A weekly programme that includes everything from daily early morning prayer meetings to a webcast Sunday morning service means the Birmingham church is a busy hub of activity. And given that the various gatherings all have their own distinct audio needs - from individual speakers to amplified instrumental groups and choirs - it's a church that's demanding of its in-house PA system.
That system is a PreSonus StudioLive 32.4.2AI digital mixing console and StudioLive RM32AI rack-mount digital mixer - networked over AVB with an SL-AVB-MIX card and Cat 5 digital multicore - that allows for real flexibility and, crucially, remarkable ease-of-use for church members.
Specified and installed by Ian Edwards of Gigs Alive Productions in Birmingham, the system typically handles a choir, live band and a selection of radio mics during main services. But the ability to set-up easily recallable scenes for various applications - and the option of using the RM32AI mixer as a standalone unit controlled via the SL-Remote iPad app - means even the church's pastor, Rev Jeniva Mpofu, is happy to use the system on his own without the need for additional audio crew.
"The general ease of use of the StudioLive 32.4.2AI and RM32AI was a huge selling point for this situation," Edwards says. "Because everything's mixed on a single layer on the console, it's incredibly easy to use for people who aren't professional sound engineers."
(Jim Evans)
