Getting Started

Powering On

The VMod Pro operates on its built-in rechargeable 4000mAh lithium polymer battery, designed for extended portable use. When the battery needs charging, connect a USB-C cable to any standard USB power source.

Charging Requirements

The device requires a power adapter that provides at least 2A of current. The included 5V 2A USB-C charger is recommended. If you use a charger with less than 2A output, the device may not fully charge.

Charging Status LED

The encoder knob features an LED indicator that shows charging status:

Red: Battery is charging
Green: Battery is fully charged

Connections

The VMod Pro has 1 input and 2 ⅛" TRS output connections.

Port Description
MIC Connect your microphone here
PHONE Headphone output. Use the "Vol" rotary wheel to control volume
LINE Connect to an external amplified speaker

Basic Controls

The VMod Pro uses an encoder wheel, two control knobs, and two physical buttons to navigate menus and adjust parameters.

Button Controls

Button Press Hold
Button 1 Mute/Unmute device (also moves cursor up in keyboard) Access Mix Settings directly (hold again to return to Effects Overview)
Button 2 Cycle through saved presets (also moves cursor down in keyboard) Save current settings to active preset

Encoder Wheel

Rotate to navigate menus and highlight items. Press to select or confirm.

Display Modes

Effects Overview (Home Screen)

This is your home screen showing all available effects and menu options. Rotate the encoder to highlight different items, then press to select. Available items include: Pitch Shift, Overdrive, Bitcrush, Ring Modulator, Chorus, Phaser, Flanger, Delay, Mixer, Presets, Settings, Visualizer, and WAV Player.

Editing Effect Parameters

When you select an effect, you enter parameter editing mode. Each effect has multiple pages of adjustable parameters controlled by the two knobs. A page indicator in the footer shows the current page number (for example, "1/3"). Navigate between pages using the encoder wheel — scroll past the last parameter to advance to the next page.

Knob Pickup Feature

For safety, when you first enter an effect, the knobs are inactive. You must turn each knob past its current parameter value before it becomes active. This prevents sudden jumps in your audio when switching between effects.

Once a knob is active, turning it adjusts the parameter in real-time. Press the encoder while editing to bypass or enable the current effect. Select "Back" from the footer menu to return to the overview.

Visualizer

The visualizer displays real-time audio levels in a graphical format. Access it from the main screen. Turn the encoder knob to cycle through different visualizer styles. Press the encoder to exit.

Effects

The VMod Pro features 8 audio effects that can be combined for unique voice characters.

Pitch Shift

Adjusts the pitch of your voice up or down without changing speed.

Pitch Controls how much the pitch shifts
Formant Controls formant shifting intensity for natural vocals (visible when Formant is enabled)
Formant Toggle Enable/disable via footer menu
Flutter Adds a wobble or warble character to the pitch shift (Page 2)
Mix Blends between dry and pitch-shifted signal (Page 3)

Overdrive

Adds grit and distortion to your voice.

Drive Controls the amount of distortion
Tone Adjusts the brightness of the distorted sound
Mix Blends between dry and overdriven signal (Page 2)

Bitcrush

Creates a digital, lo-fi sound by reducing audio quality.

Cutoff Controls the filter cutoff frequency
Mod Controls the bit depth reduction amount
Resonance Controls the filter resonance peak (Page 2)
Drive Adds saturation to the crushed signal (Page 2)
Mix Blends between dry and crushed signal (Page 3)

Ring Modulator

Creates metallic, robotic tones.

Carrier Sets the carrier frequency
Mod Adjusts the modulation amount
Wave Type Sine, Saw, Square, or Triangle via footer menu
Mix Blends between dry and modulated signal (Page 2)

Chorus

Adds thickness and width to your voice.

Rate Controls the speed of the chorus effect
Depth Controls how pronounced the effect is
Delay Sets the chorus delay time (Page 2)
Feedback Controls chorus feedback amount (Page 2)
Mix Blends between dry and chorused signal (Page 3)

Phaser

Creates a sweeping, whooshing sound.

Rate Controls the speed of the sweep
Depth Controls the intensity of the phasing effect
Freq Sets the phaser center frequency (Page 2)
Feedback Controls phaser feedback amount (Page 2)
Poles Sets the number of phaser stages, 1-8 (Page 3)
Mix Blends between dry and phased signal (Page 4)

Flanger

Produces a jet-like sweeping effect.

Rate Controls the speed of the flange
Depth Controls the intensity
Delay Sets the flanger delay time (Page 2)
Feedback Controls flanger feedback amount (Page 2)
Mix Blends between dry and flanged signal (Page 3)

Delay

Creates echo effects.

Time Sets the delay time between repeats
Feedback Controls how many repeats occur
Mix Blends between dry and delayed signal (Page 2)

Per-Effect Mix

Every effect includes a Mix parameter on its last page. This controls how much of that specific effect is blended into your signal, independent of the global Effects Mix in Settings. At 0% the effect is transparent (signal passes through unchanged), and at 100% the full effect is applied.

Mixer

The Mixer screen, accessible from the main overview, provides a dedicated view for adjusting all per-effect mix levels at once. It displays two effects per page across four pages, with the two knobs controlling the mix level for each effect shown. Use the encoder to navigate between pages and select the Back button to return to the overview.

WAV Player

The WAV Player lets you load, configure, and play WAV audio samples stored on the SD card. Samples are pre-loaded entirely into SDRAM (up to 32 MB total) for glitch-free playback with zero SD card access during audio output. The player supports up to 16 simultaneous sample configurations with seven different trigger modes, making it ideal for sound effects, ambient backgrounds, and interactive audio triggered by voice activity or an external RF button.

SD Card Setup

Place your WAV files in the /VMOD/samples/ directory on the SD card. This directory is created automatically when you format the card from the Settings menu. WAV files must be 16-bit PCM format and can be either mono or stereo at any sample rate. Files in other bit depths (such as 24-bit or 32-bit float) are not supported and will fail to load.

File Browser

Select WAV Player from the main Effects Overview carousel to enter the file browser. The browser lists all .wav files found in /VMOD/samples/. Rotate the encoder to scroll through the file list. Files that already have a sample configuration are marked with a checkmark icon. Press the encoder to select a file and open its sample settings page. If the file has no existing configuration, one is created automatically with default values. Select BACK from the footer to return to the Effects Overview.

Sample Settings

After selecting a file, the sample settings page appears showing the filename (without extension) in the header. Use the encoder to scroll through the settings fields and press the encoder to toggle or change values. The footer provides BACK and PREVIEW buttons. The available settings are:

  • Enabled: Toggles whether this sample is active. When disabled, the sample will not respond to any triggers.
  • Volume: Sets the playback volume for this sample, displayed as a percentage from 0% to 100%.
  • Looping: When ON, the sample repeats continuously after reaching the end. When OFF, it plays once and stops.
  • Trigger: Sets how the sample is triggered. Press the encoder to cycle through the seven available trigger modes (see Trigger Modes below).
  • Delay / Timing / Presses: A mode-specific timing parameter. For Audio Head and Audio Tail modes, this sets a delay in seconds (1–10s) between the audio gate event and playback. For Timer mode, this sets the interval in seconds (1–60s). For RF Count mode, this sets the required number of button presses (1–10).
  • Background: When ON, the sample plays alongside your processed voice output. This is especially useful for ambient sound effects or background audio during performance or cosplay scenarios.

Trigger Modes

Each sample can be assigned one of seven trigger modes that determine when playback begins:

Manual

Play and stop the sample on demand using the PREVIEW button in the sample settings footer. Useful for testing and one-off sound effects.

Audio Head

Triggers when the noise gate opens (voice activity detected). An optional delay (1–10 seconds) can be configured to offset playback from the gate event. Uses the Gate Threshold from Mix Settings.

Audio Tail

Triggers when the noise gate closes (voice activity stops). An optional delay (1–10 seconds) allows the sample to play after a pause following speech. Uses the Gate Threshold from Mix Settings.

RF Count

Triggers after a specific number of RF button presses (1–10). The press count resets after the sample plays. Ideal for deliberate, counted activation.

RF Cycle

Each RF button press toggles between play and stop. Press once to start playback, press again to stop. Simple on/off control.

Timer

Automatically triggers at a fixed interval (1–60 seconds). The timer begins when the sample is loaded and repeats continuously. Useful for periodic ambient sounds.

Random

Triggers at random intervals. The timing parameter sets the maximum delay between plays. Creates organic, unpredictable sound patterns.

RF Button

The VMod Pro supports an external RF button connected to GPIO pin 21. The button uses active-low logic with an internal pull-up resistor and 50ms debounce filtering. RF button presses are used by the RF Count and RF Cycle trigger modes to control WAV sample playback. The button can trigger multiple samples simultaneously if several samples are configured with RF-based trigger modes.

Preset Integration

WAV Player sample configurations are saved and restored as part of your presets. Each preset stores up to 8 sample slots with their filename, volume, looping, enabled state, background mode, trigger mode, and timing parameters. When you save a preset, the current WAV Player configuration is included. When you load a preset, its WAV Player configuration is restored and the samples are automatically loaded into SDRAM. A loading progress screen is displayed while samples are being read from the SD card.

Presets

The VMod Pro can store up to 99 custom presets on its SD card containing all your effect settings and WAV Player configurations.

Quick Preset Access

  • Press Button 2 to cycle through saved presets
  • Hold Button 2 to save current settings to the active preset

Preset Browser

From the main screen, select Presets. Rotate the encoder to browse, then press to see options.

Loading a Preset

Select a preset and choose "Load" from the menu. All effect parameters will be restored to the saved values.

Creating a New Preset

Scroll down in the preset browser and select "New" from the footer menu. This opens the keyboard where you can name and save your preset.

Saving Over an Existing Preset

Select an existing preset slot and choose "Save" to overwrite it with your current settings. You can also hold Button 2 for a quick save to the active preset.

Renaming a Preset

Select a preset and choose "Rename". Use the encoder to navigate the keyboard:

  • Rotate encoder to move between characters horizontally
  • Press encoder to select a character
  • Use Button 1/2 to move cursor up/down between rows
  • ABC - Toggle uppercase/lowercase
  • Del - Delete last character
  • Exit - Finish and save

Deleting a Preset

Select a preset and choose "Clear". Confirm the deletion when prompted.

Settings

Access the Settings menu from the main screen to adjust global parameters.

Display Settings

Display Settings has two pages:

Page 1 - Brightness

  • Display Brightness: Adjusts the brightness level of the OLED display (Knob 1)
  • LEDs Brightness: Adjusts the brightness level of the RGB LED (Knob 2)

Page 2 - Options

  • Auto Sleep: Toggle the automatic display sleep feature on or off. When enabled, the screen dims after 45 seconds of inactivity and turns off completely after 60 seconds
  • LED Color: Cycle through available LED colors: White, Red, Green, Blue, Cyan, Magenta, Yellow, and Amber

Mix Settings

Quick Access

You can access Mix Settings directly by holding Button 1 from anywhere in the interface.

The Mix menu has three pages:

Page 1 - Output

  • Master Volume: Controls overall output level
  • Effects Mix: Blends between dry voice and processed effects

Page 2 - Input

  • Mic Gain: Adjusts input sensitivity
  • Gate Threshold: Reduces background noise (levels 1-5). Also helps prevent feedback with external speakers

Page 3 - Notch Filter

  • Frequency: Sets the notch filter frequency (20Hz - 8000Hz)
  • Q: Controls the width of the notch filter (0.5 - 10.0)
  • Enable/Bypass: Toggle the notch filter on or off

Using the Notch Filter

The notch filter eliminates feedback at specific frequencies. When you experience feedback, enable the filter and adjust the frequency to match the feedback tone, then fine-tune with the Q parameter.

SD Card

The SD Card settings page displays the current status of the SD card (not detected, detected but not mounted, or mounted). From this page you can mount an inserted card or format it. Formatting will erase all data on the card and create the required directory structure for preset storage.

Update Mode

Prepares the device for firmware updates. Connect via USB-C and visit vmod.tceffect.com to access the web-based updater.

Tips for Best Results

Quick Mute

Press Button 1 at any time to instantly mute the device.

Quick Mix Access

Hold Button 1 from anywhere in the interface to jump directly to Mix Settings. This provides fast access to volume, gain, and filter controls without navigating through menus.

Combining Effects

Multiple effects can be active simultaneously. Enable the effects you want and adjust their individual parameters to create unique voice characters.

Microphone Technique

Maintain consistent distance from the microphone. Use the Mic Gain setting to optimize input levels. If you hear background noise, increase the Gate Threshold.

Preventing Feedback

If you experience audio feedback with external speakers:

  • Increase the Gate Threshold to cut off low-level signals
  • Enable the Notch Filter and adjust frequency to match the feedback tone
  • Reduce Master Volume
  • Move the device farther from speakers
  • Lower Mic Gain if feedback persists

Effect Mix Balance

If effects sound too strong, reduce the Effects Mix parameter in settings to blend more of your natural voice.

Troubleshooting

No sound output
  • Check Master Volume in Mix settings
  • If using headphone output, ensure the volume wheel is turned at least halfway up
  • Verify Mic Gain is not set too low
  • Ensure effects are not all bypassed
  • Check that Gate Threshold is not set too high
  • Verify the device is not muted (press Button 1)
Distorted or clipping audio
  • Reduce Mic Gain
  • Lower Master Volume
  • Decrease effect intensity parameters
Audio feedback or squealing
  • Increase Gate Threshold to cut off low-level signals
  • Enable and adjust the Notch Filter to target the feedback frequency
  • Reduce Master Volume
  • Move the device farther from speakers
  • Lower Mic Gain if feedback persists
Knobs not responding
  • This is normal — turn the knob past the current value to activate pickup
  • Check that you are in parameter edit mode, not overview mode
WAV samples won't load
  • Ensure files are 16-bit PCM WAV format (24-bit and 32-bit float are not supported)
  • Check that files are in the /VMOD/samples/ directory on the SD card
  • Verify total sample size does not exceed 32 MB of SDRAM
  • Try reformatting the SD card from Settings and re-copying your files
WAV sample not triggering
  • Make sure the sample's Enabled setting is ON
  • For Audio Head/Tail modes, check that Gate Threshold in Mix Settings is properly calibrated
  • For RF Count/Cycle modes, verify the RF button is connected and functioning
  • Check that the sample is loaded into SDRAM (look for the checkmark in the file browser)
Display won't turn on
  • Battery may be depleted — connect USB-C charger
  • Press encoder or any control to wake from sleep mode

Firmware Updates

Chrome Browser Required

The web-based firmware updater uses WebUSB technology, which is only supported in Google Chrome (version 61 or newer) or other Chromium-based browsers like Microsoft Edge. Safari and Firefox are not supported.

To update your VMod Pro firmware:

  1. Open Google Chrome browser on your computer
  2. From the Settings menu on your VMod Pro, select Update Mode
  3. Connect the device to your computer using a USB-C cable
  4. Navigate to vmod.tceffect.com
  5. Follow the on-screen instructions to upload the latest firmware

Care & Maintenance

  • Keep the device away from moisture
  • Store in a cool, dry place when not in use
  • Charge regularly to maintain battery health
  • Clean the display with a soft, dry cloth

Battery Information

The VMod Pro is equipped with a 4000mAh lithium polymer battery. The battery indicator appears in the top-right corner of the display. When critically low, the device will display a warning and shut down safely to protect the battery.