Having determined the audio system in sanctuary was unable to match the needs of its services, Calvary Church in Clearwater, Florida, has embraced 3D audio using d&b audiotechnik Soundscape.

Looking to install a completely new sanctuary audio system, the church saw the opportunity to add spatial detail and headroom beyond a traditional system that would improve connection and engagement with its congregation of 2,000 while reducing the burden on the mix engineer. The multi-campus church includes an on-line campus and live steams services to upwards of 4,000 people.

Called in to assist, Washington Professional Systems (WPS) identified challenges in the sanctuary – a traditional fan-shaped auditorium with a minimally raked, single bowl seating section – that included poor coverage throughout the space; significant drop-offs in bandwidth; considerable quality variations from seat to seat; substantial comb filtering during musical acts; poor intelligibility of spoken word and band vocals.

‘After exploring a variety of different audio solutions, the church ultimately decided to implement the d&b Soundscape system to individually time-align input sources to each speaker within each of the system arrays,’ says WPS Executive Director of Engineered Systems, Keith Neubert.

Soundscape automatically uses each loudspeaker to handle a different mix of signals, adjusting both level and delay. The audience receives accurate localisation, and the engineer often requires less in the way of channel processing and plug-ins.

‘Using the DS100 signal engine combined with the d&b En-Scene algorithm and d&b loudspeakers, listeners seated in any location of the sanctuary receive an accurate audio picture with Soundscape, reducing phase cancellation and increasing clarity throughout the frequency range, giving excellent intelligibility of spoken word and band vocals from the stage,’ Neubert says.

‘The cost-to-value made purchasing Soundscape and the A-Series loudspeakers from d&b the right call for us,’ says Lead Pastor and Administrator, Thomas Price. ‘The audio clarity was significantly and noticeably improved on the first Sunday the new system was commissioned. People who never commented about the poor quality of sound coming from the older system realised they had become accustomed to it. With Soundscape, they could hear how far from quality audio we had drifted.’

Deployable in vertical or horizontal arrays with adjustable splay angles, the d&b A-Series augmented array extends flexibility beyond its usual limits and is ideal for mid-size venues. The complete configuration includes 20 Ali60 loudspeakers in five horizontal arrays of four cabinets – two KSLi-Subs, two 21S Subs and seven 44S loudspeakers (flush mount), driven by four 40D amplifiers and two 10D amplifiers, with a DS10 audio network bridge and DS100 Signal engine with En-Scene.

‘In addition to congregants, church staff notice an immediate difference with the immersive quality of the d&b Soundscape audio system and its ability to deliver a natural, realistic experience for the entire congregation,’ Neubert reports. ‘For speakers, vocalists, and performers, stage monitoring quality has also improved significantly, allowing them to hear themselves without intrusive feedback, echoes, or phase cancelling.’