Lehle Mono Volume S

The Lehle Mono Volume S is an active, wear-free volume pedal from Lehle, announced in May 2022 as a smaller and lighter version of the company's Mono Volume. Instead of a mechanical potentiometer, your foot moves a magnet, a Hall sensor measures the distance with great precision, and an ARM Cortex CPU processes the sensor data and controls a VCA (voltage-controlled amplifier) that sets the level¹². The signal path stays completely analog; only the sensing is digital².

Lehle describes it as lighter and smaller than the Mono Volume "but not less effective"². Compared with the original, the weight is reduced by 50% and the size by 35%, with the same pedal range and a housing about 2 cm flatter³. It is currently in production³.

How it works: Hall sensor, VCA and an ARM processor

Conventional volume pedals drag a wiper across a potentiometer track, which is the part that eventually crackles and fails. The Mono Volume S removes that part entirely. Lehle's manual explains the chain: your foot moves only a magnet, the Hall sensor measures its distance precisely and very fast, and the ARM Cortex CPU turns that measurement into control of the VCA¹. Because there is no mechanical potentiometer, Lehle says the typical noise, endlessly expensive repairs and complicated adjustment of ordinary volume pedals are avoided².

The Hall sensors Lehle uses are 3D sensors that measure in every direction. On the Chairmen of the Boards podcast, Joki Schaller of Lehle explained that they can be oriented so they do not interfere with anything else⁵.

The pedal also hosts a Class-A input stage with a dynamic range of 120 dB⁴, and its noise floor sits at -105 dBu (A-weighted)², comfortably beyond anything a guitar or bass produces.

Controls, presets and connections

The Mono Volume S has a FUNCTION BUTTON that recalls the pedal's presets². The available presets are 0 dB, +5 dB and +10 dB, plus P4 and P4.1². In the heel position the pedal sits at -95 dB, virtually muted, on every preset². Maximum gain is 12 dB².

The input accepts electric and acoustic stringed instruments, synthesizers, keyboards, or the send of an amp's effects loop². There are two outputs:

Key specifications from Lehle's manual⁶:

MIDI over USB-C

The USB-C connection does more than power the pedal. Connected to a computer, the Mono Volume S works as a MIDI-USB expression pedal, sending control change command 11 on MIDI channel 1 by default². MusicRadar reported at launch that the USB-C connection can also "calibrate, program and update" the pedal via computer⁴.

When it is connected to a computer via USB for MIDI-USB expression use or a firmware update, the USB-C socket powers the pedal, so no external power supply is needed for those functions¹.

How it differs from the Mono Volume and Mono Volume 90

The original Lehle Mono Volume weighs 1480 g⁷; the Mono Volume S weighs 766 g², which with the 50% weight reduction and 35% size reduction makes it the board-friendly option in the range⁷²⁴. The Mono Volume's volume control ranges from -92 dB to 0 dB, from a virtually muted level to the same volume as the input signal⁷.

Within the older line, the Mono Volume has its connections at the front, while the Mono Volume 90 has connections at the side plus an additional control for minimum volume⁷. Both of those pedals run on 9 to 15 V DC at 50 mA⁷; the Mono Volume S draws 150 mA⁸⁷⁹.

What reviewers said

Guitar World reported an expected street price of around $279¹⁰, in line with Lehle's US pricing of $369 MSRP / MAP $279⁴.

Lehle itself points to the pedal's construction as its selling point: because it has no mechanical potentiometer, the typical noise, endlessly expensive repairs and complicated adjustment can be avoided², and every assembly is made and tested in Germany².

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