Every VCV Rack signal is a voltage; its 'type' is a functional convention, not a physical difference

In VCV Rack (and Eurorack) every patch cable carries the same physical thing — a voltage. What differs is the functional role that voltage plays: some voltages are heard as audio, some modulate parameters (CV), some encode pitch (1V/oct), some signal on/off (gates), some fire events (triggers), some keep tempo (clocks). Crucially the connectors do not enforce these roles: any output can be patched to any input regardless of the signal’s intended type. So ‘signal type’ is a convention about how a module interprets the voltage it receives, not a hardware distinction. This is the key mental model for patching: you choose destinations by what interpretation makes musical sense, because nothing stops you making a ‘type-wrong’ connection — it simply produces whatever the receiving input does with that voltage.

Examples

An LFO’s slow CV patched into a VCO’s 1V/oct input is read as pitch and produces vibrato; the same voltage patched into a VCA’s CV input is read as level and produces tremolo. Same voltage, different role, because the destination decides the interpretation.

Assessment

Explain why VCV Rack lets you connect any output to any input, and what determines whether a given voltage behaves as audio, pitch, or a gate. Give an example where the same source produces different results depending on where it is patched.