Small House of Worship

Will Fraser · June 2009

Small House of Worship

Creating an Audio System for a House of Worship

In this guide we will create a design for a small House of Worship and show how using the BLU-BOB in the system design provides flexibility at a cost effective price point.

This design will incorporate several concepts described in other application guides such as digital audio transport and distributed audio and control.

Some of the features of this system are:

~ A 32x8 digital snake from the stage to the mix position in the Sanctuary.
~ Two operation modes for the Sanctuary - Auto & Manual.
~ A feed from the Sanctuary to the Fellowship Hall for overflow situations.
~ A simple remote control in the Sanctuary for controlling stage microphones in Auto mode.
~ A small stereo playback system in the Fellowship Hall with 4 microphones and a DVD player.
~ A simple remote control in the Fellowship Hall for controlling local inputs and source selection.
~ Paging station at Reception and Background Music (BGM) for Fellowship Hall and public spaces.

The Sanctuary system is comprised of 4 sections:

•Digital transport from the stage to the mix position of the 32 inputs on stage
•Digital transport of 8 channels of audio from the mix position to the stage
•Digital transport of 6 channels of audio from the mix position to the amplifier location
•Digital transport of 1 channel of audio from the mix position to the Fellowship Hall.

Additionally, this part of the system will provide all the processing for the main Sanctuary.

Using the Soundweb London Digital Audio Bus as a digital snake has the benefits of low latency and very small infrastructure requirements. In a retrofit scenario there may not be conduit in place to use traditional multi-pair copper audio snakes. The Soundweb London Digital Audio Bus network utilizes standard CAT5e cable or Fiber Optic pairs to inter-connect devices, requiring much smaller conduit or cable chase. This allows for the use of surface mount cable chase in retro-fit situations where conduit is just not an option, such as an old stone church for example.

At the stage location we will use 2 BLU-120’s, each loaded with 4 input cards, providing 32 channels with adjustable microphone pre amps. A BLU-BOB provides outputs for the stage monitors. At the mix position, 4 BLU-BOB’s provide the 32 channels of stage audio to the mixing console. This provides the Sanctuary system with a 32x8 digital snake. At the stage location, we also have a BLU-8 for controlling the stage microphones when the system is in Auto Mode. In Manual Mode, the mixer at the Front of House location (FOH) provides the control for the stage microphones.

At the FOH location, the group and aux outputs of the mixing console feed a BLU-120 configured with 16 inputs. This provides 6 channels for the main Sanctuary PA, 8 channels for the stage return, 1 channel for Assisted Listening and 1 channel for a mono mix to the Fellowship Hall.

At the main amplifier equipment location, a single BLU-BOB provides 6 outputs to the main Sanctuary PA.

The Fellowship Hall portion of the system has two main functions: provide BGM and paging to the general spaces and administration offices, and provide a small performance and playback system in the Fellowship Hall.

More...

>>> Click here to download the full application guide and sample file.<<<

__________________
Technical Support Team
BSS Audio
8760 South Sandy Parkway
Sandy, UT 84070