Imagine you've just purchased a new family SUV. You shopped carefully and compared interior room, performance, safety, fuel economy, and predicted reliability. It came down to a tie between the Tonopah and the Glacier. (Fictional vehicles, but they all have rugged, Western-sounding names.) You got a better deal on the Glacier, so you went for it.
Then, on your first family vacation, you find you're short two cup-holders. Also, one kid complains the back seat is too hard while the other says the stereo in his friend's Tonopah sounds better. And your wife keeps bumping her knee when getting out the door.
Sometimes you do need to sweat the small stuff, and this principle certainly applies when choosing a mixing console for your church. Dozens of articles have been written about console selection, and most focused on basics: frame size and I/O capacity, audio performance, sub-group availability, aux and matrix flexibility, and DSP horsepower in digital boards. These are critical considerations, but you'll find that—by and large—consoles will be highly competitive on these points within the same price range. It's often the “small stuff” that spells the difference between happy mixing and constant annoyance or recurring confusion.
So, here we present other considerations you should check off your list before making a final decision.
Across the Great Divide
First, we'll check off some points common to both analog and digital boards. Keep in mind that, continuing our automotive analogy, we're lumping together everything from a Ferrari to a Ford, so there will be variation in how much each point applies to a specific mixer type.
CONTROL DENSITY – Compact is good, but if you try to cram too much into a small space you can run into trouble. Make sure the knobs are easy to find and twist, and the screens are of a readable size on digital boards.
I/O CONNECTOR TYPES – Inputs are pretty standard, but check on how you connect aux outputs and, on lower priced analog boards, your main outputs as well. XLR or TRS? This can be important, particularly in portable applications.
SPILL RESISTANCE – If you allow volunteers to bring coffee or sodas to FOH, check for potential liquid entry points. Many consoles will have cooling vents at the rear, right where a drink perched precariously on an overbridge could tip over and douse critical circuits.
NUMBER OF AUX SENDS – You can never have too many. Some should be pre-fader, some post-fader, and having some switchable helps. Figure at least six in all but the simplest general-purpose applications.
MANUALS AND SUPPORT MATERIALS – This can be critical if you rely on staff and volunteers to do some self-education. Most manuals are available online, so check them out in advance. Also look for online training videos, which are especially helpful for mastering the peculiarities of digital consoles.
Happiness in the Digital Domain
If your church is taking the digital plunge for the first time, take extra time to ponder the points below—and continue into more detail than we can include here. Once you go with one manufacturer and series, you'll want to stick with it. Going from one analog board to another is like going from a Golden Delicious to a Gala: different flavors, both apples. But transitioning from one digital board to another is like going from a kiwi to a papaya.
We'll start with console ergonomics. How is the work surface laid out, and using what kind of controls? A few hours of research on this could avoid years of regrets.
NUMBER OF SCREENS, SIZE AND FUNCTIONALITY – On all digital consoles, much of what you do revolves around one or more display screens. However, digital consoles differ considerably in how many screens are integrated into the board, screen sizes, and whether or not their displays are passive only or also function as active touchscreens. Obviously more screens, larger screens and (usually) active touchscreens are better, but that typically raises costs. Also note whether the console accommodates one or more external screens, and evaluate how that would work for you.
SIMULTANEOUSLY AVAILABLE FUNCTIONS AND PARAMETERS – Even low-priced digital consoles offer such a dizzying array of features and capabilities that it's impossible to show everything all at once. The trade-off is either showing fewer parameters and functions for more channels, or allowing more detailed monitoring and control of fewer channels—perhaps just one channel at a time. To some extent, all consoles allow you to switch back and forth between the two modes, but how much you can see or do without switching modes is determined by availability of hardware controls and, to a lesser extent, display screen real estate.
CONTROL AND SCREEN INTEGRATION AND INDICATION – Digital consoles differ considerably on how hardware control knobs (encoders) are linked to indication or display of parameter status. In some cases, a knob may be associated with a virtual knob on an adjacent screen by a color-changing ring. Other consoles will have the encoders embedded onto the screen itself. In other cases, when only the knob position matters, indication may be on a surrounding LED ring. Of course, with a touchscreen, the complete integration is a given. As a rule, the higher the level of integration, the higher the cost.
“ANALOG-LIKE” OR “COMPUTER GENERATION” – Some digital console ergonomics emulate those of their analog counterparts, where most controls for each channel are laid out in vertical strips above the respective faders. Others are more “computer generation” design with controls laid out in blocks and offering comprehensive controls assignable to any channel. This is a major difference, so think it through carefully. (Some of us old codgers prefer the analog style, but we're on the way out, too.)
SIMULTANEOUSLY ACCESSIBLE
FADERS – Most digital consoles have more input channels than faders, so faders are assigned in banks. Having more faders per bank is better, but that increases both size and cost.
CHANNEL PAIRING – Most digital consoles will allow you to pair two inputs on a single fader, but how they go about it differs considerably. Some allow flexible pairing to any adjacent channel, while others may allow only odd-even or vertical pairing (channels assigned to same fader on different levels). Also, pairing may affect how channels are designated (as one channel or two), which on some boards changes the numbering of other channels down the line.
ENCODERS AVAILABLE PER CHANNEL OR FUNCTION – Ideally you want to have a discrete encoder available for each parameter, whether parametric EQ, compressor/limiter, or reverb. This avoids having to toggle back and forth to access parameters for the same function. In short, the more encoders the better.
Other Digital Decisions
Now let's look at some non-ergonomic issues for your digital shopping checklist.
ACCESS CONTROLS – A downside of digital, compared to analog, is that you can't always tell from the console surface if somebody has been messing about with important settings. That's why it's a good idea to have password access control at several levels, though many churches prefer not to use it—unless they have to.
NATIVE OR OUTBOARD PLUG-INS – Can you get all or most of your favorite effects plug-ins running native within the console? Or do you need an external interface or computer? Thanks to some newer MADI interfaces, the latter option is much more attractive than it was a few years ago. But on-board is always handier.
NETWORKING OPTIONS – All mid-priced and above digital consoles will have a separate stage box with some kind of networked connection. Is it a proprietary network, an open industry standard, or a third-party network like Audinate's Dante? Some console makers are locked into one, while others offer choices. This is another critical consideration, as it either opens or limits options for direct connection to third-party loudspeaker processor or recording systems.
REMOTE INTERFACES – Let's face it, iPad apps are all the rage, and for good reason. It's a cheap and handy way to extend core mixing functions out into the house. Find out what each console's app can do, and if there's a charge. (Most are free.)
FILE LOADING AND REBOOTING – How long does it take to load a show file? How long does it take to re-boot, and in what circumstances is this necessary? Ask, and insist on the truth.
Avoiding Analog Annoyances
Most of what we checked off for digital applies to larger consoles for the main worship space in most churches. With analog these days, we're more concerned with auxiliary systems (fellowship hall, classroom, small portable systems) or small church systems at a much lower price point. But these mixers still fulfill important roles, so check the following points before you buy. In other words, all analog mixers with 16 mic/line inputs are not created equal.
CHANNEL LEVEL INDICATION – Do you get just one clip indicator? Or two LEDs, clip plus signal present? Or four levels? Again, more is better.
PHANTOM POWER SELECTION – Is phantom power on/off only global to all inputs, or switchable for each? Sometimes you do not want phantom on all active inputs.
Fader length and feel – Avoid stubby 60-mm faders, and go for high-quality 100-mm faders that are smooth but not too floppy.
BUS ASSIGNMENT SWITCH LOCATION AND INDICATION – Sometimes bus assignment switches are located in the “minimally trained volunteer zone”—the fader strip. If the switch is bumped and accidentally changes position, the volunteer can be clueless as to what happened. Better to have the switches elsewhere, or at least have a bi-color switch that shows current status.
EQ BANDS – Full parametric is great, but premium analog consoles with that feature have largely given way to digital. However, one dividing line between “cheap” and “better” mixers is inclusion of four-band EQ with dual overlapping swept mids. One swept band just doesn't cut it for tricky things like lavalier mics or kick drums.
CHANNEL PRE-AMP OUTPUTS – This is a nice feature if you ever want to do multi-track recording, because it avoids buying a separate splitter to feed your recorder or (more likely) digital interface. Make sure outputs are switchable pre/post fader.
Wrap Up
We still haven't touched on built-in compression and/or effects, output matrix, USB or Firewire ports, and other add-ons. But these are all advertised features that most buyers are aware of when comparison shopping. It's like checking off the power seat and mirror defroster options when shopping for the car. Make sure you're getting what you need.
So, whether you're spending $900, $9,000 or $39,000 on a new console, remember to make a thorough checklist of the applicable “small stuff.” You'll be glad you did, just as I was glad to get general tips from Seth Daniel of Icon Live Technologies in Muscle Shoals, Ala., and knowledgeable details on digital desk ergonomics from George Relles of George Relles Sound in Eugene, Ore.
