Faced with audio issues ranging from sound quality to interference, Central Seventh Day Adventist Church in Albuquerque decided to switch from conventional wireless microphones to Line 6 XD-V digital wireless. As Pastor Don Gibson recalls, “Our systems were pretty old, and we started having issues, especially after the FCC rules changed. Then the Line 6 systems solved all our problems.”
Tony McKenzie, a member of the congregation and an AV professional, helped research the change. “Having been an audio-visual technician for over 30 years, I support the church by helping them make proper decisions for their audio-visual needs,” he says. “I was aware of the Line 6 product through my company, Action Audio Visual, so we set up a demo. The difference was so dramatic, it made the decision easy.”
Initially, the church purchased four XD-V70 systems, including three handheld vocal microphones and a bodypack system with headset microphone for the pastor. They were so successful, the church added two channels of the next-generation XD-V75 a few months later, and has plans to expand even further.
“We record all our services as DVDs, so sound quality is really important to us,” says Don Gibson. “The Line 6 mics sound fantastic, and we haven’t had any interference problems or dropouts since we got them. We use them for our praise team, in teaching, in drama, and for things like children’s stories. All we do is turn them on and go. They sound great and work perfect every time.”
Tony McKenzie sees the Line 6 digital wireless system as better by design, starting with the 2.4 GHz transmission scheme with Digital Channel Lock technology. “The first thing is what I call the digital handshake,” he explains. “The Line 6 system works in the Wi-Fi frequency range, and there’s never any interference. The signal is encoded so that once the transmitter and receiver have made their handshake, they are locked in. And any other signal, even on the same frequency, is locked out. It’s a great piece of technology.”
Tony McKenzie is also a big fan of Line 6’s unique approach to microphones. Instead of forcing users to choose from several mic elements, the XD-V75 system offers a single capsule that can be tuned to any of ten popular models on a software level. “That’s a great feature, and it shows how Line 6 really thought outside the box when they developed this product,” he notes. “We can change the setting to whatever mic the customer requests. But we have found that the L6 setting, which is the Line 6 microphone, actually works the best. It sounds better than a 58 and really rejects feedback. That’s what we use at the church.”
Pastor Don Gibson is convinced that Central Seventh Day Adventist Church made a smart decision in switching to Line 6 digital wireless. “As a user, I love the sound quality that we get,” he says. “And since we’re not a huge church, we really appreciate the price, which is very reasonable. I’m not the most technical guy, but I know enough to say that we’re very happy with the Line 6 wireless product. That’s why we keep buying more of it.”
