Hi guys!

After almost 2 years of watching YT videos about modular synths, generating some bleep&bloops in VCV Rack I decided to build my own rack... As you know starting with modular is quite complex, so I'm asking you for help.

I'm not a professional music maker, just a hobbyist. I want to start "small" and then dive in. I really like ambient sounds with noisy electronic drums/effects like here or here.

ModularGrid Rack

My ideas how to use this:

  • Clocking, sequencing, random melodies
    • Pam's - this is very versatile module, it's probably a little too menu diving but having 8 programmable outputs looks great.
    • Marbles - build in bernoulli gate and random sequencer is great for generative patches.
  • Sound sources
    • Plaits - almost all newbie racks propositions have it and its sound possibilities are huge.
    • Basimilus Iteritas Alter - this module is crazy, I love this heavy, deep, noisy drums.
    • Cs-L - this is like lessons from oscillation theory I want to take: FM modulation, wave folding, cross-modulation...
  • Sound modifiers
    • Wasp filter - it sounds just great
    • Dual FX - for wider sounds
  • Utils
    • Pam's - so many nice things in one module: quantizer, S&H, LFO, envelope generator
    • ADSR
    • Quad VCA
    • Mixer & headphones out

Questions/problems:

  • I'm thinking about Intellijel Quad VCA instead A-135-2 Quad VCA but deopfer is a cheaper. Is module from Intellijel better than A-135-2?
  • Too many sound sources? Should I throw away great Cs-L (too big and to complex for newbie?) and get simpler oscillator (Befaco's Even VCO?) + effect (Dual Drive from Erica Synths)? Or just remove this complex oscillator?
  • Am I missing some important utils/sound modifiers?
  • No noise source... Should I add something?
  • Sadly Mutable Instruments is closed, its better to look for secondhand offers (this modules are beautiful) or for clones?
  • How many cables should I buy? ;)

Thank you for all advice!

EDIT: preview of rack looks like "old one", probably some cache.