Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Standards For Church Sound System Designs

By Claudine Hodges


Each chapel has a unique design that calls for customized audio features. This uniqueness is determined by the activities that take place, expectations of the community and the structure of the chapel. There, however, are global standards that guide the choice of church sound system designs. The standards help engineers during construction and local contractors when developing a quotation.

An ideal system will help you utilize all corners of your chapel. It is the secret to capturing the attention of everyone inside the building. It feels comfortable to sit and follow proceedings from any corner. Congregants will easily follow proceedings from all corners beyond guaranteeing active participation in sermons and other activities.

It has taken numerous studies and evaluation to develop the standards. Comparisons have been drawn after considering the success of chapels with the best audio quality. They help to maximize the available space and determine the right equipment. This will make the preacher comfortable as well as the congregants gathered to listen to him.

Audio quality will be affected by the particulars of the design. A poor design will fail miserably even in the face of the most advanced technology. There are excellent options to suit every budgetary requirement. Working with dedicated audio engineers guarantees excellent value for money.

Audio standards apply to systems across different environments including churches and auditoriums. Human beings are inclined to face the direction of the source of sound. The first test for professionally designed systems is their ability to create one center of attention. All speakers must cause the audience to face the preacher, stage, performance or the altar. People get distracted if the voice appears to come from behind or from the sides.

A high threshold is set on intelligibility regardless of the advancement in technology being used. There is a comfortable distance that is established between the microphone and its user. The microphones must have the capacity to pick sound from the distance and broadcast it to all corners. The proposed distance is 18 to 24 inches on average.

The setting in the chapel sometimes requires several microphones to be open at the same time. This is necessary to reduce movement and time lapse between two events. Poor design will cause feedback if two microphones are open at the same time. Control should be simplified and centralized. Audio technicians ensure that all equipment are synchronized to improve the quality of sound.

The technicians who setup the audio network do not remain behind during normal services. This means that the system must be easy to control by a layman. A speaker who is loud and one who is soft should use the same equipment without the need for adjustment.

A provision must be made to accommodate the hearing impaired members of your congregation. They include those with hearing loss and those using hearing aids. This applies even in cases where their number is minimal.

The best system is tested by listening to the sound with your eyes closed. It should be clear and coming from the direction of the speaker. This gives the entire church a single center of action. People can participate from different corners with a single point of reference.




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