First, this represents an abbreviated set of functions. Second, these are modules I own or have experience with. Since I started with Eurorack, available modules and functional density have gone through the roof. There are probably better modules for each function out there.
I should have stuck in the Eurorack version of the Innerclock Sync-Gen II - probably the single most important modular piece I own for tracking into a DAW. (That and the indispensable Roland SBX-1 that distributes it all and functions as live sync....).
Except for the 95e analog oscillator, I did not count anything from my 24U "pure Asys" modular, a Moog Voyager CP system, and Ken MacBeth system with 3 Single Oscillators and a Backend. I did not count my Boomstars either. And they are kick ass machines with CV/Gate I/O. Nor did I count my Dark Time - another desert island piece - or any external cv sequencers.
The problem with a lot of ocsillators is lousy-goosy tuning knobs. One little bump while patching and you're screwed. The 95e - besides being one hell of a great analog oscillator - has a locking 10-turn pot. And for a digital oscillator - the Braids (and pretty much anything Mutable makes) continues to amaze me.
My favorite contemporary module maker is Mutable. But I have to say that Grant Richter's classics still go head to head with a lot of stuff out there. The envelator is a good example of that. I added one as my LFO. For uncertainty and so much else I dig the Noisering.
WMD's Multimode VCA is everything I could want in a VCA - it eliminates tons of other stuff, it's clean, and easily makes interesting stereo out of a mono signal. The Cwejman ADSR is always the output VCA EG I go to first. Suit n Tie's Post-Lawsuit filter is the most non-skiff-friendly module I own. (Nothing a couple trips to the hardware store can't fix...) But I'll forego all others to have it in my rack. That said - I'd def like to hear the Euro versions of Boomstar filters...
I don't MIDI my modular much anymore. But MIDI In/Out and Audio In/Out would go to Vermona. Built like a fricking tank - they ooze quality. They cost as much as a tank as well....
I love Makekko's little 8NU8R. Attenuator, voltage source, half wave rectifier, and probably something else as well.
For logic - if Intellijel's Ploq doesn't do it then tell me what does. I don't know what I'd do without Division VI's back-routable buffered mults in 2 and 3hp. But my favorite is WMD's 4hp 3x buff mult.
That's my story so far and I'm sticking to it. If I could do one thing over again I would have gone Buchla on day one. Other than that - I would have waited a few more years before getting in to Eurorack. Now is definitely a great time to be starting out in modular!
Shanti x 3, Lama