Attracting more than 400,000 tourists a year, Norway’s Nidaros Cathedral is the largest medieval building in Scandinavia. It is also host to music concerts and performances, many of which are broadcast on national television – in addition to regular daily church services.

A recent upgrade of its audio system has seen the installation of a Dante-enabled Allen & Heath dLive digital mixing system, with an IP6 for remote control and a DX32 expander rack to provide additional inputs for live performances.

The purpose of the upgrade is to provide the cathedral with a central, remote-controllable system replacing the previous system, which consisted of several separate units and extensive analogue cabling. Other requirements were to provide a comprehensive control surface from which to comfortably run larger performances in two locations, and use the system surfaceless to provide a simple, intuitive and reliable interface for day-to-day use, such as the running of services and guided tours.

Supplied by distributor Benum, a S5000 Surface is installed in a mobile rack and can be connected to either of two Cat5 patch points, which terminate in two GigaAce ports on a DM48 MixRack. An IP6 remote controller is programmed to recall presets with matrix settings for the numerous lecture positions in the cathedral, and providing level and mute control for the channels associated with each of these positions. The existing analogue input/output boxes spread around the hall are connected directly to the DM48 inputs/outputs, and the dLive manages a Shure mic wireless system and 16 Renkus-Heinz Iconyx speakers via Dante.

The DX32 is rackmounted on a mobile unit, to provide additional I/O for larger performances, and connects directly to the surface. In addition to the two mixing positions and the IP6 controller, the levels can also be controlled via a dLive iPad app, plus there is also a computer in the technical room in the crypts loaded with dLive Director control software, offering remote support when necessary.

‘The dLive system is incredibly easy to use and totally stable,’ says Head Technician for lighting and sound, Ragnar ‘Timmo’ Aune. ‘It provides me with all the processing tools I could possibly need while retaining a completely uncluttered, easy to navigate interface. The clerks and other daily personnel also find the IP6 controller extremely simple and clear for their purposes’

More: www.allen-heath.com