to be the case for most other composers too. So I reckon bhrgunatha is correct, it's a mixture.

That's why it's best to look at music theory as just a collection of frameworks and techniques gleaned from analysing music. In that way, it becomes a toolbox to draw from when needed. If you see it as an actual system for composing, it can become a prison.