I wish I could say something about it. I feel like Vermona products and the Per4mer specifically get mentioned often enough on forums. I hate to send you away from IDMf but the forum that shall not be mentioned…coughGScough…will almost certainly have a long, long thread about it.
I haven’t looked that deeply into it but I’ll have to watch a video or two now, as you say on the surface it looks pretty basic.
I would check the used prices just to see what you’d be getting into if you ended up selling one OR looking into a place with a great return policy. Even a modest restocking fee might be worth it to “rent” one for 30 days to try it out.
On the other hand Novation is working up a strong following with its new Circuit series. I’ve only ever tired the MonoStation but it is in never-sell territory for me and a quick look at that Ottobit pedal I can see why its tempting.
Happy to hear you are getting compensated nicely enough to treat yourself like this. Take a good close look at the Vermona. I don’t remember what all you own and I can’t think of a better way to put it right now but it is really nice to own a “big boy synthesizer” that is all around high quality.