The desk was supplied by Genesis Communication Inc in Edmonton, Alberta, a leading systems integration firm in Canada, with the assistance of Lance Spratt, Genesis' senior systems consultant for houses of worship. "Our needs were driven primarily by features - but we really needed a competitive price point to meet the budget that had been approved," said Paul.
The MH3, says Paul, met the criteria for a console with the operational flexibility to accommodate the church's often complex and fast-paced services - a console with onboard Mute Scene and VCA memory. "The provision of fully parametric EQ on the mid bands of the channel equalisation path was another welcome addition," he said.
The desk is being used for both FOH and monitor duties. "We are currently running with 42 channels of live audio from stage (with six spare)," Paul explains. "We use three of the four stereo returns on faders for our CD programme playback and two effects device returns. We use four of the eight stereo returns on rotary pots for feeds from two DVD players and two computer sound cards."
Of the 12 auxes, two are used for post-fader effects sends, and eight for pre-fader stage monitor sends. The console direct outs feed a recording console where a separate mixdown of the stage audio occurs. The house mix is sent to three other locations using three of the four Matrix outputs, and the main outs are configured to send feeds to the lobby via a 70V distributed system from the left fader, ALS for the hearing-impaired from the right, and a mono main signal via the centre fader.
Paul intends to continually raise the production bar in the key areas of sound, video, and lighting. With the implementation of the MH3 he says the church is already on the way to achieving this goal. "Not only has the technical operation of audio control been enhanced from day one, but the overall sound quality and reliability has improved dramatically - meaning that all of our productions sound better than ever before.
"The MH3 meets our stated requirements in every way, and exceeds our expectations in performance and sound quality as well. Many people are surprised by the ease of use for such a full-featured console and several have remarked on the change in overall sound quality, stating they can now hear things now that they never noticed before."
(Lee Baldock)
