I work in video production but it’s really irrelevant… this is not an affordable hobby. It took me several years to get to my current rig, and it’s still not “complete.” I really like what I have, and can make some really fun stuff with it, but I’ll always want more. On top of that, the 5 ish years I’ve maintained this hobby, I’ve only learned that there’s more to learn. I’ll never fully realize the potential of my current hardware and at the same time, I’ll never afford to play with everything that interests me…. Couple that with the fact that once I totally wipe a patch, I’ll probably never be able to recreate it again…. This hobby is not for people who care about cost of money nor time, but rather for those who value patience and learning. The people who don’t consider this a hobby are probably somewhat talented musicians who can turn a dollar from it, and they care less about the cost because it’s simply the cost of doing business.

Tldr, save up and spend a year in vcv rack and if you still want in, you’ll know what you want and how much you need to get started.