Thanks JimHowell1970!
I was thinking about Bastl Aikido as it is a 4 channel VCA and cascading mixer. Also Ikarie has a built-in vca in. Isn't that good enough?
For utilities would 3x MIA and/or Miso be sufficient?
-- przyprawa
between the ikarie and the aikido you've probably got enough to get you going - you may or may not need more in the future... NB vcas are for modulation as well as for audio...
again the 3*MIA or miso are probably a good start - see my signature and contemplate it for hours... in lots of ways utilities are more important than what sound sources you have... they exponentially open up your patching options... a matrix mixer for example is a great idea... spending a lot of time researching utilities is a really good way to spend time... and thinking about how you would incorporate them into your patching... both for audio and modulation...
I also agree very strongly with @Sweelinck - some effects would be a great idea... I'd go for the fx aid pro if you can... so you can see what you are doing (it has a screen to show the algo you are using - whereas the other versions only have a led array - which is not so understandable)
"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