DiGiGrid and Virtual Soundcheck receive praise at the City Hope Church.

Fast-growing church installs a combination of DiGiGrid, DiGiCo and KLANG technologies that vastly streamline and optimize its audio workflows.

DAPHNE, Alabama – CityHope Church in Mobile, Alabama’s metro area has just made another leap forward with its summer installation of a range of cutting edge products from Digigrid, Digico and Klang. The entire package was specified, designed and installed by Springville, Alabama-based AVL firm ESB Group, the same trusted integrator that installed CityHope’s L-Acoustics Kara(i) and ARCS WiFo loudspeaker systems six years earlier when the fast-growing church first moved into its new 1,400-seat worship center, which at the time more than doubled CityHope’s worship space.

A DiGiGrid MGR Rackmount Quad MADI interface was selected to provide 128 channels at 96 kHz for redundant recording and virtual soundchecks, further streamlining the church’s music performances.

At the center of the installation was the Quantum console at FOH which has replaced 3 existing consoles, and AES card in the SD racks were used to provide digital audio directly to the PA system.

The KLANG system was used for stage was used to take care of all of the sound in the house, from the PA to the in-ear monitors on stage with a variety of instruments and vocalists, and delivered Klang’s immersive mixing. The Q338 console, SD-Racks and KLANG audio are all on a newly-installed Optocore loop network.

ESB Group Solutions Architect/Design Engineer Drew Breland commented “The virtual soundcheck capability turned out to be even more important that we’d expected,” he says. “They were able to take previously recorded tracks and use them to set up the routing and preliminary EQ for the new console during the one rehearsal they had before the first Sunday church service.”

At CityHope Church, the new audio upgrade was paying dividends from day one. “And that would be a win for any church,” Breland adds.

For more information on CityHope Church, visit www.cityhope.cc. The ESB Group can be found online at www.esbgroup.net.

One of the standout features of the A20-HH handheld microphone is its customization. That starts with its reversible A20-HH CD1 Capsule Collar, which accepts multiple manufacturers’ capsules that utilize Shure or Sennheiser thread, as well as Sound Devices’ own CD1 Cardioid Capsule, the world’s first fully calibrated, dynamic vocal microphone with a patented dual-engine design. With the A20-HH Capsule Collar, changing capsules is as simple as removing three screws and flipping the collar over. The A20-HH Control Ring is just as easy to swap out and gives the user optional external controls – one or three buttons or a slide switch – while the base unit has no controls on the outside to prevent accidental button pushes.

“As any performer knows,” says Sound Devices Vice President of Sales Andy “Baggy” Robinson, “to truly customize a microphone, you need to be able to match its design to a costume. The A20-HH makes that so easy. Instead of having to prep a mic and then sending an expensive microphone out to be painted – risking damage or loss of the mic in shipping or during the painting process – you can just slide off the body shell from the A20-HH and have it painted, decorated, or covered in jewels. Or with the economical cost of the body shells – keep multiples on hand in different colors and styles and change them out during a show.”

There is also no need to keep multiple A20-HH microphones in stock for an international tour, thanks to the global SpectraBand™ tuning range of 470-1525MHz, which allows the A20-HH microphone to be used worldwide. In addition, it uses the Sound Devices Astral family’s NexLink^® ultra-long-range remote control and GainForward™ architecture that allows users to control gain and trim at the front of house trim instead of on the microphone. It also includes an e-Paper display that shows mic and battery status, even in full sunlight and while powered down.

One of the most unique features of the A20-HH microphone is the patented wideband RocketAntenna design. “One of the problems other wireless mics suffer from is that they lose signal if the talent grabs the mic around the antenna at the base of the mic,” explains Sound Devices CEO Matt Anderson. “Our patent-pending antenna design isn’t affected by that, so talent can grip the mic anywhere without the attenuation inherent in other designs.”

The A20-HH handheld microphone’s durable structure is designed for the rigors of daily use. It is water resistant, can survive many drops, and is powered by a standard XL-B18650 lithium-ion battery that can run more than 10 hours when the microphone is set at 10mW output.

“The A20-HH is the first truly global handheld as well as the missing transmitter of the Sound Devices master plan,” describes Audiotonix CEO James Gordon. “The way the Sound Devices team have thought out every aspect of this microphone is nothing short of revolutionary. They have thought of every detail important to sound professionals. The A20-HH is setting a new standard in audio.”

To learn more about the A20-HH handheld microphone and the entire Sound Devices Astral wireless audio family, visit www.sounddevices.com.

About Sound Devices:

For more than 25 years, Sound Devices has created premier audio equipment that helps sound professionals capture superior audio. The company’s products have been used for an array of applications, from award-winning feature films and television shows, to live events, houses of worship, and educational applications. Sound Devices designs, assembles, and supports its products at their Reedsburg, Wisconsin, headquarters and their Madison, Wisconsin, and Rickmansworth, UK, offices. For more information, visit www.sounddevices.com.