VCV Rack: Free Virtual Modular

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What is VCV Rack?

VCV Rack is a virtual Eurorack modular synthesizer for your computer. You get an empty rack on screen, fill it with modules, and connect them with virtual patch cables, exactly like a real system. It runs on Windows, macOS and Linux.

And it’s free. VCV Rack 2 Free comes with a complete starter toolkit of oscillators, filters, envelopes, VCAs, LFOs, sequencers, mixers and a scope. Thousands of extra modules can be added from the online library, most of them free as well. The paid Rack 2 Pro version adds a plugin for your DAW (Ableton Live, Logic, Bitwig, Reaper and more) and some paid modules, but you don’t need it to learn or experiment.

VCV Rack with two rows of virtual Eurorack modules connected by colourful patch cables
VCV Rack looks and works like a real Eurorack case, but on your screen: here the VCV starter modules together with virtual versions of Mutable Instruments modules (macro oscillator, modal synthesizer, random sampler, segment generator).
1. Tryin VCV Rack2. Planon ModularGrid3. Buildor buy hardwareThe cheapest mistakes are the ones you make virtually
A smart way to build a system: try, plan, then build. Diagram: Melodio.

Why every modular builder should use it

  • Learn patching without spending a cent. Try every technique from our Patching Techniques page and hear the result immediately.
  • Create and sketch ideas. Build a patch on the train or at your desk, save it, and recreate it later on your hardware.
  • Check modules before you buy or build them. Many real Eurorack modules have official virtual versions. Find out whether you really use that complex oscillator before it takes up 20 HP in your case.
  • Plan your system. Combine VCV Rack with ModularGrid: test the sound in VCV, then check HP, depth and power on ModularGrid.
  • Go hybrid later. With an audio interface (DC-coupled, such as the Expert Sleepers ES-9), VCV Rack can send and receive control voltages to and from your hardware modules.

Modules from real brands

The VCV Library contains more than 2,000 modules, including 170+ official versions of real Eurorack hardware, made by or together with the original manufacturers. Some highlights:

Brand In VCV Rack Why it’s interesting
Mutable Instruments Free, as Audible Instruments (VCV’s versions of the open-source designs) Try classics such as Plaits, Rings, Clouds, Braids, Elements and Marbles. Mutable Instruments stopped making modules in 2022, but the open-source designs live on as DIY builds, many using STM32 chips you can program with an ST-Link.
Befaco Free, official Barcelona’s DIY-friendly maker: Even VCO, Rampage, Kickall, Spring Reverb, Noise Plethora and more. Many of these are also available as DIY kits, so you can try first and solder later.
VCV Fundamental & Free Free, built in The basic building blocks: VCO, VCF, VCA, ADSR, LFO, sequencer, mixer, scope.
Many other makers Free and paid The library is full of official hardware versions and original software-only modules from developers around the world. Browse it at library.vcvrack.com.

Tip: found a module you love in VCV Rack and it’s open-source hardware? Check whether there’s a DIY version. Most of the parts, from jack sockets and potentiometers to STM32 chips, are in our shop.

Getting started in 5 minutes

  1. Download VCV Rack 2 Free from vcvrack.com and create a free VCV account.
  2. Open the built-in template patch and turn the knobs to hear what happens.
  3. Right-click on an empty space in the rack to open the module browser and add modules.
  4. Drag from an output to an input to make a cable. Ctrl/Cmd-click a cable to remove it.
  5. Add free plugins (such as Befaco and Audible Instruments) via the VCV Library website; they install automatically when you log in to Rack.

Recommended free plugins

Beyond Befaco and Audible Instruments (see above), these free plugins are favourites in the community. Search for them by name in the VCV Library and click "Subscribe"; they install the next time Rack starts.

Plugin What you get Why it is useful
Bogaudio A large set of oscillators, filters, mixers, VCAs, LFOs and analyzers Clear, well-made basics and great mixers
Impromptu Modular Sequencers and the Clocked master clock Build songs and rhythms
Count Modula Sequencers, logic, gate and utility modules Lots of classic hardware-style utilities
Valley The Plateau reverb and more One of the best-loved reverbs in VCV
Surge XT Oscillators, filters and effects from the Surge XT synth Powerful digital sound sources and effects
stoermelder PackOne Workflow tools: Strip, 8FACE, MIDI-CAT and more Save presets, map MIDI controllers, copy rack sections

Audio and MIDI setup

Audio

  1. Add an Audio module (Audio 2 or Audio 8 from VCV Fundamental).
  2. Click the display and choose a driver: ASIO on Windows (install your audio interface's ASIO driver), Core Audio on macOS, ALSA or JACK on Linux.
  3. Choose your device, a sample rate of 44.1 or 48 kHz and a block size of 256. If the sound crackles, raise the block size; if it feels slow to react, lower it.
  4. Under Engine in the menu, set the engine sample rate to the same value and add threads if your computer has several cores.

MIDI keyboard

  1. Add a MIDI to CV module and choose your MIDI driver and keyboard in its display.
  2. V/OCT → VCO pitch input, GATE → envelope gate input, VEL (velocity) → a VCA or filter for touch response.
  3. For chords, right-click MIDI to CV and set Polyphony channels to 4 or more; polyphonic cables are drawn thicker.

Your first patch, step by step

  1. Start from an empty rack (File → New). Add these modules: MIDI to CV, VCO, VCF, VCA, ADSR and the Audio 2 output module.
  2. VCO SAW → VCF IN. VCF LPF → VCA IN. VCA OUT → inputs 1 and 2 of the Audio 2 module (left and right).
  3. MIDI to CV V/OCT → VCO V/OCT. MIDI to CV GATE → ADSR GATE.
  4. ADSR ENV → VCA CV. Now the VCA only opens while you hold a key.
  5. Play. Turn the VCF cutoff and resonance and change the ADSR attack and release.
  6. Add an LFO: LFO TRI → VCF FREQ CV input, and raise the cutoff CV amount for a slow sweep.

This is the same patch as the basic voice on Patching Techniques, so you can rebuild it on real hardware later.

Learn from the best

These three educators make learning modular synthesis in VCV Rack a pleasure. All three share huge amounts of knowledge for free.

“Omri Cohen: Modular Synthesis, VCV Rack and Fungi”

Omri Cohen

Omri Cohen started as a drummer, moved on to guitar, flute and piano, and wrote classical piano pieces. When he discovered VCV Rack in 2017, it became his main instrument. His YouTube channel grew into one of the best-known VCV Rack resources in the world, with hundreds of clear, friendly tutorials: from the very basics to generative ambient, polyphony and sound design.

He’s also a great example of how VCV Rack and hardware work together: he bought hardware modules such as Befaco Rampage and Noise Plethora and Mutable Instruments Branches after getting to know their virtual versions. He also helped design several VCV modules and offers courses, including a free getting-started course.

Omri Cohen on YouTube · VCV interview with Omri

“Planning Your First Eurorack Synthesizer with Sarah Belle Reid”

Sarah Belle Reid

Sarah Belle Reid is a trumpet player, modular synthesist and teacher who builds bridges between acoustic instruments and electronics. She studied music in Montreal and at CalArts in California, co-developed MIGSI, an electronically augmented trumpet, and plays systems from Buchla and Serge to Eurorack. Today she’s also an assistant professor of music technology at the University of Victoria in Canada.

She’s known for making synthesis feel playful and approachable. Her online course Learn Sound and Synthesis is taught entirely in VCV Rack, so students don’t need any hardware, and her YouTube videos cover everything from your first patch to connecting acoustic instruments to a modular, and planning your first Eurorack system.

Sarah Belle Reid’s VCV Rack videos

Darlene Elizabeth: “What I’ve Learned After 30 Days With VCV Rack”

Darlene Elizabeth

Darlene Elizabeth is a Canadian music creator focused on ambient and downtempo music. Her music is all about texture: slowly evolving layers that, in her own words, “create new worlds” within her songs.

What makes her channel special for beginners is that she shares her own learning journey. In What I’ve Learned After 30 Days With VCV Rack she looks back on her first month with the software: an honest, encouraging view of what it’s like to start from zero, and proof of how far you can get in just a few weeks. A great companion if you’re just starting out yourself, especially if you love atmospheric, generative and textural sounds.

Darlene Elizabeth on YouTube · Bandcamp

From screen to soldering iron

Ready to make it real? Start with Getting Started with Modular, plan your case on Configure Your Modular Synthesizer, and learn to build with How to Solder. Bring your favourite VCV patch along: it’s the perfect blueprint for your first real system.

VCV modules you can also build

In VCV Rack Hardware version Level
Audible Instruments (Plaits, Rings, Clouds, Braids…) Open-source Mutable Instruments designs, built from the published files Advanced: fine-pitch SMD and firmware flashing with an ST-Link
Befaco (Even VCO, Rampage, Kickall, Spring Reverb…) Befaco DIY kits Beginner to intermediate
VCV Fundamental VCO, VCF, VCA, ADSR Any of the many beginner DIY kits for these basic modules Beginner

Read BOM: The Bill of Materials to see how a DIY build is ordered, and DIY Builders for kit makers sorted by difficulty.

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