We all get super excited when a guitar effects pedal brand releases an exotic new fuzz, or a delay pedal that presents us with more opportunities to process our repeats and create a sound we have never heard before. But sometimes it is the utility pedal or device that is really the game changer for our rig, like Strymon’s newly launched PCH Active Direct Interface.
Designed to sit at the end of your signal chain, the PCH is a direct interface and electronically balanced line isolator that promises noise-free mono/stereo routing.
This little black box takes the output from your pedalboard and gives you options when going direct to the PA/mixer when playing live, or straight to the desk when recording, and it has mono/stereo through outputs for sending your processed electric guitar signal to your other unbalanced outboard gear, such as FRFR speakers or an acoustic guitar amp input.
It is ideal for a pedalboard setup that has an amp modeller onboard. Strymon would naturally have its superlative Iridium in mind but this is 2025 and players have dozens of options on that score.
Plus, the PCH has an onboard hi-fidelity stereo headphones amp so you can monitor your sound or practise silently. Strymon's head of marketing, Sean Halley, says the sound you hear through your headphones is the sound that your audience will hear when it comes through the PA, and this output has its own dedicated volume control.
“As the music world continues to embrace quiet stage volumes, instrumentalists increasingly turn to amp-less live rigs to achieve good tones at low volumes”, says Halley. “Unfortunately this creates problems for players trying to hear their entire pedalboard when they’re anywhere else but onstage. With a PCH at the end of your signal chain, you get a pristine direct interface and a killer built-in headphone amp to make sure that what you’re sending to the PA or recording rig is exactly what you intend to – and it makes silent practising a joy.”
Why do you need this? The PCH is not cheap. There are other DI units that will take the high-impedance signal from your pedalboard and convert it to a low-impedance output for mixing desks and PAs, et cetera, but they will be passive.
The PCH is active. Feed it 9V DC from your pedalboard power supply, it internally bumps this up to 24V, has heaps of headroom, an onboard buffer keeps your signal crystal clear, and sends it out via the XLR’s mono/stereo outputs.
“That extra voltage and high current renders the interface nearly un-clippable, and allows it to achieve a max signal-to-noise ratio of 135db, a hyper-flat frequency response of +/- 0.25db from 10Hz to 80 KHz, and gives the headphone amplifier enough power to cleanly drive even 600 ohm headphones without distortion,” says Strymon.
You have inputs for two mono instruments, or one stereo, and the PCH works with electric, bass or acoustic guitars, and with keyboards.... In short, it's for anyone with a pedalboard and the intention to go direct when performing or recording.
The PCH Active Direct Interface is out now, priced $279, and that might not be cheap. But if you’re a serious player who has already forked out for a high-end electric guitar and a well-stocked pedalboard, it might be the active DI solution your rig has been waiting for.
See Strymon for more details, and pics detailing how you can route your signal.
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