In the last five years, the global pro audio industry has witnessed a massive investment of resources and technology into worship spaces. Spurred on by the growth of streaming and broadcast capabilities as well as the long-term impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on service attendance, many have seen fit to undergo ambitious and perhaps long-overdue upgrades that have positively impacted the A/V infrastructure and capabilities of worship spaces.
The center of audio in a worship setting is often a single live wireless mic on which the entire service hinges.
Wireless audio is often a part of this conversation, but due to the everchanging RF landscape in terms of the latest technology, standards, and legalities, it can be a complicated set of conditions to plan for and by extension, invest in for the long term. Wireless audio’s complexity – both in theory and in practice – can cause it to get less attention despite how important it is to the modern worship experience. After all, for all the industry’s investment in advanced FOH consoles, robust microphone and DI systems for instruments, and broadcast and streaming audio infrastructure, the center of audio in a worship setting is often a single live wireless mic on which the entire service hinges. Not only that, but all these audio sources are increasingly becoming wireless themselves. All the more reason that every worship facility needs a reliable, easy-to-use wireless system that is economical while still being as future-proofed as possible. So – how do we accomplish this?
Costs
Being budget conscious and investing for the long term is at the forefront of this conversation for most audio engineers working in the house of worship field. The expense of a capable wireless system may already seem like a daunting prospect, however the hidden costs associated with long-term operation can be an even larger issue. RF operations in general are challenged by a constantly evolving field of available spectrum and the impact this has on frequency-specific wireless equipment. An ever-expanding ecosystem of competing RF devices puts usable open frequencies at a premium, and frequent FCC repacks of frequencies that are legally operable can make traditional wireless equipment obsolete overnight.
SpectraBand’s industry-leading 169-1525MHz global tuning range enables Astral gear to easily find clean frequencies anywhere in the world.
The Astral Wireless family by Sound Devices.
This was a primary consideration for Sound Devices when we developed our Astral-family wireless products and their core feature – SpectraBand. Unlike most wireless receivers and transmitters which are designed to operate within very specific frequency ranges, SpectraBand’s industry-leading 169-1525MHz global tuning range enables Astral gear to easily find clean frequencies within all the currently legally available spectrum anywhere in the world. Not only that, but if the FCC or any other global RF authority makes changes to this, Astral equipment can quickly adapt with a free firmware update that vastly increases the equipment’s operating life. This versatility and long-time operability bring costs down over the long term.
The A20-HH digital wireless handheld microphone has SpectraBand built into the A20-HH as standard, which results in a tuning range of 470 MHz up to 1525 MHz.
Basic Systems Design and Toolsets
Once the issue of budget and costs has been thoroughly explored, we now need to consider the level of complexity of the system and the team who will be operating it. This can vary wildly depending on the needs of each worship space – from simple single-pastor services with no additional A/V considerations, to the increasingly complex productions typical of modern churches with multiple musical ensembles and heavy broadcast and streaming elements to account for. The latter can require a more elaborate setup which may be more difficult to operate. As usual, RF complicates this situation because it requires a lot of attention and specific knowledge that may not be obvious to audio engineers with an experience based in traditional FOH operations. Many churches also have limited A/V staff who need to focus their attention on multiple elements at once (i.e. FOH, lighting, broadcast, etc.), or work with a volunteer staff who may not have RF training. Thus, it’s incredibly important to focus on creating an easy-to-understand workflow that brings wireless seamlessly into the equation.
We packed tools like real-time spectrum analyzers and streamlined RF coordination into Astral-family receivers to help even beginners achieve professional-level outcomes.
We designed Astral to keep these considerations right at the forefront while boiling down complicated concepts into a straightforward toolset that could be easily utilized by RF neophytes. Given that RF management is a complicated effort requiring multiple tools to do the job properly, we packed as many of these tools as possible into Astral-family receivers like A20-Nexus and A20-SuperNexus so that someone with even beginner-level knowledge could obtain professional-level outcomes. These tools include an RTSA (real-time spectrum analyzer) for visual understanding of current frequency conditions and streamlined RF coordination, GainForward to simplify gain structure and NexLink which is our native (no additional hardware required) bi-directional remote-control protocol of Astral transmitters and receivers to make changes in real time. All these features help to educate the user during operation, providing a more seamless RF experience and making it much easier to train volunteers.
Conclusions
If the past 10 years of wireless technology are any indication, RF will continue to evolve in capabilities and complexity. Given this, having the forethought to design a system that is robust, reliable, and versatile to weather changes while also being easy to use and adaptable to the needs of a passionate, volunteer workforce is incredibly important. There are many options on the market to spec out the ideal wireless system for your church or worship space, and at Sound Devices we have designed our systems to offer the most bang-for-your-buck that we can in terms of features, build quality, and ease of use. No matter what you choose, it’s an incredibly exciting time to add RF capabilities to your HOW system.
