most vcas with knobs have attenuators built in - doesn't necessarily mean you don't need attenuators too
for example - clouds cv ins benefit massively from attenuation - so I always want attenuators for clouds - do I always want to take up 2-4 of my vcas (some of which have attneuators) for this purpose? no
the same with sending modulation to my cv->midiCC converter - I need a lot of attenuation, but not necessarily VC Attenuation
the same with regular audio level modulation to lzx video modules - that use 0-1v - I need attenuation not necessarily VC Attenuation
in all these cases passive attenuators work perfectly well and are much cheaper than VCAs
"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