Over the last decade, audio mixers have undergone a pretty radical change.
Digital mixers, once only available for those with tens of thousands of dollars to spend, have become available at all price points, and now rival the cost of analog audio mixers. But why should a church care about choosing digital over analog? Let's take a look at what this changeover to digital audio means to a church's ministry.
What is Digital Mixing?
First, let's start at the beginning. There are two basic types of audio mixers: analog mixers and digital mixers. An analog mixer is what's been around for decadesit works directly on audio signals generated by microphones and other instrument sources. For each channel of audio, there are physical electronic circuits that move a signal from the stage into the mixer and process the sound to get it sounding the way you want. Each additional channel adds another round of the same circuitry to the console.
In digital mixers, as soon as the audio signal enters into the mixer's domain, it gets converted to numbers that represent that audio signal. From then on, it's all about math running through a computer. When you want to change the volume, or change the tone of the signal, it's performed mathematically on the numbers that represent the signal at that point in time. There no longer needs to be a separate circuit for each signal, as the numbers representing a lot of signals can be transferred through one wire simultaneously.
This means that controls can be shared, and cabling needs can be simplified. It also means that most of the work in the mixer is done through software, instead of through circuitry. This reduces the cost of the mixer, as you don't necessarily need additional hardware to do more processingthe software just needs to be designed to do that processing.
Value Driven Decision4 Significant Benefits
1.) Storable Scenes
This transition to digital brings a lot of benefits to a house of worship.
One of the best features of a digital audio console is their ability to store "scenes"a snapshot of all the settings of the consoleand being able to recall them at the touch of a button.
"The ability to recall the settings for a service within seconds is huge," comments Jordan Banther, a former church technical director and lead engineer for Loud Media Group. "Every church struggles with people messing with the soundboard' resulting in issues with the next event at the church. With digital mixers, that is no longer a problem as you can store the default settings for your worship service into a scene and recall those settings from the scene at the start of each weekend."
"With an analog console it's always set up however the last person who touched it left it," adds Bob Blair, owner of ASP Integrated Systems in Raleigh, North Carolina, as well as a former church technical director. "Each week the next audio tech has to try and reset it back again, which is very problematic. With digital, the settings for each event type can be saved and recalled at a touch of a button. If your church has both a contemporary service as well as a traditional service, scenes can be stored for each service type, and recalled before the service. This pretty much eliminates the problem of the audio board settings being changed."
2.) More Powerful Processing
Another benefit is the amount of processing power that's contained in a digital audio mixer.
"In analog consoles, you have to buy a lot of external processing gear to add effects to an instrument or vocal channel," states Ben Boeshans, consultant for Dallas-based Idibri. "With digital consoles, the effects are built into the software and are available for every channel."
In fact, adding an effect like reverb or compression to a channel is merely telling the computer inside the console to do some extra math on that channel. No special hardware is needed. And because of this, the cost of a digital mixer is actually significantly less expensive than an analog audio mixer with all the extra outboard gear needed to do the same effects on every channel. For example, let's say you need a 32-channel mixer and you want to be able to add a compressor (an effect that evens out the volume level of a channel) to all 32 channels. With a digital mixer, it's built in, because it's just math. With an analog console, you'd need to buy 32 external compressors and the cabling to connect them to the mixer.
Just the compressors can cost you $3,200 over the cost of the mixer, and then you still need all that cabling.
"To get processing equivalent to a digital mixer, an analog mixer will end up costing you a lot more," summarizes Blair.
3.) Recording
Another beneficial feature is the ability to record.
"Today's digital mixers offer the ability to do multi-track recording," states Blair. "This lets you record each voice or instrument onto a separate track and play them back through the mixer afterward. What this enables is what's called a virtual soundcheck'. It's a great tool for training. It lets you teach new volunteers how to mix in your room, with your worship team, but not needing the worship team to actually be present. Instead, a previously recorded service is played back through the mixer just as if the band was there, and lets the volunteer learn how to mix without impacting a band rehearsal or an actual service."
"Using the virtual soundcheck feature also allows you to really explain and delve into the functions in an environment where if something goes wrong, it doesn't matter," states Banther. "You can pause the recording playback and discuss what needs to be done on the console to make it sound better. It also helped me gauge where new volunteers were in their abilities. This feature allowed me to help facilitate the necessary training."
4.) Remote Control
"Another great thing is that most digital consoles have an associated iOS or Android app available now," adds Blair. "Now you’re not tied to the consolethe sound tech can walk around the room to listen to the mix, or be on stage with the musicians when setting monitor levels, and control the console remotely from an iPad or Android tablet."
"The ability to come out of the sound booth and hear what the audience is hearing, or being able to go on stage and personally mix monitors and listen to what the musicians are experiencing first hand is huge," states Banther. "This really helps the relationship between the band and tech crew."
These are just some of the key ways that a digital audio mixer can benefit your church's ministry. However, there can be challenges as well.
Challenges to Consider
"All of a sudden the sound techs now have all this processing and effects at their disposal," says Blair, "and if you’re not familiar with them, you can do a lot of damage to the sound quality. Training and experience are both needed to make sure that you don't go overboard with what's available and turn a good mix into a bad mix."
Digital mixers also have a lot of menus on touch screens, and knobs often have multiple purposes depending on the context. A tech might think they are adjusting one thing and actually be adjusting something else.
"With a digital console, it’s hard to just walk in and understand how it's configured and what’s being used," continues Blair. "If you aren't familiar with that model of console, it can be challenging to figure out. Adding a digital console into a church where no one is familiar with them and proper training isn't supplied can cause some short-term issues as the church techs try to figure out how to use it properly."
However, these are minor concerns that can be addressed if planned for. "Digital consoles aren’t that much more difficult to master," concludes Blair, "it’s just a different approach to the concept of mixing audio. Younger volunteers will likely find it more enticing than an analog console, and thus be more interested in serving in this area."
"There’s a console out there that will fit every budget," states Boeshans. "Make sure you play around with a console before you buy it. Go to trade shows, talk to local dealerstake it for a test drive."
Unlike analog mixers, digital mixers can vary widely in how they operate. Make sure that the console you select will work well for your church tech environment.