USA - Houston house of worship, The Dwelling Place, opted for TiMax SoundHub-S32 object-based spatialisation to complement a Meyer Sound loudspeaker system upgrade within its sanctuary space. Sound designer, John Hettinger, wanted to create an immersive experience that would reach out to his congregation, work seamlessly with his choice of loudspeakers, and liberate vocals from static positioning at the front of the church.
The Dwelling Place previously worshipped in a traditional stereo audio setup and Hettinger noted the main problem was “how few of the seats were truly stereo in this setup”.
The sound designer added: “We wanted a sound system that had depth and soundstage for every seat in the room. We wanted to create a worship experience you could get lost in, and that was an experience you had to be in the room for. Broadcast is incredible, but a completely different experience.”
Hettinger explained: “Once I’d helped the sound team here learn how to create an object-based mix, we quickly hit that spot where the PA disappeared and the music wraps around you. Absolutely beautiful.”
The sound team mix from a Waves LV1 audio console from which the audio outputs via an MGB Soundgrid into the TiMax. TiMax outputs MADI into Auvitran which converts the signal to AVB for the Meyer Sound Galaxy Processors, feeding out to a total of four main hangs of Meyer Sound line array and front-fills, with surrounds fed direct from TiMax analogue outs.
The objective of this sound design was to wrap the worship music around the room, with the option to localise the music back to its originating position. To this end, the four line-array hangs are positioned around a phantom centre, while front-corner, side and rear surrounds are positioned, in Hettinger’s words, “with enough overlap between all the speakers so TiMax creates full immersion”.
Hettinger concluded: “TiMax is pretty incredible in its capability to work in any configuration. I design the whole room so the speakers disappear. This setup gives me also enough localisation to widen the soundstage on the stage.”
The effect of widening the soundstage is a highly effective TiMax feature and used commonly for getting the best overall sound for the audience from orchestras and bands. By localising each instrument and voice to its originating position and spreading them out, they are effectively given more space so that the music comes alive to the listener.
The result, according to Hettinger was, “vocal clarity and depth for every seat in the room, as well as an immersive soundstage. Using TiMax, we were able to design a system with not only tonal balance, but fully balanced energy and immersion across the whole room.”
The difference TiMax has made to the perception of the music during worship is palpable and could not go unnoticed. Hettinger states: “The sound is world class, and people have reached out after hearing it to get more information on how to go immersive, as well as asking for demos. It’s convincing people immersive is more than just a gimmick.”
