Founded in 2005 by Pastor John and Mandri Roebert with the mission of ‘Helping people know Jesus’, Pretoria’s Choose Life Church leadership uses technology to enhance live events, as well as streaming and broadcasting services to a large online audience. After purchasing its present building in 2010, the first major project centred on the installation of a d&b T-Series audio system in the main auditorium, which was supplied and integrated by Stage Audio Works (SAW).

Recently, Choose Life Church called upon SAW once again, this time to implement a large Pixel Plus LED wall to act as the backdrop for the stage. A secondary requirement of this project was to upgrade their hardware and streaming infrastructure, to provide more flexibility moving forwards.

The sound system installed by SAW in 2011 relies predominately on d&b equipment, with three core line arrays, each comprising a seven stack of Ti10L loudspeakers. These are supported by four Qi Subwoofers, recessed into the front of the stage.

‘Recently, we had Nathan from SAW actually visit and listen to the system,’ says Grant Boswell, Technical Support Officer at Choose Life Church. ‘He said that it still sounds as good as it did when it was installed 12 years ago, if not better thanks to acoustic treatment that has been carried out since. He also said that they wouldn’t easily be able to replace it with a comparable system today that would make a noticeable difference without spending a lot more money – a true sign of quality engineering.’

Having previously delivered such a durable system, it’s unsurprising that Choose Life Church returned to SAW when next in need. Due to the significant focus on live streaming, the church had an interest in improving the visual experience: ‘Our old stage backdrop was rather boring and dark, so we wanted to brighten and liven it up to make our auditorium look more contemporary and create an exciting stage feature,’ Boswell says. ‘A couple of years ago we hired in a screen and fell in love with it, so decided it was time for a permanent upgrade.

‘We did some research and received several quotes, but ultimately decided to go with SAW’s Pixel Plus solution. They were always the favourite, as we have an excellent relationship with them and felt assured that they would deliver a premium quality product.’

For the primary solution, Stage Audio Works implemented a 108-panel Xcell-i LED wall from the Pixel Plus range. The technology offers high contrast and refresh rates, unparalleled brightness, and the ability to vary the pixel pitch to fit any application – indoors or otherwise. Significantly, all of this comes at an extremely cost-effective price point. ‘This visual element will greatly improve the quality of our live streams, especially with the additional upgrade to our video framework throughout our facilities, ‘Boswell says.

SAW significantly improved the church’s live streaming capabilities by upgrading to HD-SDI cabling for all projectors and equipment in the auditorium, additional rooms, and foyer. Likewise, the team upgraded their original streaming PCs to a more sophisticated network of custom Dream Machine Light PCs. On a software level, SAW galvanised the adoption of ProPresenter 7 and supported the transition towards the Resi streaming platform, affording the church increased flexibility and scalability, with the guarantee of seamless streaming, even though temporary total internet connection loss – in Boswell’s own words, ‘opening up many more options and opportunities for us in the future’.

‘We are loving the new look,’ he adds. ‘The colour and movement in the background makes our stage look even bigger and more impressive and eliminates the dark spots we previously noticed in our playbacks.

‘The experience has only served to strengthen what was already a strong relationship with SAW, that predates even the ten years that I’ve been working at Choose Life Church. They have proved time and again their ability to provide industry leading solutions. This, combined with their willingness to help, provides exceptional peace of mind. We are extremely comfortable with SAW and appreciative of their support, their professionalism and expert advice.’

More: www.stageaudioworks.com