As churches prepare for the purchase of a new mixing console, this question will inevitably come up: "Should we go digital or stay analog?" Unfortunately, there is no easy answer but if you ask the right questions, you can make the right decision. I recently finished two installations in which I replaced analog consoles with digital consoles. During the training process, I showed the users how to translate analog to digital. All of the same knobs are there, just in a different place. I have found that when I train under those guidelines, the transition is much smoother.
Analog consoles have been around for many years and are still the industry standard. There are a number of professional touring engineers that specify analog consoles for their rigs and have no desire to use digital. They have valid arguments for their dedication to analog which really can't be disputed. When it comes to churches however, the dividing lines are not so clear.
First, it would take a large amount of rack gear to replace the processing power built in to even the smallest digital consoles. Typically, you will find a four-band parametric equalizer and at least one compressor/gate/limiter on each channel. Effects processors and routing flexibillity are invaluable tools that are built in to the arsenal.
Second, the dynamic range of a digital console far surpasses that of an analog mixer. I have run sound for numerous bands and gospel groups and have found that the preamps on the digital consoles will handle levels that will quickly peak analog boards.
Lastly, there is an amazing amount of flexibility built in to a digital system. One of the installations I mentioned utilized a 48-channel digital snake, which provides a pristine digital signal from the input of the microphone to the output of the speaker. There is no lack of headroom and in a room that is basically a gynasium, speech inteligibility is near perfect. Though this is a significant bonus, it is not the main benefit of the digital snake. In churches, it is quite common to change the stage set and move instruments from one side of the stage to the other. In an analog world, that means moving inputs on the board or completely changing the board layout, unless you are luck enough to have a patchbay. In the digital world, simple soft-patching is done to change the imput assignment and the console layout stays the same. There is basically limitless routing flexibility which provides the ability to send any input to any output.
If it sounds like I am saying to go digital, I'm not. There are many advantages to using an analog mixer, not the least of which is the sound. There are many very good analog consoles that sound as good as digital mixers and are just as flexible, not to mention easy to use. Most church sound engineers have run an analog board in the past and can typically adjust to a different analog mixer with a minimal amount of training.
One of the main considerations in moving to a digital console has to be the number of inputs. Large analog boards can be purchased relatively inexpensively, but not large digital consoles. I have been to many churches who were talked in to linking two or more smaller digital consoles, only to find that there are many issues to resolve (this can be done successfully, but it is a very complex setup and trouble is only a few button clicks away).
Indeed, there are advantages and disadvantages to both technologies. If you will take the time to research, ask lots of questions, and pray, you will make the right decision. I will be posting reviews of two of the leading digital consoles, the Yamaha M7CL and the Roland M-400 so check back soon.
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