personally I think the hector and empress zoia are the opposite of modular philosophy - basically just a computer in a module format - I'd rather use vcv rack & I really don't like that either - real knobs (ie full size ones as much as possible possible), real jacks, real switches, real patch cables, real modular!!!!
money is only money - a modular synth is something else entirely and much more valuable and worthwhile!
"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