well NOTHING would beat going someplace where you could get hands on with gear and check it out, especially if there's a knowledgable staff.
personally, i'm REALLY into rossum's control forge. it's a rack hog & has a deep interface, but it works a lot like my mind does picturing tones and beats as curves and stretchy rubber bands. THAT utility makes more sense to me than every clock/divider, sequencer and CV modulator put together, but that's me.
i don't have ANYTHING for making music except a binaural dummy head i made with sure PZMs, a sony portable cassette deck & a TC electronics chorus, all in storage. realistically, i'd start out doing EVERYTHING in a DAW with as much freeware as i could cram in it, then add a tube preamp, a sampler (or software), a cheap monophic analogue... probably a mopho, a twangy telecaster and keep building from there, but the job market here SUCKS, and i have other priorities... like getting my stuff out of storage that have to come first.
i'm just studying modular out of boredom & to learn more than the basics of synthesis & music production i'm already familiar with.
i'm just studying modular out of boredom & to learn more than the basics of synthesis & music production i'm already familiar with.
as to DIY stage cases... check parts express out. they have cheap carpet, spray adhesive & all kinds of handles & corners etc. for building road worthy gear along with excellent customer service. i buy most of my DIY audio stuff from them and have never been burned on an order over an issue they didn't resolve.