My office was asked to provide a quote for a new sound system at a church. It was not a lot – just some new mics: wireless and wired, and a new mixer and that was about it. There was a note that if there was enough left in the budget please quote on acoustic treatment as well.
I went to do the site check with my employer.
The first thing we noticed was how reverberant the space was, (lots of echo). We were also informed that they have previously purchased two different sound systems – but nothing worked! I was thinking to myself “you need treatment in the space before you need another system”.
Yes, they needed a new lectern or podium mic. It was in a bad location blocking the reader’s view of their Bible and it was also bent. But that was only a small part of the issues there. This situation brought to mind the definition of insanity: doing the same thing over and over again and hoping for a different result. So the challenge became providing a quote, but emphasizing the absolute necessity of treatment in the space and how that would solve more of the actual sound quality problems in their church.
I guess the point I am trying to make is that sometimes new equipment won’t fix the problems. Getting someone who will come in and listen to you and properly assess your space will be more helpful, (and possibly cheaper) in the long run.
Wide Q 