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MillimeterDigital mixers make headway in churches
Oct 21, 2004 9:19 AM
Churches are proving to be among the most enthusiastic users of a new generation of digital audio mixers, but also a market that requires plenty of support and training to put the new products to their best use.
A number of leading manufacturers are bringing relatively small and inexpensive digital mixers to the market, but according to consultant Bill Platt of Platt Design in Sierra Madre, California, they’re simply responding to a growing demand.
Once churches started to install digital mixing consoles for recording purposes, Platt says, they quickly and inevitably began looking for similar resources to support their live events, like worship. “Churches started using their digital recording consoles for their live mix,” Platt says. “The art has been pushing the technology for what it wants.”
The result is a great penetration of new digital systems in churches of all sizes. Platt observes that “in the largest churches that have full-time technical staff there’s no issue about it; they’re all going digital.” In many other settings, though, potential users might be held back by a perception of complexity.
“The biggest challenge is operational training,” Platt says. “We’re putting digital consoles into volunteers-only churches, where ongoing training is critical.” One key, he adds, is for users to understand that while digital mixing consoles may provide greatly expanded capabilities and options, at their most basic level they are really simple to use.
“People realize that a digital console can quickly bring them back to a preset that they use every week,” Platt notes.
Churches have been among the first adopters for Yamaha’s new PM1D digital mixer, even though the product was originally meant for the touring concert market, says Daniel Craik, product manager in the company’s Commercial Audio Systems Division.
“Our church market is 90 percent digital now,” Craik says. Presets are once again a key perceived value for digital systems, he adds – not just for regular worship services but for a wide range of other events like weddings and baptisms. Presets stored in memory also enable churches to recreate the preferred configurations of visiting preachers and performers.
Digital tools also enable church production people to move from job to job more easily, Craik adds. “They can work on a production during the night, then switch over to a worship service, then go back where they were,” he explains.
“The only issue has been overcoming the fear,” he goes on. “There’s a learning curve involved that scares some people, but once they look at it, they see it’s not that hard to use.”
Price declines are also driving digital mixers into churches, Craik says, observing that buyers can obtain significantly greater capabilities in digital systems today, often for $10,000 to $12,000 less than they would have paid a decade ago for a less capable analog machine. The new digital mixers are also smaller, lighter, and eliminate the need for separate rack-mounted components.
Platt cites another advantage from the move to digital mixers. Audio designers can now locate pre-amplifiers at the platform area instead of at the console. As a result, Platt says, “you can spend less money on the actual console.”
Price declines are also driving digital mixers into churches, Craik says, observing that buyers can obtain significantly greater capabilities in digital systems today, often for $10,000 to $45,000 less than they would have paid a decade ago for a less capable, 48-channel analog machine. The new digital mixers are also smaller, lighter, and eliminate the need for separate rack-mounted components.
The benefits of digital audio may be clear enough to church buyers, Platt notes, but without adequate support, that understanding doesn’t make for easy sales or completely successful installs. “It’s a challenging market,” he concludes.
Continue the discussion on Crosstalk the Millimeter Forum.