> i have been tempted in the past to buy a cheap tapco (or worse) mixer,
> gut it and modularize it. you can buy a nice, cheap 6 channel mixer
> w/eq's, mutes, headphone out,(some even have xlr outs)etc. for $100 or
> less. granted, this may not be the purpose of the a-135-2, but then,
> what is it why stop short

The idea of the A-135-2 was never to replace a normal audio mixer (as
described by you above) but to have an alternative mixing tool with features
that are not available in such a standard mixer. For example VCFs are used
(not EQs) and you have voltage control over each parameter (frequency,
resonance, loudness, panning). If you ever tried the voltage control
features of the A-135-2 - OK, it's not possible so far - (e.g. independent
panning with 4 LFOs like A-143-3, or control of the parameters F/Q/A/P with
a sequencer or Theremin or ribbon or random voltage or ...) in combination
with the manual control features you will understand the difference between
the A-135-2 and a standard mixer.

Best wishes
Dieter Doepfer