Each VCV Rack cable adds a one-sample delay, which can cause clock/reset ordering bugs

In VCV Rack every patch cable delays the signal it carries by exactly one audio sample from output to input. At 44.1 kHz one sample is about 22 microseconds — inaudible — but it matters for timing logic when two signals travel through different numbers of cables. The classic failure: a pulse routed through an extra utility module into a sequencer’s CLOCK input arrives one sample later than the same pulse sent straight into the sequencer’s RESET input. The sequencer resets to step 1, then one sample later sees the clock and advances to step 2, silently skipping the first step. The design remedy is that modules with CLOCK and RESET inputs should ignore clock triggers for about 1 ms after a reset; the patching remedy is to equalise the number of cables in each path.

Examples

Clock → utility → sequencer CLOCK arrives at sample N+2; clock → sequencer RESET arrives at sample N+1. The sequencer sees RESET first, then CLOCK, so it resets and immediately clocks off step 1 to step 2.

Assessment

A sequencer always skips its first step whenever it is reset. Using the one-sample-per-cable rule, explain the cause and give one fix at the module-design level and one at the patching level.