\nA DCA is a convenient way to adjust the levels for several channels at the same time. In this article, we’ll explain what DCA is, when to use one, and how to assign channels to a DCA.\n<\/p>\n\n\n\n
DCA is an abbreviation for Digitally Controlled Amplifier<\/strong>. They are often used as a Group Master<\/strong> on an analog mixer, however, a DCA works a little differently. A digitally controlled amplifier will adjust the level of each channel individually, as opposed to summing all the channels into one signal channel and then adjusting the level of that channel.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One thing that’s might be a little surprising if you haven’t worked with a DCA before is that when you move a DCA fader the volume of each channel assigned to that DCA will change but the individual channel faders assigned to the DCA will not move. It has to do with how the DCA controls each channel but we’ll tell you more about it in the next section.<\/p>\n\n\n\n A DCA is helpful in any situation where you need to adjust multiple channels at the same time. For example, if you have 10 channels of drums and you wanted to lower their volume without messing up your mix, you could go to each channel, one-by-one and lower their volumes by exactly the same amount or you could just assign them all to a DCA and use that DCA fader to lower each channel’s volume simultaneously. DCA\u2019s are also handy if you need to adjust the faders of two or more channels that exist on different input layers (i.e. Layer 1-16 vs. Layer 17-32). For example, you wouldn\u2019t be able to adjust fader 1 at the same time as fader 17 without first assigning those channels to a DCA.<\/p>\n\n\n\nWhen to Use a DCA<\/h2>\n\n\n\n