Wow, those are some crazy modules! I'm definitely intrigued by all three. I'm looking into the kits and they may be a little advanced for me, but I'm gonna run them by the old man and see what he makes of them. I can solder just fine, but I can't read schematics well. I found a Disting for about 150 so I'm tempted to pull the trigger on that for the value. One thing I'm definitely understanding is that it would be wise for me to start up with a few powerful modules at first so I have something fun to play with while I build the rig. Then I can add simpler things that I can further tweak the sound with. I will say though, I can tell that I enjoy working with simpler things and the limitations that they impose vs super super deep things that I will never wrap my head around.
I'll definitely want to get a mixer early on right? I need a way to send the signal out to headphones or an audio interface as well, so that's gotta be something I get early on too right? I also see that I'll want something that will take MIDI in, but it also looks like I could forego MIDI control and just use modules that gate and trigger CV all within the system, is that right?
I've played around with VCV for a bit now. I created a simple patch, messed with that, that ran that through a sequencer and had an hour fly by while I joyfully noodled with 80s era synth grooves, so I definitely know that modular is for me, lots and lots of fun. Thanks for all of your suggestions so far, I feel like I'm starting to get an idea of how I'll go forward.