Hi Garfield,
Thanks for the reply! I was thinking about the differences between the 104 HP vs. the 84 HP - $50 for 20HP x 2 at 3U + 20HP at 1U seems like an easy upgrade decision. I would love to have more modules, but quickly found out my budget of $2k~ (case incl.) gets swamped before I have the bases covered and communication with my laptop. Is there some things I could cut back on to make room for what you'd suggest? I was planning on trying to cover as many bases as I could with the ins and outs of the ES-8 until I can get physical modules in the rack. Do you have any suggestions for a mixer?
I figured the cheapest way to model this synth and get started in modular was to have it create drones and backgrounds that can both be augmented by/augment what is happening on my laptop. I'm not sure if this rack screams that, but I was planning on making what I needed in Max to supplement what I found to be obstacles in the hardware - while still being flexible in future expansions. I appreciate your reply and it's gotten me considering the software vs. hardware feasibility of what I'm trying to do.