i feel like this little guy is very much a creature of cohost. I actually sent an anon ask to @idadeerz waayy back to see if she had any opinions on how i should start with it! and her own "journey" post was pretty inspiring so now i wanna make my own 
I'm not sure it's an amazing tool for creating new and interesting music, but it is a very fun toy, which was my original intent. For most purposes of creative expression, using a DAW on your computer will always be faster, easier, and more repeatable, but working with hardware, and especially analog hardware is a kind of self-imposed challenge that is personally rewarding to me. I especially like using things in unintended ways, and analog circuitry is rife with those kinds of possibilities.
With the exception of the case ($600 combined iirc) and the moog mavis ($300) everything in this case cost less than $200 individually, which is kind of my cutoff point. added up, it's very expensive!!! but individually i can treat each module as a cheap little project and accumulate functionality over time.
for funsies I'm also including "purchase order" from memory. PO 0 is the first module i ever acquired.
so from very top left to bottom right:
Row 1
EGGBUG
The Case! (PO 7)
made special by fellow chostie @secrets. In a lot of ways i used cohost as a trial run for reaching out and being more sociable and for this it worked out perfectly! turns out you can just email people wtf
After Later Audio Threads - (PO 2)
1U MI Yarns clone, purchased secondhand. This is a midi interface and my primary source of sequencing / 1v/oct signals. most of my patches actually start in renoise with little midi sequences and get plugged in here, along with the CC/mod output and the built in clock. very handy!
Mosaic Line in/Line out - (PO 3)
utility tiles, these take line-level input signals from external gear and boost them up to eurorack, and back down. they're important utilities for me, especially because the moog mavis output is about line level, but i just wish they didn't put the knob in the very middle. it's hard to reach when everything is plugged in!
Row 2
noisey (PO 12)
self-made on stripboard. this is Moritz Klein's schematic for white and pink noise. Works as expected but it turns out i don't really use white noise all that much. If I were to make it again i think I would want to add a built-in sample and hold, as well as attenuator knobs for each output
MI Plaits (PO 11)
This is a reproduction module i got secondhand. in terms of amount of sound you get in the amount of space its incredibly compact; you could make patches entirely by patching the trigger and note inputs and just playing around with it that way. I find it extra useful for adding simple bass voices and chords to a patch where the mavis is the lead instrument. I do find lots of the built in algorithms kind of tough to use with only three knobs though; which is unfortunate.
Kassutronics Slope - (PO 8)
My first DIY module! purchased as a PCB + wooden panel (!), and then i had to find all the parts to go with it myself. I actually really like this one, but it's hard to explain what it's really doing under the hood. for my purposes I mostly use it either as an LFO, repeating gate, or as an envelope where the decay and release times are the same. it can do weirder stuff too, but I tend to use those features less. a good example of "can do anything, just not all at once". putting it together also taught me a lot about how modules work under the hood and what parts you need to make your own~~
Doepfer VCA - (PO 4)
Purchased secondhand. important utility, and they're fun to use at maximum volume where you get a nice soft clipping sound. if im being honest though, I don't think I like the jacks and knobs doepfer uses. they have a plastic ring on them that feels "mushy" and it's hard to tell when your cable is inserted all the way or not.
Moog Mavis - (PO 1)
This is the heart of the system and it provides a lot in a semi-modular package. it sounds like a moog! and works well even if the only thing you patch is pitch/gate. My big complaints are that the VCA out is set to headphone/line level and not eurorack level, making it harder to use in the "middle" of a chain, and that I wish I could patch the built-in EG/LFO modulation paths to use external modulators instead. I think both would be possible with a little DIY but messing with it in particular is still kind of scary
Row 3
Patch.init (PO 9)
First self-ordered PCB. this is the open source patch.init() hardware design that i made myself for practice (i also think i saved a tiny bit of money over buying it prebuilt. not much tho)
Since this is a "development platform" kind of module it's up to me to program it to do useful things. I'm, uhm,,,, still working on that lol, so I use it less than i maybe should. Still! very cool and as a platform it is very powerful.
Doepfer VC switches (PO 11)
I got this secondhand as a package deal. honestly I've struggled to use it musically, maybe if i had more sources of modulation to switch between 🧐🧐
Hatsune mixu (PO 10)
self-made with direct soldering! since i made it i can give it whatever cringe name i like.
This is a 6-to-1 passive mixer, that you can use backwards as a 1-to-6 passive mult. This has turned out to be very handy, and for the most part i use it above the mixers built into the mavis (2-to-1 adjustable) or the utopia (4-to-3 adjustable)
Dreadbox Utopia - (PO 5)
I think this is the module I'm most critical of, tbh. I appreciate its fun colors, and i think the way each utility section is "normalled" is smart, but! like the Mosaic modules, they have knobs in between two jacks, which makes it very tough to use the knobs and those jacks at the same time. I think i get more use out of the unity mixer/comparator sections than that top section for that reason.
Patch.init! again! (PO 9)
surprise! since you order PCBS in lots of 5 i had spare parts to make another for cheap. at some point, after i make a good algorithm for it, i might just redo the panel for just that algorithm (hence why it's still in protective paper).
Patch.init debugger
hey, it works, ok? i want to make this into something that isn't literally held in place with painters tape, but the main gist of this thing is that i can plug in a usb cable to flash the Patch.init() board next to it without unplugging anything. very handy.
Row 4????
Korg NTS-3 "kaoss pad" (PO 13)
This is not a module, and it runs at line level, but i find it handy as a fun end-of-chain effect for doing things like LFO and reverb without using a computer. I feel like I've only just got it so I haven't totally jumped into making my own presets and algorithms yet, but it has the ability to do that too. also easy to sync using a eurorack clock signal
Pocket Operator PO-12 (PO 0)
i've had this thing for a really long time as a little toy drum machine. Very cheap, and still very handy. it also syncs just fine using eurorack clock signals! my only complaint i think is that a lot of the built in sounds don't have a lot of "range" if that makes sense? most beats i make on it sound like a PO-12 beat, no matter how much i shake it up.
wait what's holding them up....
ssh secret.......
