— Three M7CL Consoles Used at Bethel Temple Multi-Cultural Church —
BUENA PARK, Calif. — For Bob Langlois, systems designer for Audio Analysts, the total refurbishment of Bethel Temple (Hampton, Va.) presented a list of challenges.
The Bethel Temple in Hampton, Virginia boasts three Yamaha M7CL consoles.
"Not only did we have to contend with a very destructive acoustic environment," says Langlois of the 2,200-seat domed sanctuary, "but as we found out during the design process, we also had a ceiling with a restricted load limit to deal with too." Other issues were a very long run to the amplifiers, as well as a longer run to the microphone inputs on stage.
"For the microphone inputs we chose two FiberPlex LightViper 1832 systems for 64 channels. We ordered the units with two splits: one for future remote recordings from a truck and the other going straight to the recording broadcast room." The runs for the fiber were approaching 550 feet, so this was a "no brainer" choice he says.
The church wanted to use a digital mixer out front, but they also wanted to have matching mixers in the other rooms as well. Langlois chose three Yamaha M7CL consoles for what otherwise would have been a very expensive decision.
"Using identical M7CLs allows their staff to train on one console so their personnel can fill in anywhere," says Langlois. "Because we were already using a fiber snake, the mixer itself was brought to a whole new level of performance. The M7 sounds like a much more expensive desk with the LightViper in front of it. The mixer is perfect for what they do, and also allows the staff to store settings for entirely different praise teams. They can even reconfigure the Aviom system in the presets for different monitor configurations through the on board 'Y' card. The Yamaha consoles were just a good choice all the way around." A third M7CL is used for recording and broadcast.
The LightViper digital snake system and fiber optic cable allows the entire audio signal chain to remain digital to the amps. "The drive is so quiet" says Langlois, "that the amps will auto turn-off if there is nothing coming down the line." The drive is AES/EBU from the Yamaha Y-card in slot 2 of the mixer.
