Auburn Grace Community Church recently deployed a sizeable arsenal of wireless microphone technology from Avlex Corporation.
El Dorado Hills, CA-based Clarity AVL (Audio-Video-Lighting), a design / build firm with a focus on both the commercial and worship markets, was contracted to design and install a new sound reinforcement system at the church.
As part of the facility upgrade, church officials emphasized the need for clear speech and equipment that would better support their ambitious music program.
This resulted in the deployment of Avlex HSP-49BG headset mics and MIPRO MU-55HNSX headsets, as well as ten MIPRO ACT-71Ha handheld transmitters, four ACT-71Ta beltpack transmitters, and three ACT-747a wireless receivers—all of which is distributed by Kansas City, MO-based Avlex Corporation. Mark Thompson, Clarity AVL’s principal and primary system designer, discussed the project.
“Auburn Grace Community Church has a large sanctuary,” reports Thompson, “and there were a number of issues with their previous sound reinforcement setup. Music plays a vital role in the church’s activities. For most services, they use a full band plus a vocal team of 4 – 6 members. During the Holiday Season, the church had one of their biggest events— Christmas Desserts— where they have full productions of seasonal music with an orchestra, full choir, and a dozen lead vocalists. Because of events like this, wireless microphones were essential as a means of providing both freedom of movement and a high level of audio quality. This is precisely what prompted us to specify the combination of Avlex and MIPRO equipment.”
According to Thompson, the pastor uses either a MIPRO ACT-71Ha handheld transmitter or an Avlex HSP-49BG headset mic with the ACT-71Ta transmitter—depending upon the nature of the service. Vocalists are always provided the MIPRO ACT-71Ha handheld transmitters.
“Sound quality was, first and foremost, the most important aspect of this equipment,” Thompson states. “I’ve also been pleased with MIPRO’s drop-out free performance. I was there just last week, and took a handheld mic out into the atrium area, then walked into the parking lot, then asked them to shut the doors to the outside. Not once through all of this did I experience a single dropout. Further, I’ve been very impressed with MIPRO’s monitoring software, which enables us to remotely mount the receivers and track performance from the computer at front of house.”
When working with wireless microphone systems, questions frequently arise regarding frequency settings and other challenges common to all wireless equipment, so quality customer and technical support services are crucial. Here too, Thompson gives Avlex Corporation high marks, “Kevin Lake and Fred Canning are great to work with. One of the great things about working with them is that they’ll take concerns or ideas that we have on the dealer side of the business and work hard to turn them into products. They take customer service very seriously.”
“Everyone immediately heard a huge difference,” says Thompson, “not only in the main system, but in the quality and character of the wireless mics as well. My favorite quote comes from Loren Miller, the church’s associate pastor and worship leader, who said, ‘I have never sounded so good through a microphone before. If I look at this mic I sound better.’ We’ve been using MIPRO systems for several years, and have found them to be a great value to our clients. They offer exceptional value, sound great, and have terrific build quality.”
