the 'by far the best' manufacturer of mutable instruments is - mutable - ergonomically sound and great support, plus the original designer gets the money not some guy(s) who took a github plan for a module and shrunk it - mi also have great support!
I'm not sure I follow ... does Mutable Instruments oppose or have an issue with the clone builds? I'd assume that me buying one of those isn't any different than me getting a DIY and paying someone with more experience to build it, and many of the clones seem to have additional features not including in the MI version and/or attempt to improve the aesthetics or UI. Does this practice negatively impact MI in some way? It seems so prevalent that I guess I just assumed MI made these designs open source by choice and had no problem with the existing market for its designs.
Beyond that, thanks for the recommendations so far, though I am curious for more answers regarding those who have used the clone-brands and the originals -- is there really a negative difference w/ the clones? Senior-bling mentions that the clones are less "fun," -- but what's that mean to you? Do you mean the smaller sizes just make the knobs harder to navigate and work with? You mention 3 clones you've used that were superior to the MI versions -- have you used others that are inferior? If so, why?
I'm not trying to nit-pick here, I tend to prefer to go "original manufacturer" myself when possible -- I'm just trying to understand the rationale, when the clone brands would seem, at a glance, to generally offer the same or better functionality for a lower price. (Good technical support is great and all, but not a big selling point for me personally). If those brands are ripping MI off in some way, or people have found they don't replicate the MI modules very well or work as good or flake out or something like that, that's one thing. But is that really the case? More input welcome.