The new system enabled the church to replace its old analogue equipment with a system easily configurable and controllable via computer. Doug Gates, owner of Gates Sound, a Buena Park, California, sound systems installation company that installed SymNet for the church, said the system has vastly simplified audio management and given the church the confidence to make future changes as needed. "This was the first major upgrade to the church's sound system since the early 1990s and it replaced about 15 audio hardware units, like mixers, limiters and compressors. Now, all of those functions are handled by SymNet."
To gain digital control over all of the required inputs and outputs for a system that must cover a large, 2,800-seat auditorium and adjacent areas, Gates utilised two SymNet 8x8 units and one Breakout12, configured in a network using SymLink, a digital audio and control data bus running over Cat 5 cable. With a big left-centre-right loudspeaker cluster and a host of delay speakers, as well as lobby speakers and an assistive listening system, a SymNet solution able to handle a significant number of outputs was critical. With the Breakout12, in addition to the 16 provided by the two 8x8s, those additional output needs are readily handled.
The SymNet solution also incorporates two adaptive remote control (ARC) devices. Consisting of a small button-controlled LCD panel, the units give church technical staff ready access for changes to system controls and presets. One is located at the soundboard and the other is in an usher's closet. "The security issue is an important one," he notes. "Since the system is now completely controllable via computer, there are a lot fewer analogue equipment knobs for people to mess with. You now have password-protected controls in place that allow only selected people to get onto the computer and change settings."
Additionally, incorporating digital controls makes it much easier for the church to check system setting and make needed changes. "Before, when all the equipment was rack-mounted in the basement, it was difficult to EQ something upstairs in the auditorium. Now all of that can be done in the auditorium itself, eliminating the need to go running upstairs for a sound check after settings are adjusted."
The ability to perform upgrades easily has, he adds, already been proven its worth: "Since installing it, we've upgraded speakers, and the process of programming the new speakers only took about 20 minutes."
"Digital solutions like SymNet always look pricey at first to those who don't know about it," he says. "But with Calvary, we had talked to them a long time about something like this being the ultimate solution. It's proved to be an economical solution for them."
(Mike Lethby)
