Don't get me wrong I think Axo is great but that it could be improved
I have looked at some of the alternatives you suggest here and think Axo is perhaps the best value and most flexible solution available.
Why could it not be possible to make different products aimed at different markets at some time in the future?
I agree about pure data, If I was going to do that sort of thing on a computer I'd just do it in C/C++, the only hard part would be accessing the hardware but SDL can probably do that reasonable easily, I know it has audio capability, dunno about MIDI.
I guess some of my criticisms and minor frustrations with Axoloti come from it being so close to exactly what I had in mind myself apart from a few niggling details, you know that so close but not quite feeling you get about things that could be so great but just miss the mark by a bit? that's how I feel about Axo.
Just because I criticise it and offer suggestions for improvements and future developments doesn't mean I don't like it, in fact the opposite is true, as good as it is, it can be better and I want to help make it better.
Does that clarify things a bit?