Dripping Springs, TX – April 2018… With a focus on helping people expand their spiritual levels through worship, study, mission, and social action, Dripping Springs United Methodist Church (UMC) helps ordinary people live extraordinary lives through Jesus Christ. To make their services more relevant to all who attend, the church recently upgraded their sound reinforcement system with loudspeakers drawn from the WorxAudio catalog of PreSonus® Audio Electronics (www.presonus.com) of Baton Rouge, LA.
With offices in both Dallas and Fort Worth, TX, ChurchPlant.com is an AV design / build firm with a focus on both permanent and portable AV solutions for the worship market. Derrick Jeror, ChurchPlant’s owner and founder, was contracted to design and deploy Dripping Springs UMC’s new sound system. After meeting with church officials to ascertain their goals and requirements, Jeror specified a sound system consisting of the PreSonus WorxAudio X3i-P Active all-in-one compact line array, coupled with the WorxAudio X118i-P powered subwoofer. He discussed the project and his reasons for selecting a solution from PreSonus’ Commercial Audio Division.
“Dripping Springs UMC offers a contemporary style of worship services,” Jeror reports. “Music assumes an active role in their services and includes a full praise band. This style of worship is one of the big draws of the church. Their sanctuary measures roughly 60 feet wide by about 75 feet deep. While the ceiling height is varied throughout room, it averages about 18 feet. The stage area faces into the length of the room. With music assuming such a vital role in their services, it was crucial that the new sound system delivered both a high level of speech intelligibility and excellent music reproduction qualities—and this is precisely what made the PreSonus WorxAudio system so well-suited to this space.”
The PreSonus WorxAudio X3i-P Active line array and the X118i-P powered subwoofer were flown in a single cluster above the front edge of the stage area. “This space required the subwoofer be flown because there was no space on stage or nearby at ground level,” Jeror explained. “There is also a large stained-glass window in the shape of a cross; center-positioned at the rear wall. Church management wanted to make certain that the loudspeakers did not block the view of this window. For this reason, we needed the array and the sub bass enclosure to be very compact in size so as not to hang down too far and interfere with the aesthetics of the stage area. The compact form factor of the WorxAudio line array and subwoofer made them an ideal choice for this project.”
When asked about the sonic attributes of the WorxAudio equipment that made these loudspeakers the right choice for this installation, Jeror offered the following thoughts. “The WorxAudio X3i-P delivers an unusually wide horizontal dispersion pattern of 160 degrees,” Jeror explained. “This is quite unusual for any line array system and it is a key factor that enabled us to deploy a single enclosure in the center of the room. With its dispersion characteristics, this single line array delivers clear, consistent sound quality throughout the sanctuary. Being able to use a single array unit that covered the room front to back and side to side is a tremendous benefit. With its built-in amplification and the system design support provided by the PreSonus Commercial Audio Division, the entire package is unmatched.”
With many installations, questions inevitably arise. In this regard, Jeror rates PreSonus very highly. “PreSonus has always been one of the best companies for support and customer care I’ve ever worked with,” he said. “They understand the challenges we encounter, and their responsiveness is excellent. Tony Flammia, Director of PreSonus’ Commercial Audio Division, tuned the system and everyone is absolutely amazed at how powerful and clear the sound is!”
With the new sound reinforcement system fully operational, Jeror reports the system has more than met expectations, “The new sound system is performing exceptionally well. No matter where one is seated in the sanctuary, the sound is loud and clear—making it easy to understand what the pastor is saying. While we were testing the new system, I remember the pastor came down from his office to check it out because his walls were shaking! The system is that powerful and energetic. Combined with its ability to make the music sound bigger and better, this new sound system has made the entire worship experience more engaging than ever.”
To learn more about the services of ChurchPlant.com, visit the company online at http://churchplant.com/. For information about Dripping Springs UMC, go to www.dsumc.org.
About PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc.
Founded in 1995, PreSonus Audio Electronics, Inc., is a leading designer and manufacturer of audio-recording and live-sound software, hardware, and related accessories. PreSonus’ software, microphone preamps, signal processors, digital audio interfaces, digital mixers, control surfaces, loudspeakers, and other products are used worldwide for recording, sound reinforcement, broadcast, sound design, and Internet audio. For additional information, visit http://commercial.presonus.com/ or www.presonus.com.
* The information contained herein is, to the best of our knowledge, accurate at the time of publication. The company retains the right to make changes without notice.
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