When leading worship or preaching, you want your team to sound the best they possibly can. Having the right equipment for your worship space can significantly improve sound quality and even the congregation’s desire to engage.
Selecting a digital sound board for churches depends on several factors such as room size, support staff, and the available budget.
When shopping for a digital sound board for churches, it is helpful to know that many models can accommodate different sized spaces and budgets. Additional factors such as your worship space’s size, shape, and ceiling height will aid decision-making.
Your church’s sound system needs to direct sound to where people will be and away from walls and ceilings. You need speakers that match the size and geometry of the room. A long, skinny room with a high ceiling will require a different approach than a short, wide room with a low ceiling. – sweetwater.com
Please continue reading for helpful information about finding the right digital sound board for churches according to their size and budget.
3 Important Factors For Choosing A Digital Sound Board For Churches Of Varying Sizes
Before selecting a digital soundboard for churches, there are three crucial considerations to help determine the equipment you’ll need. Providing quality sound for your church hinges on more than just an excellent digital soundboard.
Regardless of how much money I spend on speakers, microphones, cable, amplifiers, or mixing desks, the venue will always affect the overall sound quality. A reverberant church building with the world’s most incredible sound system will still sound reverberant! – sfl.live
The section below addresses additional equipment you may need, the approximate cost of a quality sound system for church spaces of varying sizes, and inquiring professional sound engineers when necessary.
A Church Sound System Requires The Right Equipment To Compliment A Digital Soundboard
As you consider a digital sound board for churches, you must realize that there is a slew of other necessary equipment to complete the entire system. Below are seven essential components to efficient church sound systems.
- iPad/tablet/computer
- Microphones
- Monitors
- Speakers
- Amps
- Wires
- Mixing Desk
The size and shape of your worship space will also make a difference when choosing the right equipment. You may require more or less equipment depending upon the layout and shape of the room and the ceiling height. These factors can affect your sound and what type of equipment you will need.
Audio producers specializing in live music need competency with a broad range of equipment, from mixing boards and lights to microphones and monitors. Choosing the right toolkit for each live set is critical to good or bad sound. – ipr.edu
Factoring in the necessary equipment and possible upgrades to function with a digital soundboard is where it can get costly for churches. It’s not uncommon for worship leaders, volunteers, or other staff members to suggest transitioning to digital equipment without first assessing the total cost.
Gathering an educated estimate and understanding the church’s budget can help prevent miscommunications and ensure the project stays on track.
Calculate The Budget To Determine The Best Digital Sound Board For Churches
The cost of a quality sound system can rise quickly. To get an accurate cost of a sound system with a digital soundboard for your size church, experts recommend estimating around $70.00 – $125.00 per person in your congregation.
For example, for a congregation of 80 – 100 people, your budget would need to be somewhere in the range of $5,600.00 – $10,000.00. A church with 200 – 300 worshipers would need to budget approximately $14,000.00 – $37,500.00, and so on.
Accommodating the space per person ratio is essential to providing quality sound for everyone in the room.
Using these cost estimates, multiply the number of seats in your room by the high or low number per person. It is better to estimate to cover potential unforeseen expenses on the high side.
Hire Professional Help To Assist With Church Sound System Setup
If your budget allows, it can reduce stress and help ensure your church sound system setup is correct to hire or seek help from a professional sound engineer with experience setting up sound systems for churches.
If you’re in the market for a new mixing console for a small or medium church, consider this one question: Who will run the console regularly? And a follow-up question: Who will be the lead person for training other sound team members on how to operate the sound system? – greatchurchsound.com
Someone familiar with this type of equipment and how it should be installed can help you determine which equipment will be best for your space and budget and give suggestions on where to place the equipment so that it sounds excellent and is visually pleasing.
A soundboard is only as good as the person using it. Many churches make the mistake of upgrading to a new mixer, only to find that it is too complicated for their volunteer team members to operate. – churchtechtoday.com
After considering these initial costs and equipment needs, or if you already have, it makes sense to begin shopping for a digital sound board for churches according to your space and budget.
The 6 Best Digital Sound Boards For Churches
2 Digital Soundboards for Smaller Church Spaces and Budgets
Mackie™ DL1680
The Mackie DL1680 is a high-tech and yet surprisingly affordable sound mixer. It is an excellent option for anyone working with a smaller space and budget. It is compatible with an iPad™ which makes it even more fun to operate and easy for any skill level. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $700.00 range.
Other features of the Mackie DL1680 include:
- It comes with a dock for mounting an iPad
- It comes with eight balanced outputs
- Features 16-Channel live digital sound mixer
- Has 16 Onyx™ mic preamps
- Uses Cirrus™ Logic converters
Roland™ 32 Channel
The award-winning quality of the Roland 32 channel soundboard will have your congregation ready to stand up and sing. It is easy to use with analog or digital output options, is compatible with a PC or Mac, and comes with a port for an iPad/tablet. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $2,100.00 range.
Other features of the Roland 32 Channel soundboard include:
- It comes with a dock cable
- It comes with easy to use instructions and is covered by the Roland warranty
- Has 32 channels
- Has analog or digital output options
- Includes an AC adapter and power cord
- Signal processing: AD/DA conversion
- Tablet stand included
2 Digital Soundboards For Mid-Sized Church Spaces and Budgets
Behringer™ X32
This soundboard offers a fully interactive interface that is easy to use and features state-of-the-art design and technology to create the sound you are looking for in your worship service.
The Behringer 32 (X32) is one of the most popular digital mixing consoles and is suitable for many applications, including use in a house of worship. – audiovisualpursuits.com
Newly upgraded software makes this soundboard a great choice for any medium-sized church on a budget. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $2,500.00 range.
Other features of the Behringer X32 include:
- It comes with 25 automated 100mm faders
- It has a 40-input channel and 25-bus digital mixing console for studio or live performances
- It has two phone connectors with a talkback section
- Includes 16 XLR outputs and 6 extra line-in/outputs
- Offers 32-Midas designed fully programmable mic preamps
The PreSonus 32S is an impressive digital mixer with versatile capabilities. This soundboard is great for live performances or recording sessions with easy-to-use features and top-of-the-line software. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $3,500.00 range.
Packaged with a full suite of integrated software, including PreSonus’ Studio One® DAW and Capture™ live-recording software, the StudioLive 32 is a groundbreaking professional digital mixer and USB audio interface in a compact, scalable design. – presonus.com
Other features of the PreSonus StudioLive 32S include:
- It comes with an SD card reader
- It has 32 channels with 32 microphone preamps
- Has 33 motorized faders
- It has a FLEX DSP engine
- It offers a 64-in/64-out USB audio interface
2 Digital Soundboards for Larger Church Spaces and Budgets
Allen & Heath SQ-7 48 Channel Mixer
The Allen & Heath SQ-7 48 is a high-end soundboard capable of handling larger spaces. It features high-resolution sound quality that is powerful enough to be used in nightclubs and other venues where top-notch sound equipment is needed. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $6,000.00 range.
Other features of the Allen & Heath SQ-7 include:
- Advanced 96kHz engine
- Has 32 onboard microphone preamps and eight stereo FX engines
- Has 48 channels
- It has an automatic microphone mixing feature for giving the user the best sound possible
- High-resolution sound quality
Yamaha™ Digital Mixing Console
The Yamaha digital mixing console can satisfy your sound needs for a large congregation with a lot of space. This console offers superior sound quality and an array of features to give your congregation’s voices the best sound possible. Prices may fluctuate, but this soundboard is in the $10,000.00 range.
Other features of the Yamaha digital mixing console include:
- It comes with an editor software
- It has a 56-input, 18-bus mix capacity with a 96kHz engine
- It has four I/O expansion slots to expand to other formats quickly
- Offers advanced DAW or digital recorder integration
- It provides four multi-effect processors with surround effects
Quality Digital Sound Board For Churches Are Accessible for Any Size Or Budget
Finding a quality digital sound board for churches is possible. Providing excellent sound for your congregation is within reach with a bit of research, know-how, and equipment. There are digital soundboards available for all congregation sizes and budgets.
Are you updating or considering changing the aesthetics of your stage design while upgrading your sound system? Check out the post, Popular Church Background Designs For 2022 With Pictures.
