First United Methodist Church installs Symetrix Solus 16

The First United Methodist Church of Appleton, Wisconsin has recently modernised its audio infrastructure with a Symetrix Solus 16 system.

Over recent years, the church has seen continuous growth and is now a cornerstone of community life for over 1,300 residents in the area. The church eventually outgrew its chapel and a larger sanctuary was constructed on adjacent land. However, as the church continues to serve the community on an almost daily basis, hosting organisational meetings, prayer meetings, weddings and musical events, it’s sound system needing updating.

Metro Sound & Video recently modernised the chapel’s sound system with a Symetrix Solus 16 processor and Extron user control that will soon be iPad addressable.

The greater Milwaukee-based company first became involved in 2004, when it upgraded the sound system in the church’s larger sanctuary. The sound reinforcement system in the chapel had surpassed its life expectancy, and intermittent problems and an overall lack of fidelity were challenging the chapel events.

Keith Anderson, project manager of Metro Sound & Video, said: “When the system went in some time in the early 1990s, it was a quality of installation with the quality products. Time just got the better of them. With the new installation, we got the fundamentals right by installing the right speaker for the space and adding acoustical panelling to improve intelligibility. The Symetrix Solus 16 gave us all the DSP tools that we needed to dial in the system for awesome sound.”

The Symetrix Solus 16 can accept 16 inputs, delivers eight outputs, gives the integrator complete control over audio and control touring, and handles all of the audio mixing and loudspeaker conditioning at the church’s chapel.

An Electro-Voice EVH-Series loudspeaker fills the main floor and a pair of ElectroVoice EVID-series loudspeakers provide fill for the balcony. All 16 of the Solus 16’s inputs are used for various wireless and wired microphones for voice and instruments, as well as for overflow audio from the main sanctuary. The eight outputs send to the main floor loudspeaker, the balcony delays, two separate floor monitor mixes, an archival recorder and a Contacta inductive loop system for the hearing impaired.

The loudspeakers are powered by QSC amplifiers and a new 6000 lumen Eiki projector brightens the room’s visual display.
Anderson continued: “Between the extremely low cost and the complete flexibility of its processing design, the Symetrix Solus is the perfect partner for projects where the future expansion will not be a concern of the client. The Solus 16 allowed us to give First United all the inputs and outputs to run the system in the manner hoped for. As a contractor, I appreciate having the open architecture capability of the SymNet Designer software, which allows me to use that I need in order to process or route audio in the fashion necessary.”

The chapel’s entire audio/video system is controlled by an Extron TouchLink control system with a seven-inch LCD colour touch-screen. The TouchLink control system will be interfaced with Apple iPad control later this summer once the TouchLink app is made available through Apple. Users have control over input sources, microphones gains, projector power, and media operation. Metro Sound & Video supplied the church with a Symetrix ARC-2e wall panel remote for simple control of audio volumes.

Anderson concluded: “This church staff and weekly users of the chapel are very pleased with the system’s sound quality. They can finally hear the spoken word clearly in the chapel. At some point in the near future we will also upgrade the DSP in their sanctuary and will call on Symetrix’s new SymNet Edge technology to provide them with the ARC-WED control for live operation of the system via iPad or smartphone that will replace the functionality of the existing analogue console.”

Keep up to date with the latest developments from the world of pro audio by registering for our free daily newsletter.