The S21 user interface brings to mind a word not often associated with powerful technology: comforting. It’s actually designed with the volunteer users that comprise the bulk of church operations staff in mind.The house of worship market can take as a compliment the fact that much of the pro audio industry has come to view it as one of its most robust verticals. That may sound a bit clinical, like a line out of an MBA textbook, but in a market economy, there may no higher accolade. Except one: when an industry adapts not only its approach but also its products for that market.
"Once we heard the S21 console, it pretty much sold itself."
—JUSTIN BARNETT, Worship Pastor, Epic Church, Decatur, AL.
That’s what console manufacturer Digico asserts that it has done with its new S21 digital console: developed a platform that meets the specific needs of the house of worship (HOW) user on the key touch points of price, performance, ease of use and flexibility. For all of those metrics, Digico designed the S21 to match the requirements of the HOW customer. For instance, the console’s 40 flexi-channels provide an equivalent of 80 DSP channels and the equivalent of 46 buses—16 x stereo (32), stereo master (2), solo buses (2 stereo, 4 total), and 10 x 8 Matrix (8), all at 96 kHz. And the S21 leverages and benefits from previous Digico console technologies, such as the use of the same FPGA algorithms as the higher-end SD7 and the mic-pre design taken from the 192-kHz SD-Rack.
Operation & Intent
The S21 user interface brings to mind a word not often associated with powerful technology: comforting. It’s actually designed with the volunteer users that comprise the bulk of HOW operations staff in mind. The compact dual-screen design of S21 provides 10 channel strips per screen, allowing the operator instant feedback and control on 20 simultaneous channels. This kind of instantaneous feedback offers total reassurance when mixing large shows, and the newly designed drag, swipe and drop channel layout system makes it simple for operators to move channels and busses across the surface to design their own custom fader layouts. Helpful color coding tells users which channel, aux, or group they’re looking at. Visual feedback is all reinforced with the HTL functionality of the encoder rings, and anything not in use is automatically greyed out on the console so that an operator’s attention is drawn to the right controls.Two-screen operation offers not only more channels to view at any one time but it allows users to utilize one as a setup or master screen, while still operating with the other. The interface is set up to allow use of either touchscreen operation for functions such as EQ, using pinch, touch and drag for curves on the screen, or for a more tactile experience using the rotary encoders to fine-tune frequencies, then press to change function or switch on/off. The new screen designs are all developed under the flat-designs philosophy, to aid the user learning curve and eliminate distractions. These new designs will still be familiar to existing Digico users, but also allow new operators to feel at home. One aspect is especially useful for new users. An integrated USB2 audio I/O interface for recording and playback of up to 48 channels (with 40 x input flex-channels mono/stereo producing the equivalent of 80 DSP channels) allows for the seamless multitrack recording of rehearsals and performances, which in turn lets users play back and remix them as they hone their skills on the console.
Matt Larson, national sales manager for professional audio products at Group One Ltd. based in Farmingdale, N.Y., Digico’s exclusive U.S. distributor, says that the S21 leverages many of the technologies and functions of the company’s large consoles, with the economies of scale allowing them to be integrated into a considerably lower-cost platform: the S21 base price is $6,995 and with options such as a D-RAK and digital snake costs $11,995. Compared with the six-figure SD10 or even the $27,000 SD9, the S21 offers enormous bang for the buck in an accessible package. “What’s interesting is that we’ve found that the house-of-worship market is actually a very challenging one,” Larson says. “Churches can actually push the technology harder, especially in larger churches, because they’re using the console for so many unique applications—services, special events, ceremonies—and at the same time it’s being operated by a group of users with a wide range of knowledge levels. That’s why the S21 was designed as carefully as it was—it has to perform under such a range of conditions. Everything about its operation is intended to feel very intuitive. It’s really very analog in the way you can approach it, but you’re getting the benefit of some very powerful, very mature digital processes.”
Success in Real-Time
The church, founded in 2009, had quickly outgrown the capabilities of the Behringer X32 that had been used in its 1,000-seat sanctuary. “We knew we needed an upgrade,” Barnett recalls. “We needed more adaptability, flexibility, to let us use the console for front of house, for monitors, for streaming. We needed more channels for more complex live productions. We wanted a better-sounding console. We were ready to take the next step.”Barnett says he was aware of the Digico brand but had associated it with costs beyond the church’s budget. Thus, he was surprised at the S21’s price tag, when he first encountered the desk at AV dealer Sutherland Sight & Sound in nearby Sheffield. Looking over the range of functions and specifications, he felt it would give the church the step up they were looking for, as well as a pathway to the future, via the console’s Dante-card compatibility and MADI interface, which gave it reach, via a LAN network, beyond the sanctuary.
“Things like the multiband EQ and the effects processing all being onboard and integrated into the work surface were just what we needed,” he says. “And the simplicity of the user interface was great, as was the fact that you can customize that for any number of different users and applications.”
However, the shift from the conventional dedicated knob-based control surface to the assignable touchscreen one could prove to be a concern to the non-technical church leaders who had to approve the capital expenditure—and to the church’s corps of volunteers who support its single staff audio mixer.What made the difference, Barnett says, was the dealer offering to bring the console to the church and let it be put through its paces, in situ, by all of the stakeholders. “It’s not the same trying to explain the differences between the S21 and what we already had based just on functionality,” he says. “You can’t see where you might run out of input channels in the future, for instance. But once they heard the way it sounded, they were sold on that. When he heard it, our lead pastor said, that’s not leaving the building—we’re going to buy it.”Since it was installed, the S21 has been fulfilling all of the audio roles, including FOH, monitor sends to the in-ear monitors (IEMs) the worship band and vocalists use, and a streaming mix for the church’s Livestream feed that goes out live from Sunday services. As well as it’s handling those multiple tasks, Barnett says a second Digico console is under consideration (another S21 or possibly an SD11) that will take on the monitor- and streaming-mix jobs, leaving this S21 to focus on the FOH mix. “There are a few things you have to be aware of when making a fairly radical change in a technology platform like this,” Barnett says, noting the financial and operational concerns he faced. Creating familiarity early on, by bringing the console into their house instead of bringing staffers into its, was the deciding move. “Once they heard the console,” he says, “it pretty much sold itself.”
One-Man Band
Brad Lingerfelt, Rockdale Community Church, in the Atlanta suburb of Conyers, spent its first decade as a so-called “portable” church, setting up and tearing down every Sunday morning in temporary locations as the church worked towards establishing its first real home a dozen years ago.
Throughout that time, Brad Lingerfelt was its sole audio operator. He learned the craft on the job, week after week, becoming proficient on the 48-channel Allen & Heath analog console the church used for much of that time. What changed is the same thing that’s affected not only churches but virtually every other venue that requires sound reinforcement today—productions were increasing in number and complexity. From the music during weekly services to special events and concerts, there were more musicians, more vocalists and more orators than every before. Lingerfelt knew the transition to a digital platform was the solution. A member of the congregation familiar with AV systems integration gave him a primer on digital audio in general and consoles in particular.
“He showed me all the options, and suggested what we could afford and what made sense,” Lingerfelt recalls. “The Digico S21 fit all of our requirements, including cost.”The console turned out to be especially useful for a one-man operation at a mid-sized church that was experiencing a growing number of productions and events. Lingerfelt says the snapshot recall and multitrack virtual sound check capability allows him to record rehearsals and events, take the files home and create mix files on his laptop, then bring those back to the church and transfer them to the console via a USB drive. “I can get so much more done that way and it’s ready to go,” he says. “No more scrambling on Sunday morning.”Lingerfelt uses Andrew Peterson’s performance piece, “Behold the Lamb of God,” that the church has mounted for the past several years as a good example of how the transition to digital has made a positive difference for him. “The show takes as many as 48 inputs, so it was literally filling up the entire analog console,” he says. “As a result, I was all over the board throughout the show, jumping from one end to the other, reaching for faders all over the console as the show progressed. With the S21, I can keep the inputs grouped logically and keep them on layers, calling them up as I need them as scenes change. I barely have to move my feet on the show now.”
He’s also happy to have a lot of the outboard processing he used to use, such as reverb, compression and limiting, now integrated into the console itself. But what’s most satisfying for Lingerfelt is less about sonic fidelity or digital processing and more about simple orderliness. “I like a clean workspace; it makes it much easier for me to follow what’s going on onstage,” Lingerfelt says. “With a digital console, I’ve been able to achieve that. Before, I had clutter everywhere. Now, I’ve eliminated five feet of junk. It feels good.”For Matt Larson, these are satisfying stories to hear. “We designed the S21 with this kind of user very much in mind,” he says. “It meets their needs at a price they can afford and it lets them ramp themselves up operationally at their own pace.”
