Horley Church gets an AV Upgrade!

We were called into Horley Methodist Church to look at upgrading their faulty PA system along with an upgrade to their visual system. The current PA system was only working on one side of the hall and some channels on the desk were starting to fail. We visited the church to carry out a spec visit and ask exactly what was needed and how they intend to use the system. After coming up with a design for the church, the work was approved and we got to work!

The first requirement was to supply a desk/cabinet which would house the PA equipment and offer a place to operate the system from. We supplied a bespoke AV desk manufactured by one of our suppliers which was finished in the closest match to the church pews. The desk was finished in Real Wood Veneer.

We installed two DAP 8" Loudspeakers flown at the front of the church and an additional pair of smaller DAP 5" speakers at the rear to carry the sound further back. Controlling the system was a Behringer X32 Compact mixer which allows individual volume control of the individual speakers in the hall. The system also features an SD16 digital multicore fitted to the front of the church allowing for the church band and various microphones to be patched into the system whilst being sent back to the desk via a single CAT6 cable. In order to keep the equipment as discreet as possible, the likes of the SD16 was encased in a custom made wooden enclosure finished in varnish to match the colour of the existing church decor.

We were asked to look at a more permanent way to affix microphones to the lecterns at the front. Previously, the lecterns were served by Dynamic vocal microphones on stands placed in front of each lectern. To make this smarter and easier to move, we installed XLR outlets on the top of each lectern and ran a thin XLR cable down to a custom box affixed to the side of each lectern. We provided two Shotgun condenser microphones which picked up speech all around the lectern which would be beneficial for both quietly and loudly spoken readers. We also set up an audio feed to go to the existing system within the cafe area of the church. This would allow the service to be broadcast in the cafe area without people needing to come into the main church in order to hear the sermon which was ideal for people passing by.

Onto the Visual side, we replaced the old projector with an 86" screen which would offer a much clearer and sharper image compared to that of a projector affected by ambient light. We also upgrades the screens further back in the church from 24" to 32", added a 50" screen for the minister at the side of the church, a new screen for the organist, a screen for the band and a link into the cafe. All of these screens were fed by HDMI to CAT5 adapters allowing for discreet cabling to each TV and separate feeds so if one screen goes down, the whole system doesn't go down with it.

Lastly, we installed a Nearstream camera which would live stream services to YouTube or other platforms. An audio feed was taken from the desk and input into the camera to make use of the lapel and lectern microphones offering a good source of audio on the live stream. We also installed an ambient microphone which would help to recreate the ambience in the church on the live stream which would not be picked up by lapel or lectern microphones. An additional benefit to the camera was the ability to link it with EasyWorship with its NDI capabilities. This would allow the camera to be shown on the AV system as well as streaming to YouTube.