VCA control is generally available only for large sound reinforcement Mixing console, recording Mixing console and other advanced Mixing console.

There is a VCA component on each input channel circuit of the Mixing console, and the input signal level of each channel can be controlled by the fader of the channel or by the VCA signal; When a certain number of channels are grouped into a VCA group, the VCA pusher is pushed up, and the levels of those connected to the VCA group are increased. When the VCA pusher is pulled down, the opposite is true.

This is like having a sound engineer with several more hands who can simultaneously push or pull up or down more than a dozen channels!

In addition, you may also find that some Mixing console have DCA and VCA. What's the difference between them?

In fact, their usage and function are identical. Just one is digital, and the other is analog.

VCA is the abbreviation of "Voltage Control Amplifier", while DCA is the abbreviation of "Digital Control Amplifier".

The difference between VCA, DCA grouping and GROUP

This function looks very similar to the marshalling output of an ordinary Mixing console, but actually it is completely different: the marshalling function is to mix the signals of each channel to be grouped into a group, turn them into a signal, and then control them by the marshalling output pusher, and output the corresponding output port from the marshalling.

And this VCA pusher only outputs a DC control signal, which is distributed into multiple signals to control the level of each channel that has been incorporated into the VCA group. At this time, the signals of each channel are still independent and not mixed together.

Essential difference: Firstly, VCA/DCA does not have an output port, it is just a control pusher, while a group can have an output port and use it as a mix;