Smack Versio
Firmware for Versio (Noise Engineering)
Third-party Versio firmware that records live audio into a rolling buffer, cuts the last loop into slices, re-orders them from a seed and applies per-slice glitch effects.
- Distribution
- Prebuilt image you flash yourself
- License notes
- LICENSE is MIT and also lists vendored MIT components (the Smack engine, schwung's plugin header). The faceplate geometry is derived from a print template in the FRGMNTS Versio manual, which restricts using its data to manufacture panels for sale.
- Source
- github.com https://github.com/timncox/smack-versio
- Homepage
- timncox.github.io https://timncox.github.io/smack-versio/
- looper
- glitch
- slicer
- fx
- performance
Description
Audio is recorded continuously, and holding the button captures the last stretch of steps as a loop that is cut into a grid of slices. A SEED knob determines which slices are re-ordered and which get an effect, and BLEND crossfades between the clean loop and the glitched one, all quantised to the rack clock. v0.4.0 adds a momentary punch effect on the button, a triple-tap config layer for three extra settings and a DJ filter. It is a port of the author's Smack module for the Ableton Move, cut down to the Versio's seven knobs and no screen, and the author's Alchemy Lab version appears separately in this catalog. The README and the GitHub description still say it has never run on hardware, but the release notes and manual record it played on a module from 2026-08-19 and flashed from Noise Engineering's firmware page on 2026-08-20. The boot CPU readout was reported at 50-75% in the worst hard runs. The author notes that Noise Engineering does not support it.
Install notes
Put the Versio in DFU mode (hold BOOT, tap RESET, release BOOT) and upload smack_versio-0.4.1.bin on Noise Engineering's firmware page; no bootloader or toolchain is needed. The release zip also holds a BOOT_SRAM build for the Daisy web programmer or dfu-util, which needs the Daisy bootloader installed once. Flashing an official Noise Engineering firmware puts the module back to stock. Do not flash v0.1.0, which hard-faults on boot.
Version history
| Version | Date | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| v0.4.1 | 2026-08-20 | Firmware identical to v0.4.0; the lower switch is relabelled MODE in the faceplate and documentation. |
| v0.4.0 | 2026-08-20 | Adds a punch button, a config layer and a DJ filter. |
| v0.3.0 | 2026-08-20 | Internal-flash build that installs from Noise Engineering's firmware page. |
| v0.2.0 | 2026-08-20 | First build played on hardware; fixes the boot fault, the loop recorder stall and LIVE mode. |
| v0.1.0 | 2026-08-09 | Pre-release that hard-faults on boot; do not use. |