Knock Presbyterian Church in Belfast, Northern Ireland, has recently upgraded its audio system with Allen & Heath’s dLive. Installed by Rea Sound, specialists in audio, visual, and lighting solutions and distributors for Allen & Heath in Ireland, the system marks a significant improvement in the church's audio capabilities, bringing exceptional clarity and warmth that has been praised by both the congregation and visiting artists.
The journey to this upgrade began back in June 2022 when the church's technical team, led by Brian Ditty, began exploring options to replace their 12-year-old mixer. Before the new install, the church had 48 inputs on the stage and used 16 at front-of-house for wireless receivers and more. Their sanctuary also featured seven distinct audio zones, using matrixes fed from the main LR mix.
In addition to their needs at the time, Knock Presbyterian Church required a solution that would also future-proof their audio setup. With this in mind they were aiming for a minimum of 64 input channels and hoped to facilitate both multi-track recording and, taking into consideration an upcoming major building project for their halls the following year, sending further audio feeds to the new halls.
Roger McMullan from Rea Sound provided support throughout the decision-making process, meeting with the church's technical team to discuss their requirements and answer questions. The team also had the opportunity to attend an Allen & Heath dLive and Avantis tour, where they could interact with the consoles firsthand. This experience solidified their decision to recommend the dLive system to the church committee, who subsequently approved the purchase.
For the upgrade, they selected an Allen & Heath dLive CDM48 MixRack capable of 128×64 channels of 96kHz audio, paired with a C3500 control Surface. The CDM48 provides 48 inputs and 24 outputs for use on the church stage, and a DX168 expander offers the additional 16 mic preamps and 8 line outs required at FOH. The MixRack was also equipped with a Dante 128×128 audio networking card to send audio feeds to the new halls following the completion of their building project and to enable multi-track recording and playback.
Gerard Wilkinson, an experienced engineer from Rea Sound, oversaw the installation and provided comprehensive training on the new system. He also fine-tuned the PA system to optimize the audio experience within the church's unique acoustical environment.
Since the installation, the dLive system has been used every week to deliver high-quality live sound for services, concerts, and other events at the church. The feedback has been overwhelmingly positive, with many noting a marked improvement in audio quality. "Whilst we had done a lot of background work in choosing the dLive, it wasn’t until it was in our church and working that the audio quality was considerably improved,” concludes the church's technical team lead Brian Ditty. “Many from the congregation and visiting artists noticed the increase in clarity, warmth, and overall better sound."
