max amount of expansion?

[Dark Waves]

if 3 will never be an option, of course, i could bring in an older splitter, and try to employ a 3rd one - using 3 mrccs and the router. Not sure how that would all work, but in my mind, it seems to.

Just one idea, if there's a part of your studio (one of the three) which is more independent from the others, or just less used, you could set it up with it's own MRCC that wouldn't be integrated the way the first two are, and then just run a pair (or two) of DIN cables to one of the main MRCCs and basically just daisy chain to an in port and an out port there, and then just route to the third MRCC (and back if needed) the way you would to anything else, as if it were a multi part synth.  Since each MIDI connection has 16 channels, you could probably still get a fair amount of flexibility in addressing devices in your third zone.  This way you wouldn't need the splitter.

One thing that I would find complicated is having multiple MRCCs connected to my PC, and trying to keep all the virtual connection straight in my DAW.   But just for standalone use it seems like a viable option.

As far as plans for the future updates allowing for multiple devices to talk to each other and seamlessly route from any source to any destination the way it's now possible with just two units, of course I can't speak for the company, but the level of complexity involved is such that I'm frankly quite impressed that they've managed to do it with even just two routers in this budget range, with the only compromise being that the Remote 7 ports return to parallel outs and not additional ones.  Of course MIDI uses much less bandwidth, but video routers traditionally have a mainframe buried in a rack somewhere doing all the processing and switching, and all the signal (video) connections and user control points are just dumb remote terminals feeding into the mainframe, which is very expensive, unlike the MRCC which combines controls, signal connections, and the actual routing in an all-in-one device, which is obviously the most viable form for the typical musician or small studio.  But hey, we can dream, and I do like the idea.