Space, it was also apparent how this system would transfer into our
church and the impact it would bring.”
Two days after returning from InfoComm, Burrell was given
the green light to place an order with d&b audiotechnik Canada for
what would be Sapphire’s first Soundscape installation and, in fact,
the first in a house of worship anywhere in the world.
Whereas Soundscape and similar technologies have enabled
some forward-thinking users to push boundaries in three-dimen-
sional and immersive applications, its deployment at First Assembly
was admittedly more functional than flashy, and as mentioned, even
carried some budgetary advantages.
“Typically, Soundscape requires more channels of amplification
than a more conventional point-source solution,” Burrell explains.
“But such a conventional solution to First Assembly’s listening area
was already complex enough that a high amplifier count was a giv-
en; in fact, using Soundscape has reduced the number of cabinets
required and consequently reduced the amp count. The only cost
impact was the d&b DS100 signal processing engine and the En-
Scene license.”
The system now installed in the auditorium is comprised of
various point-source loudspeakers from d&b’s Y-Series and E-Series
plus a complement of Bi6 and 27S subwoofers, all driven by the
company’s 30D and 10D installation amplifiers.
While at InfoComm, they were also look-
ing at a short list of console options. Walking
past the Allen & Heath exhibit, Burrell says he
stopped to give Wells and Penney a “two-min-
ute dLive crash-course, and it was just so
simple.” They decided to price out the medi-
um-sized S5000, which offers 28 faders over six
layers, dual 12-in. capacitive touchscreens, and
the Harmony user interface.
“A big benefit was the ecosystem that
Allen & Heath brings,” says Burrell, who notes
that Sapphire has a long and positive history
with the British manufacturer. “All of their con-
soles talk to each other, the stage boxes are all
intercompatible, and it’s really cost-effective.”
Ultimately, the dLive won the day and
First Assembly sourced an S5000 with a dLive
stage rack, card adaptor, and Dante card.
While some of their other console op-
40 PROFESSIONAL SOUND
tions were more natively conducive to manipulating a Soundscape
system thanks to features like OCA integration and channel panning,
Burrell notes that, for this application, they’re not actively moving
any of the onstage objects.
“At the beginning, they’ll put the various musicians where they
are on the physical stage on the [d&b] R1 [remote control software]
screen, and then from there, they’re not concerned with immersive
audio; they’re concerned with good stereo imaging, so there’s no
need to be able to move objects in real-time from the console.”
Being a first-of-its-kind application with an innovative tech-
nological platform, Burrell and Wells acknowledge that there was a
significant learning curve in both getting the system components
working together and then in learning and manipulating the com-
plete system itself.
To achieve the former, Burrell says there was a lot of trial-and-
error in getting the console to effectively control the various param-
eters of the loudspeaker system; however, he was notably impressed
with and grateful for the extensive support from Allen & Heath HQ.
“We were consistently giving them input from our process, and
it was really cool how well-received that was and how much effort
they dedicated to helping us through it,” he says.
He’s happy to note that, in the handful of dLive firmware up-
dates to come out since they started this dialogue, the company
has implemented everything he’s asked for. “They’ve made it a really
Soundscape- or immersive-capable desk,” he says. “It’s great to have
a manufacturer that open to listening and working to provide what
users are asking for.”
Burrell and his team at Sapphire handled the physical instal-
lation of the various system components within a compact time-
frame. Starting in mid-August 2018, they began by doing as much
as possible over the first week without interfering with the existing
PA. After the last Sunday service that week, they went in, took the
previous system down, and got the new Soundscape system in and
running before the following weekend’s services – in all, a process
that took less than two weeks.
For commissioning and some initial familiarization with the
system, Sapphire benefitted from the support of d&b Canada’s Fran-
cois Corbin and Trevor Nash, as well as Asher Dowson, d&b GmbH’s
house of worship segment manager.
As for acquainting themselves with Soundscape’s features and
SOUND OBJECTS IN d&b’s EN-SCENE SOFTWARE MODULE