Images by Josh Beaver
Located in rural east-central Ohio, NewPointe Community Church is a non-denominational church, nestled in a town of roughly 30,000 residents that draws a weekly congregation of 2,000 people at its main campus. Being the largest and most modern church in the area, it offers a unique and engaging worship experience. On average, all six campuses together attract a congregation of 4,000 worshippers over two weekly services, a number that has seen steady growth since the end of the pandemic.
Recently, NewPointe's Production Experience Director, Ben Abbott, approached MediaNet AV about upgrading the existing large format line array system at the Dover campus, which broadcasts its services to five other campuses. MediaNet AV Head of Installation, Alex Earnhardt identified some design improvements. He proposed the Soundscape system and after a live demo in Pittsburgh, Abbott was sold.
"After hearing it at a demo in Pittsburgh, I knew instantly that it was the future of live sound,” Abbott explains. “The Soundscape system, with its immersive experience, stands out in the church world, where most PA systems resemble rock shows, bombarding you with sound from the front with little to no spatial awareness. We see the Soundscape system as the future of the worship experience. When we embarked on this project, our primary objective was to enhance the worship experience. While it's not our official mission statement, our guiding motto is to 'create irresistible experiences.' To achieve this, we believe in leveraging technology that truly engages our congregation. Soundscape, with its immersive technology, combined with engaging video content and lighting, plays a pivotal role in realizing that vision."
Images by Josh Beaver
Earnhardt says implementing the Soundscape system along with 24S and 44S point source loudspeakers presented no significant challenges due to the ease of rigging, predictability, and accuracy of the system components. 24S was chosen for mains as a high-performance full range 2-way loudspeaker with its two 12-inch woofers in a dipole arrangement for directivity control. 44S, an ultracompact point source with flexible mounting including a recessed flush-mount option, was used as the front fill system.
“The Soundscape system optimizes speaker performance, adding fidelity and headroom throughout the space. It reduces the burden on the mix engineer and delivers a superior listening experience for the entire congregation while keeping sightlines clear,” d&b’s announcement states. “Soundscape’s flexibility for system design enables an extension of the system beyond the stage, bringing the congregation closer to the worship through additional loudspeakers up to 360 degrees.” A 180+ configuration that utilizes lateral speakers to extend the system into the congregation was implemented for NewPointe Community Church.
The updated Soundscape system at NewPointe Church includes: 7 x 24S-D point sources for mains, 12 x 44S for front fills, 8 x Bi6 in a flown SUB array, 5 x 10S-D for delays, 4 x 8S for lateral enhancement speakers, DS100 signal engine with En-Scene processing, 2 x DS10 Dante network bridges, 5 x 40D amplifiers and 3 x 5D amplifiers.
NewPointe Community Church’s goal is to create appealing and distraction-free worship environments. The recent upgrade to the Soundscape system not only enriches the church's audio experience but also paves the way for future technological advancements in worship settings.
