Located in San Lazzaro di Savena, a small city just outside Bologna, Italy, sits Parrocchia di San Lazzaro – or, in English, the San Lazzaro parish. And while 300 visitors attend an average service, the church also serves as an important location to the local community as a whole. As the largest church in town, it serves as a hub for many local functions and events and was in need of an audio update.
Daniele Santini, CEO of Etabeta Electronics, says the church was rebuilt after being destroyed in World War II. As such, it follows the architecture of the era with high ceilings and multiple reverberant and reflective sides. Marble on the floors and multiple glass windows have long made the location a difficult audio integration.
“When we first spoke with them we heard that many people could not listen to mass correctly because of a lack of intelligibility,” says Santini. “Utilizing steerable loudspeakers and an intensive digital signal processor architecture, which was powered by Ashly Audio, allowed us to minimize redundant open microphones and limit modal frequencies.”
Santini installed the Ashly ne8800mm digital signal processor, the Ashly MX-206 6-channel stereo microphone mixer, and the Ashly TRA-4150 4-channel power amplifier. Speakers in the installation came from Pan Acoustics.
Santini says the result of the installation was an immediate improvement in intelligibility while individuals are speaking.
“Ashly is the perfect choice for an installation like this because of their extensive DSP capabilities,” says Santini. “In every highly reverberant environment I work in, I appreciate the total lack of noise and the speed Ashly provides on mic inputs. That helps to cut off the microphone a fraction of second after it stops being used. I also love the ease of use of their auto-leveler. This is very important when there are new readers and speakers sharing the same microphone during the different parts of the mass.”
Finally, Santini says the ability to use Ashly software on an iPad provided a new and unique level of control for the church. Santini sets presets for the sound system during different types of events – be it Sunday Mass or a large Easter celebration – and empowers the church to make the change seamlessly.
“The church has been very happy,” Santini says. “I know that because the priest has been promoting how good it sounds to the other churches in the neighborhood!”
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