COLORADO SPRINGS, CO — Radiant Church recently purchased two Allen & Heath digital mixing systems — an iLive to upgrade the existing mixing console in its main campus and an iLive-T system for a new satellite location.
For the main campus, Tom Rutledge from Worship Resources recommended an iDR10 MixRack with iLive-144 Control Surface. The system provides a total of 64 inputs, 48 from the on stage iDR10 rack and 16 additional channels available from the control surface.
The iDR10 is also loaded with an Aviom output card, managing 16 channels fed from a personal monitor system, and an EtherSound card.
“We set up the initial configuration and showed them how it works,” said Rutledge. “They’ve taken it from there and made it their own.”
iLive is set up with DCAs on the control surface’s top layer, including subgroups for drums, vocals and guitars. Three main outputs go to the sanctuary’s left-center-right speaker system, while Aux outputs carry the mix to the choir monitor, one stage monitor and subwoofers. The 16 primary monitor sends are sent out via the iLive’s Aviom module.
“We manage several bands performing both contemporary and blended worship styles, so we knew we wanted to go digital,” noted Worship & Media Pastor, Dustin Guthrie. “Having the ability to save scenes and recall them on the fly makes a huge difference to us.”
Guthrie wanted to conduct volunteer training by recording services on individual tracks, and allowing the volunteers to mix the playback during the week while the church is empty. iLive’s EtherSound module was connected to a personal computer via a Digigram LX6464ES computer sound card.
“It allows them to record 64 tracks and use the playback as a virtual service so the volunteers can mix it exactly as it happened,” said Rutledge. “When they open the satellite church, all their engineers will be fully trained and ready to go.
For the new satellite location, Worship Resources specified an iLive-T digital system, comprising an iDR-48 MixRack and iLive-112 surface.
“It was really the price point of the T Series that made this all possible,” said Rutledge. “Besides the training aspect, the T Series will help save set up time for them. A single Cat5 cable replaces the microphone snake, and there’s no need for an outboard FX rack. Plus, they’ll be able to transfer settings saved at rehearsal with a USB drive, so it’s as close to plug-and-play as you can get.”
While several other consoles were considered, Dustin Guthrie kept coming back to iLive as the logical choice for Radiant Church.
“Having used it for several weeks now, I can say that the iLive really meets our needs without compromises,” Guthrie said. “Having all that DSP on board with the ability to save settings gives us a lot more control over the sound of each instrument. Even though we didn’t change the speakers, there’s been a huge improvement in our sound quality. It’s also very intuitive to learn, and with our recording set up, the training aspect is handled. It’s made a world of difference.”
For more information, please visit www.ilive-digital.com.
