# Review: MetroAmp Head Master - Amp Head Switcher



## keto (May 23, 2006)

Mrs. keto, always indulgent of my hobbies, had me order this for a Christmas present. The mailman brought it today, and it was off to the basement for a couple hours of jamming.

The MetroAmp Head Master http://metroamp.com/store/index.php...ducts_id=558&zenid=fc4n00a1dj2135ch4fflbmrcb5 is new to market - my unit is #20 - and lets you plug 2 heads into one cabinet, providing a dummy load for the 'off' head. I has a few competitors, notably the Radial Headbone VT. I've read up a bunch on the Radial (and a couple others). The reviews on the Radial unit are a bit mixed, with some complaining of lag (dead space) when you step on the switch. George Metropoulos has stated that his Head Master completely eliminates lag, and that there is no possibility of popping or clicking noise when switching. I've been wanting a switcher for a long time, and have watched as the MetroAmp product was announced and then made available. When Mrs. gave the go ahead, I wasted no time getting my order in. I placed the order on the 16th, so it arrived in 2 weeks exactly, not bad for international shipment during the holiday season - and there were no fees to pay at the door. All in with shipping and exchange, it cost $350 CDN (lists at $279 USD).

Everything arrived well packed. I didn't take 'unboxing' pictures, but there was plenty of bubble wrap around the unit and more in the box for general padding. It also includes a 12v wall wart power supply and a remote footswitch with aprox 20' of cable - plenty for most stage situations. Also in the box were 4 strips of some sort of velcro I've never seen before....I did some research and I guess it's 3M Dual Lock. I played around with the Dual Lock (not installed on anything, just the strips onto each other) and I gotta say, I NEED ME SOME OF THIS STUFF for my pedal boards. http://www.3m.com/product/information/Dual-Lock-Reclosable-Fastener.html


Setting up the unit takes a little time and a lot of cabling:
-3 speaker cables (one from each head to the Head Master, one from the Head Master to the cabinet)
-1 instrument cable from guitar to Head Master
-2 instrument cables from Head Master to amp inputs
-wall wart to power source
-footswitch to Head Master (you can skip the footswitch if you want to switch amps directly from the switch on the front of the Head Master)

There's a handy diagram on the top of the unit that shows how everything should go together:


While faint in the picture, in the flesh the bottom has #20 and George's initials GM written on it. I haven't decided if I'm going to install the Dual Lock on it yet, as I tend to change amps a lot.


DO make sure you are using impedance matching, ie., I set up using a DSL50 and a JCA22H heads, used the 8 ohm outputs on both, into an 8 ohm cabinet.


Yeah...that's a lotta wires....and that's without using either amps' effects loop lol.


All right, time to fire everything up. Double check all connections, make sure both heads are into loads and have power, turn on the power bar and switch on the Head Master.


Plug in my Les Paul...


And fire up the amps. Oh, that's why it was so quiet - I had the cab turned the wrong way! Just kidding, I have some foam sound absorption material across from the face of the cab on the wall, so I can turn up a little louder 


The footswitch didn't come labeled, just blank. I had my wife make me a simple tag, given the switch is basically the same as my other switches.


And the verdict is....perfect switching! It works as claimed, there is no lag perceptible to me and certainly no switching noise. I can run a big volume power chord, switch heads, and have what sounds to me like perfect continuity. I haven't done any recording yet nor measured scientifically, but I'm certain there's no tone loss - not like, for example, an attenuator, which can dull or otherwise affect your tone. It's essentially just a pass-through box for the working amp other than running through the switch, it's the non-working amp that is put on a dummy load.

If I have any beef, it's just one very minor one. The fit and finish, where the bottom cover meets the box, isn't all squared up and it's a little sharp. Plus the finish is a little rubbed off the lower edge of the face of the unit - you might be able to see what I'm talking about in the first picture at the top of the review. Other than that, I'm 100% satisfied. Yes, it takes a lot of cabling and set up time, but if you want to use 2 different heads to get whatever combination of sounds suit you best but run one cab instead of a stereo rig, here is the best solution. I think it's a winner and give it 2 thumbs up.


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## Louis (Apr 26, 2008)

Hey thank's for the review and congrats on your new toy !!!



Louis


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## Ballsy (Mar 9, 2015)

Congrats, very cool new toy. Pretty good price too!
Speaking of price check out the price of the Dual Lock!

http://www.nhsmediastore.com/3MMP3541/42.aspx


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

What just happened?


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## hollowbody (Jan 15, 2008)

Nice! I was looking at the Radial Headbone for a while, which does the same thing, but this design makes more sense - keeping the switching bits where all the cables go by the amp and just having a small pedal at your feet. About the same price, too, if not cheaper.


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## keto (May 23, 2006)

Keep in mind I wrote this a year and a half ago...I haven't kept up with pricing.

I haven't used the unit a ton but it's been reliable any time I've set it up. May use it again and try it in a band context soon.


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## High/Deaf (Aug 19, 2009)

hollowbody said:


> Nice! I was looking at the Radial Headbone for a while, which does the same thing, but this design makes more sense - keeping the switching bits where all the cables go by the amp and just having a small pedal at your feet. About the same price, too, if not cheaper.


The Headbone can be switched remotely as well. With the cabling involved, running it on a pedalboard wouldn't make much sense. I suppose Radial allows the option, but a toggle switch may have been more appropriate than a footswitch. The Metro is prettier.


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## jb welder (Sep 14, 2010)

adcandour said:


> What just happened?


Maybe ballsy's account got hacked by a spammer?


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## Adcandour (Apr 21, 2013)

jb welder said:


> Maybe ballsy's account got hacked by a spammer?


That makes sense. I thought that was pretty odd.


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