Technology and IT services company Pearl Technology recently implemented two Allen & Heath dLive mix systems and an ME personal mixing system in an audio upgrade project at First United Methodist Church (FUMC) in Peoria, IL that spans the facility’s video production studio, recording studio, podcast studio, and two worship sanctuaries.
Named as a 2021 SCN (Systems Contractor News) Install of the Year, the project kicked off as FUMC reached out to Pearl Technology, based in Peoria Heights, to discuss updating the ability to record and live stream their services, enabling new ways to create online content to spread the message of the church via podcasts and other engaging media.
The church’s two main worship sanctuaries include a traditional worship space with a full audio system, cameras, streaming, and simple video presentation and a more contemporary space with all the same features and an increased emphasis on the praise band and video. The upgrade process spawned the idea of bringing the separate production and streaming systems into one shared space for a more advanced audio and video capability.
Jeremy Caldera, CTS-D, CTS-I, Pearl Technology senior vice president, Audiovisual Technology, notes, “The camera and presentations systems from both spaces were routed down to the newly constructed production and broadcast room. This was done via HD-SDI over fiber and video IP transport. The audio utilized an upgrade to both sanctuary mixers and one larger console in the production and broadcast space. For this element we conducted a demonstration with the technical team at the church and ultimately selected dLive Allen & Heath mixing systems.”
The two main sanctuary spaces utilize the dLive C3500 and feed signals via Dante to the production and broadcast room housing a dLive S7000. Meanwhile, the worship center and praise band, in conjunction with the C3500, tap into the Allen & Heath ME personal mixing system.
Caldera continues, “The new system design is so flexible. The adjacent recording and podcast studio also routes all video and audio into the production room and allows for real-time transport around the building with a live mix engineer for both video and audio. All of these systems create a worship experience for tens of thousands of people each week that are unable to attend services in person.”
Jeff Hawley, Allen & Heath USA director of marketing, adds, “Jeremy and the Pearl Technology team has put together an amazing system design which demonstrates the malleability of the dLive range and our personal monitoring solutions. As FUMC continues to grow and push the tech boundaries, it’ll be fun to see how they put the dLive and ME systems to great use. Thanks for choosing Allen & Heath and congrats on the win. Well-deserved.”
