Despite the current pandemic hitting the AV industry particularly hard, some organizations are making the most of the mandatory downtime by carrying out system upgrades that would have otherwise been challenging during regular event scheduling. This was certainly the case for The Selwyn Outreach Center in Peterborough, ON., which recently pushed forward with some much-needed audio system upgrades. A DiGiCo S31 console, plus a KLANG:fabrik immersive in-ear system and KLANG:quelle headphone amps, purchased through DiGiCo’s Canadian distributor GerrAudio, are central to the solution.
The organization engaged Jason Reynolds, lead installation advisor at AV integrator; Production Service Industries, to design and supply a very capable, yet cost-effective front-end package for the upgrade.
Anchoring the system is a DiGiCo S31 at front-of-house that is equipped with three of DiGiCo’s new A168 stage racks. “The S31 is a very user-friendly console that is packed with features not found on other consoles in the same price bracket,” comments Reynolds. “That value, coupled with the flexibility offered by the new A168 racks, made it an easy decision for the group of volunteer audio technicians at the centre.” Three A168 racks were deployed in various locations around the stage via Cat5 cabling for a total of 64 physical input sockets. “The fact that everything is running at 96kHz was a huge bonus,” Reynolds adds.
“The S31 is perfect for our space,” comments James McRury, lead audio technician at the facility.
“Its three touchscreens make it very easy to operate; I can see everything I want to see at a glance, and then easily dive down into a feature-set with a few simple touches. I love the workflow and the flexibility allows each of our audio techs to personalize the console based on who is running the board that day.”
For artist monitoring, Reynolds deployed a KLANG:fabrik, which is fed from the FOH position.
“The KLANG unit provides the technicians and musicians ultimate flexibility in addition to immersive mixing capabilities and superior audio quality – the audio techs loved the seamless integration with the S31 and the musicians found it very easy and intuitive to use,” Reynolds remarks. “The musicians immediately noticed the space that KLANG brings to their individual mixes.”
The KLANG:fabrik is providing up to eight immersive stereo mixes via multiple KLANG:quelle headphone amplifiers. To pick up the most important source on stage – The Pastor – Reynolds recommended a DPA d:fine directional headset microphone to wear during weekly services.
“The installation and performance of the system has been flawless” concludes Reynolds. “Everything went together seamlessly, and the congregation is very pleased with the final result so far. I’ve worked with DiGiCo, KLANG and DPA many times in the past and nothing beats the combination, it’s my go-to solution!”
Selwyn Outreach Centre is holding a limited number of socially distance services, with the congregation enjoying the benefits of the new system and continues to broadcast over FM for those not able to attend in person.
