Needing a new FOH console to handle an increasingly demanding weekly schedule, the PAS Church in Costa Rica enlisted the services of local audio specialist, Mas Música Internacional, before settled on DiGiCo’s compact, SD12. With multiple services each week, a range of group meetings, broadcast services and a thriving music department, the new console meets especially varied technical demands.

‘We were looking to replace our incumbent console, and we needed a robust replacement, capable of withstanding daily use thanks to the church’s hectic weekly programme of live, virtual and musical events,’ explains PAS Community Church Sound Manager, Luca Frugone, who has been in charge of the Church’s audio requirements since 2016.

‘The brief was to find a single console to manage FOH, IEM and Monitor requirements, with plentiful output buses a high priority.’

Located in the capital city of San Jose, PAS Community Church is a modern Christian church, with a progressive agenda, embracing a congregation that spans teenagers, divorcees and senior citizens. There are daily services with several at the weekend, regular live virtual services, and a music department with an active weekly schedule of events, alongside a large following on the dedicated music media channels.

With the help of local distributor, Mas Música Internacional, PAS Community Church selected DiGiCo’s feature-packed SD12, accompanied by two D2 Racks offering an additional 96 inputs.

‘The church always has slightly different requirements for events each day but the SD12 ticks all the boxes,’ explains Henry Quiros Ramirez, from Mas Música Internacional. ‘The additional I/O racks provide more than enough capacity and the option to easily hook up any additional gear. Thanks to the console’s dual screens, it is possible to have two engineers operating simultaneously, which is a great feature for the audio team in situations with little time for soundchecks, as one person can manage FOH and another monitors.’

It has been several weeks since the installation, and the church’s engineers are very satisfied with the choice of console. Frugone and his team are relishing the freedom the SD12’s programmable routing provides, allowing them to focus on creativity in the live mix and not operational issues, and ultimately deliver a better experience to the audience.

‘The flexibility to program Snapshots is very important, as it allows us to automate certain routine functions so that we can focus on creativity in the live mix,’ Frugone says. ‘DiGiCo’s Stealth processing offers extraordinary power, especially considering the console’s incredible macros technology, where several processes and programmable actions are distilled into a single button. The audio quality is a huge leap forward for us – the separation and clarity from the preamp to the summing master buss is incredible, and I am particularly impressed with the valve-style harmonics of the DiGiTubes processing.’