I wouldn't buy a linear only vca as a first vca - as it infers that it was designed only for CV and not audio
Veils overdrives very nicely - and is smaller - so that would be my pick! mutable manufacture also seems to be ok-ish based on new releases being available - so I'd expect that to be easiest to find, but that might not be the case as I've not looked
"some of the best base-level info to remember can be found in Jim's sigfile" @Lugia
Utility modules are the dull polish that makes the shiny modules actually shine!!!
sound sources < sound modifiers < modulation sources < utilities