Unite180, a church based in Pretoria, recently invested in a DiGiCo SD12 Console for FOH, a Waves eMotion LV1 Mixer (64 Stereo Channel) for broadcast and was also the first in South Africa to purchase a DMI-Klang Card all from DWR Distribution.
Established in 2013 by Pastors David and Chanelle Grobler, Unite180 has grown to include auditoriums in Pretoria, Brooklyn, Johannesburg, Potchefstroom, and Stellenbosch with a mandate to reach college and university students by planting groups (cell groups). There are over 460 uGroups throughout South Africa and Namibia, Ireland and New Zealand where the emphasis is teaching young people God’s word and raising up leaders who will make a positive difference to the lives of others.
During the Covid-19 lockdown in 2020, the church took a shift in how they would present the message to their members by placing an increased focus on the online experience especially as Sunday services were haltered by stringent lockdown regulations. Meanwhile, the uGroup network provided help to families in need, emotional support and weekly fellowship.
In the past, Unite180’s technical teams would record services, edit the content during the week and then upload high quality videos. Now that all services were viewed online, it was vital to maintain this quality for the live broadcasts. DiGiCo and Waves were crucial to attaining high-quality mixing through the stream’s delivery.
Under construction is the church’s brand-new HQ facility, which they hope to move into during 2021. The new venue will seat 2000 people and have multiple meetings, conference, kids and Bible School facilities. With this in mind, the church invested in a DiGiCo SD12 which will serve their future needs, and which compliments their existing L-Acoustics Kara system.
The SD12 has a compact interface and many great features and was an easy adaptation for the technical crew working on it. The desk has enhanced the overall PA quality in-house as well as providing online quality improvements.
The Waves eMotion LV1 Mixer, with 64 Stereo Channels, is a digital software mixer based on Waves SoundGrid technology and which can be run on a PC or Mac and has been specifically purchased by Unite180 to assist with the broadcast. Offering high audio quality, it also allows the operator to have pinpoint-precision control over the sound by running however many plugins from the console itself. The church has benefited greatly from the multiple accessories the system provides.
Jaco Beukes from DWR Distribution, who assisted the church with their audio investment, also supplied a DMI-Klang card. Unite180 is one of two churches in South Africa using Klang. “The worship team all run on in-ears and for this reason opted for the DMI-Klang card,” said Jaco. “DMI-Klang allows the user to have an immersive monitor mix. Traditionally monitors only provided a level difference when panning from left to right, but that’s not actually how we hear things.” The DMI-Klang card provides ultra-low latency KLANG immersive processing for up to 16 stereo mixes with 64 inputs at 48kHz or 96kHZ.
The solution provides the worship team with an immersive experience that delivers a realistic feeling while simulating the exact placement of instruments on stage in their ears.
Unite180 has seen positive growth in membership and viewers through their online platform during lockdown, and this has included an international audience across the globe now able to tune in and view all services online.
