Posted by Chris Gill on December 21

The DACS HeadLine guitar switcher system provides studio guitarists who like to use a variety of tube amplifiers and speakers with the same instant equipment switching satisfaction as performers who use digital modeling applications, processors, and amplifiers.

The DACS HeadLine guitar switcher system provides studio guitarists who like to use a variety of tube amplifiers and speakers with the same instant equipment switching satisfaction as performers who use digital modeling applications, processors, and amplifiers.

Digital amplifier modelers, processors, and applications provide studio guitarists with an incredible variety of ready-to-use tones, but many players still prefer real tube amplifiers and the sound of real speakers captured by microphones . 

Unfortunately, it is more cumbersome and time-consuming to replace the guitar amplifier head and speaker cabinet to find the ideal sound than to access the menu and click on the app or control panel with a few clicks. While this may not be a problem when working alone in a home studio, it can be a nightmare when an impatient band member or client is looking at the clock.

DACS HeadLine provides a professional-quality, powerful, and easy-to-use solution for guitarists who want immediate access to various amplifier and speaker combinations. 

Up to eight amplifiers and four speaker boxes can be connected to the HeadLine relay switch box, which in turn is connected to a separate user interface/selector unit with illuminated buttons for selecting amplifiers and cabinets. A separate unit allows the switch box to be kept close to the amplifier and speakers in the recording room, while the selector unit is kept within the confines of the control room.

The DACS HeadLine system consists of two 1U rack-mounted devices, each with a depth of approximately 4 ¼ inches, which is very light.

The front panel of the relay switch box has only one illuminated on/off switch and ¼-inch input, while the rear is another guitar input/tuner jack. Eight ¼-inch jacks are connected to each amplifier input, eight The ¼-inch jacks are used to connect to the speaker output jacks of the corresponding amplifier, four ¼-inch speaker outputs, and one jack for Cat 5/6 RJ45 network cables (Ethernet).

DACS HeadLine comes with a 16-foot cable, which should be long enough for most applications, but longer cables are easy to find in computer stores or online.

The interface/selector unit provides a set of eight illuminated button switches for selecting the required amplifier, and another set of four illuminated button switches for selecting cabinets. It is also possible to connect two cabinets at the same time, but just make sure that the selected amplifier can handle the resulting impedance.

The unit also has a ¼-inch guitar input on the front panel, while on the back is a separate ¼-inch guitar output and tuner jack and an RJ45 control output jack.

Connecting amplifiers and speakers to the DACS HeadLine switch box is very simple. The ordinary guitar cable is connected between the switcher and the amplifier, and the speaker cable is connected to the amplifier output and speaker input jacks of the switcher. 

When the amplifier is not selected, it will automatically connect to the virtual load to avoid transformer damage. In addition, users can only use channels with speakers connected, and channels without speakers cannot be activated. The only setup problem that users need to pay attention to is the impedance matching between the cabinets, especially when selecting speaker pairs.

Being able to compare different equipment in real time while looking for the ideal sound is a revelation and a godsend for players

The DACS HeadLine system truly allows guitarists to swap amplifier head and speaker configurations in an instant. When the guitar input is muted, there is only a short delay in the switching process, but this is not a problem for studio applications.

Being able to compare different equipment immediately while looking for the ideal sound is a revelation and a godsend for players. HeadLine is also very useful outside of the recording studio, for simple tasks such as determining which speaker is the best match for the amplifier head.

When people can compare and contrast differences and nuances in a few seconds, choosing the ideal speaker is much easier, instead of having to spend a few minutes unplugging and plugging in different cabinets and relying on their own memory.

Chris is the co-author of Eruption-Conversations with Eddie Van Halen. He is a veteran with 40 years of experience in the music industry and worked at Boardwalk Entertainment (Joan Jett, Night Ranger) and Roland US before becoming a guitar reporter in 1991. He interviewed more than 600 artists, wrote more than 1,400 product reviews, and contributed to Jeff Baker's Baker 01: Hot Rods and Rock and Roll and Eric Clapton's Six String Stories.

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