Audio
Why Is audio Important
Audio is arguably one of the most key components to a church service whether it is amplifying the pastor, or an entire team of vocalist and musicians, it can all be compromised by poor audio. Poor clarity from a pastor’s microphone can be very distracting and can make is difficult for them to get their point across. A time of Worship can be greatly compromised by an overwhelming instrument that is much louder than everything else, not being able to hear your lead singer, or just a poor mix in general. This article will not serve as an in depth audio guide, but will guide you in understanding more about your equipment and guide you in potential upgrade benefits.
Sources
When in the audio and spiritual world, we often use the phrase garbage in garbage out. In the spiritual sense, this remind us to feed ourselves with holy things as opposed to filling our minds with things of the flesh. While in the audio world this means you start at the source. No matter how nice your mixer or speakers are, if you are using a cheap microphone to capture the audio there is little the mixer and speakers can do to improve that sound. This is why it is very important to have a good quality source or microphone.
Microphones
When choosing a microphone it is important to understand the different types of microphones and to decide the big question of wired-in or wireless. With wireless microphones, it is very important to understand that the money you are spending is now going to both the microphone portion and the wireless portion. Meaning if you spend $300 on a wireless microphone, $100 of that is going to the microphone quality and $200 is going to the wireless relay system. This means you are getting the same quality of sound as it’s $100 microphone competitors. This is why I never recommend spending any less than $300 on a wireless microphone, anything less than $300 will result in poor audio capture from the microphone and poor signal connectivity and reliability from the transition portion. The cheapest wireless microphone I recommend is the Shure BLX SM58 which is typically listed at $350 while the cheapest wired microphone is also the Shure SM58 priced at $100. This microphone is very reliable and has good sound quality. If you’re looking for a headset microphone the Shure BLX PGA31 microphone is a good choice.
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Other Sources
Starting with a quality source can also mean your instrument. This might mean getting a guitar above the $600 range with built in pickups, replacing your drum heads, and spending time to tune them properly. This can even go as far as encouraging your musicians to continue to grow their musical skills through private lessons or practicing more often. Beginning our audio system on the solid foundation of quality sources will allow us to create the best system possible without wasting money on frequent upgrades.
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Cables
The next important thing to note is the cables themselves, as they are the next item in the chain from source to speaker. Believe it or not, cables actually can have a drastic effect on sound quality. When experiencing interference or hum most of the time the solution is found in the cabling. A good cable set up involves type, material, and position. There are many types of cables all of which I am unable to cover in this article, however I will give a general understanding of the most common forms.
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Type
The first very important distinction is whether a cable is designed to carry an active or passive signal. We will discuss this further when we discuss speaker type. The wrong cable carrying the wrong signal type can result in poor audio or even can catch on fire. If there are any questions be sure to ask an MTS associate or any other audio professionals. Another distinction to make is whether the cable is balanced or unbalanced, without getting into any technical jargon a balanced cable is much better at blocking out interference and noise while an unbalanced cable is more vulnerable. The preferred form of a balanced cable is and XLR cable (microphone cable) while there are ¼ in. (instrument cables) that are balanced they can cause issues, such as only sending half of a stereo signal, if used in the wrong application. There are many types of cable even some that switch between XLR and ¼ in. although these can carry a greater risk. Direct Box’s or DI boxes properly convert signal from an unbalanced signal to a balanced signal.
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Build
The next important thing to note is cable build, this involves conductive material, core thickness, and shielding thickness. Conductive material is the material of metal used to carry the signal through the cable, the preferred metal is the option with 0% oxygenation levels, this prohibits any micro rust particles from being formed that would result in signal disruption. The following aspect is core thickness which is the Gauge or thickness of the metal transferring the signal. In case you are unfamiliar the lower the Gauge number the thicker the metal is. A lower gauge core (thicker) allows for more signal to pass through which means less signal amplification and less sound disruption. Lastly, the thickness of the shielding is important, this often times won’t be listed on the packaging of the cable but can be felt or observed in the overall robustness of the cable. Thicker shielding blocks out more interferences which means less unwanted noises like hums.
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Placement
Lastly is cable placement, cables can receive interferences from many different things. The most common to watch out for are Electrical components, cables, relay points, Wireless devices, Wi-Fi routers, and audio cables carrying active signals. Keeping cables at least 12in. away from these items will greatly reduce interference. Unfortunately, keeping them 12in. apart is not always an option. This is where buying higher quality cables and wrapping the cables neatly are of great importance.
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Tips
Other important tips regarding cables are to prioritize your highest quality cables to go to either your power amplifier or to your speakers due to everything being run through them. Using appropriate length cables to avoid excess clutter or excess chances for interference to occur. Lastly, remembering cables are fragile and any form of bends or micro breaks within the core can cause disruption in the signal.
Mixers and Soundboards
The next item in the chain and where I typically recommend prioritizing funds is the mixer. The mixer or soundboard is going to give us control over all of our individual sources and allow us to edit, apply effects, and send those sources to the desired places. There are many things to consider when choosing a mixer such as number of effects, number of inputs, number of outputs, and overall ease of use.
Effects like reverb, relay, de-essers, and more are key to providing a full, clean, and professional sound. The number of inputs are the number of items able to be plugged into and controlled by the mixer. For a standard sized church without a full set of microphones on the drums, 18 channels are often enough. The number of outputs determine the number of individual mixes or sends you can have. This is includes livestream sends, stage monitors, or IEM’s (in-ear monitors). If you plan to use IEM’s it is a good idea to have an output for each band member. Some mixers are expandable that allow for stage boxes to increase inputs, or personal monitor stations that allow for increased outputs.
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Types
There are two main categories mixers fall into which are analog and digital. Analog mixers are often older or cheaper and use physical controls to physically alter a sound. Analog mixers often hold significantly less features and are less user friendly. Digital mixer are packed-full of features and function more similarly to a computer, using it’s processing power to make changes. Digital mixers can come with either no physical attributes such as the Behringer XR 18, which allows complete access of the mixers feature on your phone, computer, or tablet. They also come with physical control attributes in addition to the prior options. Boards like these include the Behringer X 32 and Behringer Wing consoles. All digital Behinger mixers are highly recommended by MTS, contact a MTS associate for the best choice for you.
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Speakers
Finally, in our audio system at the end of our chain is the speaker. Speakers fall into two main categories, active and passive. Passive speakers served as the industry standard for many years, these speakers require a powered signal from a Power Amp to function. This gives you a cleaner install due to less cables running to each speaker, however it is viewed as out of date and can be more expensive than its Active opponents. Active speakers each contain a power amplifier within the speaker, this makes them more efficient, more portable, and there is a wider market of active speakers today.
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Type
Another important distinction to make is speaker frequency and power. Different speakers are designed to produce different frequencies. For example, subwoofers are larger and are capable of producing powerful low-end, or bass, frequencies. Overheads, or mains, are responsible for the remaining higher end frequencies. It is important to note when having multiple rows or types of speakers it is best to have a processor. A processor route low-end frequencies to their proper location, or properly configure each row to produce sound at the proper time. Speakers power are usually rated in watts, the higher the number the louder the sound. However, true loudness is measured in decibels or Db. Therefore, if maximum Db is given it is recommended to take it into consideration.