DACS HEADLINE Guitar Switching System

DACS HEADLINE Guitar Switching System

Description
The HeadLine Guitar Switcher was born from Jeff Waters, of Canadian metal band Annihilator, it started when Jeff wanted a way to compare his many boutique guitar amplifiers and cabinets in simple way without having to unplug and replug to try each combination. The time taken for changing over also made accurate comparisons difficult. The design for a guitar switcher has given Jeff with the capability to sit in the control room sweet spot and compare in seconds between different amps and cabinets. He achieved in a morning what had in the past taken up to two long days.

Function
The DACS HEADLINE guitar switcher is professionally designed allowing the selection from 8 amplifiers and 4 loudspeakers. The HEADLINE system comes with a 1U relay switching case that is sitting next to the amplifiers, and a 1U selector that is sitting next to the guitarist or engineer. They connect to each other with the use of a network cable. The relay switching is designed for making sure amp loads are maintained and the guitar input is muted during switching. Illuminated switches are the indications of clearly which are selected. The DACS HEADLINE is allowsing for customisation, for example adding a switch section for switching between microphones set on the loudspeakers.

HeadLine Relay Switcher Unit
The HEADLINE switcher unit is designed for switching all screens/0V lines with the signal lines that ensures the total isolation between amplifiers, and total fidelity of transmission. The unselected amplifier outputs are connected to a dummy load for ensuring that sensitive valve output stages are not compromised. The unused amplifier inputs short the signal and screen (like a ‘silent switch’ jack) for ensuring there is no hum or other pick up on the amplifier. During the time a new amplifier or loudspeaker is selected, the first step is to disconnect the currently active amplifier input line and short the signal and screen. Around 1 second later the selected amplifier output is routed to the selected loudspeaker, then shortly after that the guitar input to the amplifier is connected. The delay is giving the amplifier a chance to settle, and any reverb for dissipating before disconnecting its output. Changing loudspeakers is following the same procedure.

HeadLine Selector Unit
The HEADLINE selector unit comes with 12 illuminated buttons, 8 red and 4 blue. The red buttons are for selecting guitar amplifiers and the blue is designed for selecting loudspeaker cabinets. Labelling is done with the use of the magnetic strips and white board pen is supplied with the unit. The strips are cut to be aligned with the switches.

Connection
DACS has provided for two connection options:

For more information on this or any DACS Audio product, visit www.dacs-audio.com.