Vortex Sound Research

Hi folks

I had been planning on adding a Function and Optomix to my small system. Recently I watched the Make Noise videos pairing the Dynamix and Contour and it's got me second guessing myself. I especially liked the panning/cross fading with the mirrored outputs of the Contour, and the sidechain/ducking sounds in the Dynamix.

I guess I just wanted to hear some other opinions. Is the cross fade stuff that I like unique to the Contour? Are there other advantages/disadvantages to either of these set ups?