FOH/Broadcast Engineer Dan Blaza at Favor Church, Manila, Philippines
Favor Church in Manila, Philippines, has chosen the Waves eMotion LV1 Live Mixer and Waves plugins to mix the church’s live services, at front of house and monitors, as well as for streaming its live online broadcasts.
Senior Pastor James Aiton and FOH/Broadcast Engineer Dan Blaza report that the eMotion LV1 solution is invaluable for delivering the church’s message to its congregation. “eMotion LV1 and the integrated plugins help us achieve top sound quality and major control over our live sound,” says Blaza. “The LV1 enables us to create the right sonic pressure and energy in the finest and most crisp way possible, and it produces a clean sound with higher reproduction accuracy.”
“We needed a cost-effective system that we could copy and transport to future new campuses, both in the Philippines and other locations around the world."
James Aiton,, Senior Pastor, Favor Church, Manila, Philippines
An additional crucial feature, Blaza adds, “is that the LV1 is exceptionally quick and easy to set up. We are able to do multiple splits without using an analog splitter, with easy networking using common LAN connections. Another key feature is the LV1’s amazing portability. Imagine having a great-sounding 64-channel mixing console – that you can bring as a hand-carry when traveling by air to church conferences and events. We may be moving between venues in the near future, so the LV1’s small footprint and portability gives us a future-proof setup. Another benefit is that our musicians can easily mix their own IEM wirelessly through Waves’ MyMon Personal Mixing App, which gives them independent on-stage direct control of their monitor mix.”
Current realities
Senior Pastor Aiton remarks, on choosing the LV1, “We pivoted quite quickly when COVID-19 hit. We had to take our church online, and we are also planning to try and get into a larger venue once the pandemic is over. Choosing the eMotion LV1 was a simple decision. In contrast to other large-brand mixers, the LV1 is fully integrated with Waves plugins. We saw that other people were bringing the power of Waves’ plugins into their live mixes, but with large and expensive desks as controllers. We thought, why not just go for a sound mixer that is actually built around these plugins and is seamlessly integrated with them? LV1’s networking ability and flexible setup were key factors as well.”
Aiton adds, “We needed a cost-effective system that we could copy and transport to future new campuses, both in the Philippines and other locations around the world. Choosing eMotion LV1 has been a great asset in helping our church, both in our physical service and our online service. The price point is exceptional, and the scalability is something we can expand as we grow as a church.”
The tech details
Since the specific installation at Favor Church includes three LV1 consoles in a shared network setup, Waves’ Application Specialists helped the church’s technical staff plan the system’s design, ensuring fully qualified design and operation. Blaza comments, on their setup, “We’re using three sets of 64-channel eMotion LV1’s for FOH, broadcast, and monitor mix. Two DSPRO StageGrid 4000 I/Os situated at the monitor position beside the stage, are shared via IO Sharing on the SoundGrid® network connected with Cat6 80-meter LAN cables to our FOH and broadcast mix LV1 systems, with 40 inputs and 24 outputs. We’re also using a Waves SoundGrid Extreme Server-C for redundancy, with a DSPRO StageGrid 1000 for added I/O and headphone monitoring, as well as for our separate broadcast mix. The DSPRO StageGrid 1000 is also being used for additional inputs and outputs for nearfield speaker monitoring and final mix output for our broadcast.”
Waves plugins, controlled directly from the LV1, are crucial to Blaza’s sound: “We use the CLA Classic Compressors to add more character and control on all our instruments. These compressor plugins also help vocals float on top of the mix. The SSL E-Channel and SSL G-Channel are used on most of our input channels to give an analog feel to the mix; the F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ enables more control on the vocal mix bus as well as on the PA output. We use the NS1 Noise Suppressor on our vocal mics in order to minimize or eliminate stage bleed providing additional clarity to the mix; and we place the L2 Ultramaximizer on the final mix for added security for our output levels.”
“The Renaissance Vox is also on all our vocal mics,” Blaza adds, “to ensure that the vocals always sit well on top of the mix. We also use the Greg Wells VoiceCentric to enhance all worship vocal mics and to handle effects for our singers. Last but not least, we use the WLM Plus Loudness Meter, which is especially valuable in keeping our signal level on track on all our streaming platforms when broadcasting.”
“At Favor Church,” says Blaza, “we live-stream four services every Sunday. Thanks to eMotion LV1 and the integrated Waves plugins, we can achieve live mixes that sound as great as a fully mastered session!”
