Christopher Wrigley, Lead Audio Engineer, V1 Church
V1 Church chooses the Waves eMotion LV1 Classic console for both front-of-house (FOH) and broadcast needs at its Brooklyn, New York campus, which also serves as its main broadcast location.
“V1 Church in Brooklyn is dedicated to fostering personal growth and spiritual connection,” the announcement states. “What began as a gathering of 18 people in a Long Island living room has, over the past seven years, expanded to eight campuses nationally, with approximately 2,500 attending in person each week and over 8,000 joining online weekly. V1 Church has appeared on Outreach100.com's 'Fastest Growing Churches' list for five consecutive years, currently ranking at number 13.”
Christopher Wrigley, Lead Audio Engineer at V1 Church, comments, “A typical Sunday service features a full worship team performing three songs, followed by our Pastor, Mike Signorelli. During the third song, we simulcast to all our campuses, transmitting the click, tracks, and lead vocals across locations. This ensures synchronization, with the lead vocalist from our broadcast campus guiding the performance on LED screens nationwide. The sermon is then broadcast live in real time to all campuses.
Our main broadcast campus is currently in Williamsburg, Brooklyn, which doubles as a 1,500-person capacity music venue during the week. This means we set up and tear down our entire church setup every week. Despite these challenges, the eMotion LV1 Classic handles the complexity and rigors of our Sundays seamlessly.”
He continues, “I’ve mixed on a lot of consoles, but the first time I heard a full band through the LV1 Classic was like a breath of fresh air. There’s something about the combination of its amazing preamps and the use of Waves plugins that ensures a pristine source and a clean, musical mix every time. It’s the ease of a digital console that feels and sounds like the best analog desk you could ever hope to work on.”
“I feel that one of the best advantages of the eMotion LV1 Classic is its simplicity. It never feels overwhelming. Its well-designed interface keeps things straightforward, making operation effortless even for new users, and the compact design allows it to fit into a relatively small and easily transportable case. For FOH, all that’s needed is a small table and a network cable connection. Additionally, I’ve used many other consoles and I have to say that the LV1 Classic’s routing options are the most straightforward and user-friendly that I’ve seen on any console out there. It all just makes sense.”
He continues, “The combination of an intuitive user interface, familiar to those with either a console or a DAW background, together with Waves plugins integrated directly into the system—eliminates the need for setting up external connections or additional software. It’s a solution that’s efficient, low-stress, and fast. The ease of setup and quick deployment means significantly less time spent preparing and more time focused on sound check—whether on a Sunday morning or at a HOW event. The eMotion LV1 Classic excels in this aspect, offering powerful group processing capabilities that deliver impressive results, particularly for drums and background vocals. I come from a studio background,” he notes, “and with years of experience using Waves plugins, adapting to the LV1 Classic was a breeze for me. Training volunteers to use this console is also incredibly straightforward, which is a crucial factor in the Church setting.”
“Also,” he adds, “The eMotion LV1 Classic runs smoothly on its internal DSP at approximately 65% capacity, effortlessly handling the demanding audio requirements of V1 Church’s services. While we have access to a Waves Extreme-C SoundGrid server for connection if needed, the system’s internal processing power has proven more than sufficient, eliminating the need for external support so far.”
Commenting on his choice of essential Waves plugins, he remarks, “My must-haves are the SSL G-Channel, which I tend to use on most tracks, it’s extremely versatile, reliable, and delivers great results. Having grown up working on SSL consoles in studio environments, I appreciate their excellent sound quality and musical EQ curves, which make it the ultimate ‘Swiss army knife’ of plugins. Using it in a live setting has truly been transformative. The F6 Floating-Band Dynamic EQ (RTA) is a true workhorse with countless applications,” he adds. “Its real-time analyzer is especially valuable when training new engineers, helping them visually grasp the reasoning behind my processing decisions. The ability to make just one or two bands dynamic, also allows me to use it as a more precise alternative to the C4—ideal for taming resonant toms or snares or addressing a specific problem spot in a vocal.”
“For vocals, pairing a fast-attack/release CLA-76 Compressor/Limiter with a slower CLA-2A creates a classic compressor chain that consistently gives you a smooth result every single time. Then, follow up with a C4 [multiband compressor] for a final touch. I love a C4 as a final tone shaper, and to control a bit of boxy or harsh frequencies on a vocal. The H-Reverb offers an impressive range of usable algorithms, but my go-to is the warm plate for a rich, spacious vocal reverb. Lately, I’ve also been loving the ‘80 Good Ole Plate’ preset in the hardware section—it works beautifully for vocals and is equally amazing on snare. Finally, applying a light SSL Comp on the LR adds just the right amount of glue, setting you up for a flawless mix—I could confidently run any show, from a small 25-person church service to a 15,000-seat stadium, on these seven plugins alone and be more than happy with the results.”
Wrigley’s setup features an LV1 Classic at the FOH and broadcast location. The system integrates seamlessly with several Macs running software, such as MainStage, Ableton, Reaper, ProPresenter, Resi and Pro Tools.
Sharing a standout moment for the LV1 Classic console’s performance, he remarks, “The most notable instance would be during our annual Breakers Conference in Chicago this past October. FOH was mixed using a single LV1 Classic console. We were fortunate to gain early access to the console just prior to its official launch, which provided an excellent opportunity to evaluate its performance in a live, real-world environment. Mixing for over 10,000 attendees in the room while simultaneously running a broadcast mix on another LV1 Classic console, allowed us to deliver a mix that was not only impactful, but also incredibly dynamic. The console proved intuitive and easy to use, enabling quick, complex changes on the fly, even with highly complex routing demands.”
Wrigley concludes, “Ever since adopting the Waves eMotion LV1 Classic, our production team has been receiving weekly compliments on the sound quality. The integration of Waves plugins allows us to fine-tune and shape the audio with remarkable ease, using a system that is reliable, intuitive and familiar. Week in and week out, the LV1 Classic runs like a well-oiled machine. We consistently deliver a powerful mix that is punchy and engaging, while maintaining levels around 90-93 dBA. And, we currently have two more eMotion LV1 Classics on order!”
