What the Future Holds for Church Audio Consoles

For many production departments, the front-of-house audio console always takes precedence when discussing components that keep the music and message flowing week to week. And for good reason: from the smallest setups to the most complex multi-site and broadcast situations, consoles do the heavy lifting, among other components, in bringing these realities to life.

Over the past decade, the technology world has been populated with the mantra of “smaller, faster, more compact, and more efficient.” We’ve seen this throughout smartphones, tablets, laptops, cameras, and yes, audio consoles. It’s opened up an entire world of possibilities and helped countless churches and techs achieve what was once out of reach. Although much of the discussion these days can focus on compact systems, the advancement in high-end, large-format consoles has continued on a similar trajectory.

Churches in the growth stage, both with attendance and production demands, will find themselves at a crossroads sooner or later in regards to their audio consoles. While the delivery of audio can be accomplished in its basic form from a variety of choices, finding the best solution for both the short term and long term for your specific situation pays immense dividends. So here’s a look at several high-end and large format consoles recently introduced to the market, along with the features and technology they offer.

Avid Venue S6L

Known for the popular Venue, Venue Profile, and SC48 consoles, Avid has recently released its new large-format console, the S6L. The company says that any user of its current systems will feel right at home on the S6L’s operating software. Although the makeover has included a sizable amount of upgrades both with the software and an all-new operating surface, the basic system architecture has remained intact.

One of the biggest upgrades, and following suit with other consoles featured in this article, is Avid’s first console surface with touchscreen technology. All features including channel strips, plug-ins, and routing are now quicker to access. And with a modular and scalable system, local and stage I/O racks can be configured as needed. The company has also integrated shared I/O, allowing multiple S6L surfaces to be networked together from a single stage rack while managing gain compensation for each engineer.

Known for its tight integration into the company’s Pro Tools DAW software, the S6L connects just as easily to a laptop or desktop computer and automatically creates a Pro Tools session from a show file—complete with track names and patching. The same file can be used for recording or playback back through the S6L for virtual soundcheck.

Digico SD5

British manufacturer Digico has been a strong presence in the live audio console market over the past decade. With offerings ranging from the compact SD11 and the new S21 to its flagship SD7, the company’s expansive line is reaching a wider audience.

"Churches in the growth stage, both with attendance and production demands, will find themselves at a crossroads sooner or later in regards to their audio consoles…."

The new SD5 console—which the company says is a modern-day incarnation of its now discontinued D5 Live console—is packed with options for even the most demanding environments. Built around Digico’s Stealth Digital Processing, the console can handle up to 124 channels at 48/96kHz. The console also features an impressive 56 configurable busses, assignable as mono/stereo or auxiliary. Add to that a 24x24 matrix and the amount of routing options becomes sizable to say the least. In addition, the master bus is set up to provide LR, LCR, and 5.1 surround routing capabilities.

Digico also incorporates Waves processing seamlessly into its system via onboard, preloaded plugin packages and optional SoundGrid modules for external servers. The SD5, as with the company’s other consoles, comes available in additional configurations including the SD5B, which is tailored to broadcast-specific applications.

Roland M5000

Let’s get the white elephant out of the room now: When most users think of Roland, the term “high-end console” typically does not come to the forefront. But with the company’s recent M5000 console, Roland has provided a highly flexible, powerful, and robust addition to the large-format console market.

One of the more noticeable features of this console is the ability to freely configure its 128 audio paths. Whether the application is a live mix for FOH or monitors, or a broadcast and theatre situation, a customized console structure of inputs, outputs, and layout can be built to suit the user’s needs. Another new feature incorporates Roland’s M-48 personal monitor system. A module can now be hooked up to the console, allowing the engineer to toggle back and forth listening to each individual monitor mix and make adjustments if needed on his or her controller.

The M5000 features expansion slots for Dante, MADI, SoundGrid, and other network protocols. Roland has also added a USB output that interfaces to any DAW workstation, providing a quick 16 channels of recording and playback capability. More extensive recording and playback can be done utilizing the company’s R-1000 recorder/playback module or by use of third-party expansion slots as mentioned above.

Solid State Logic L500

Long renowned for its analog studio consoles, Solid State Logic recently entered the live sound world to much acclaim. Featuring two models, the L500 and its smaller counterpart the L300, these consoles have brought SSL’s famous studio sound and features to the live market. Both feature 48/96kHz sample rates and up to 256 and 192 channel paths, respectively. The models come flush with multiple I/O options for networking, including redundant pairs of coaxial and optical MADI ports along with local XLR inputs and outputs for peripheral needs. Additional pairs of MADI plus an optional Dante card expansion port are available for advanced signal routing or external FX loops, such as a Waves SoundGrid server.

Aside from the impressive amount of I/O options, the inclusion of SSL’s legendary channel strip processing, especially the renowned Stereo Buss Compressor, is an attractive part of its feature set. Also included is the VHD Saturator, a digital emulation of the company’s Variable Harmonic Drive (VHD) circuit that introduces variable amounts of 2nd or 3rd order harmonic distortion, adding blends of transistor grit or tube-style warmth to any channel. Users will also appreciate the large, 19-inch, multi-gesture touch screen offering quick and intuitive control.

"Inclusion of the SSL's channel strip processing is an attractive part of its feature set."

Soundcraft Vi5000 and Vi7000

Soundcraft has had a long-standing presence with its analog consoles, and the recent line of compact Si Series digital mixers have proven popular with the house of worship and portable live audio worlds. Recently, the company has added to its large-format Vi Series with the Vi 5000 and Vi 7000 consoles.

While the Vi4 and Vi6 models in this series have been available for several years, the improved Vi5000 and its counterpart bring expanded channel counts and significantly upgraded processing power to users in demanding applications. Able to handle 128 input channels and 32 mono/stereo busses, each console can run up to a 96kHz sample rate if necessary. The company has also expanded the internal Lexicon effects and dynamics processing to feature the legendary BSS DPR901ii dynamic EQ and BSS graphic EQ option on every bus output.

One of the more interesting features is the integration of the company’s VM2 (Vistonics Microphone Monitoring). This allows the status of any compatible AKG or Shure wireless microphone system to be displayed directly on the console’s respective channel strip display, giving users information regarding battery life, muting, internal clipping, and RF status without the need to monitor the actual receiver.

In addition, the Vi 5000 and Vi 7000 models can be used with the Soundcraft Realtime Rack, which integrates Universal Audio’s (UA’s) analog audio processing emulation plug-ins directly into the console. While this option is an external add-on, it opens the door to UA’s popular studio processing in the live environment.

Yamaha Rivage PM10

In both the touring and installation markets, Yamaha has seen consistent popularity with consoles such as the PM5D, M7CL, and newer CL series. Since the 1999 introduction of the PM1D console, however, the company had not refreshed its flagship, large-format mixing surface. Released in 2015, the Rivage PM10 builds upon the architecture of the PM1D but with significant expansion, processing power, and flexibility to meet the highest demands.

Newly-developed microphone preamps utilize the company’s VCM (Virtual Circuitry Modeling) technology along with SILK processing and Rupert Neve Designs circuitry–highly regarded in the studio world for their analog preamps and dynamics processing. Yamaha has added a continuously variable “texture” knob allowing sonic shaping at the input stage, adding analog warmth, grit, and sparkle as required.

The Rivage PM10 features 45 onboard plug-in types–with 384 available slots–which have been created in collaboration with industry leaders such as Rupert Neve, TC Electronic, and Eventide. They scene and recall functions have been overhauled with features such as Overlay, which allows temporary offsets to fader and mix/matrix send levels independently from scene recall, allowing for sudden changes but with the ability to revert back to original settings when desired.

With dual 15-inch touchscreen monitors, 144 input channels, 72 mix and 36 matrix busses running at 96kHz, along with a full compliment of Dante networking and expansion I/O slots, the Rivage PM10 provides all the tools and more for large-scale applications.