SYDNEY – Hillsong Church is using Lab.gruppen's PLM Series powered loudspeaker management system for its flagship Baulkham Hills campus here. The PLMs power the church's new speaker system and make use of the Lab's integrated Lake processing and monitoring features.
Steve LeRoux and Jad Gilles head the Hillsong audio team. "We purchased our first Lab.gruppen amplifiers a few years ago and they have been rock-solid," noted LeRoux. "We've also been using Lake processors for many years, so the combination of Lake processing built into a Lab amp made choosing the PLMs an easy decision."
A total of 24 PLM systems were supplied, including 20 PLM10000Q (4 x 2300W) and four PLM20000Q (4 x 5000W). Two FP10000Qs (4 x 2100W) were also purchased to drive the stage monitor speakers.
Hillsong is using a new feature of the PLMs called LoadSmart. A verification function in the software activates a 3-second complete system test, alerting the operator to any driver failures or cable problems. Fingerprint Data (load characteristics) for each speaker model, plus cable data, is loaded into the PLM file and compared with test results during the verification process. The "one-click" test can be performed before and after an event giving operators the peace of mind that all drivers are within spec. In addition, the software provides real-time performance monitoring which will alert the operator to any load problems whilst the system is in use.
The Lab.gruppen PLM systems feature AES and analog inputs as well as Dante (audio over a network). The PLMs at Hillsong are used with a Lake processor as a front end system controller. The Lake device receives AES audio from the mixing console and converts it to Dante, which is distributed to the PLM racks over fibre. The PLMs are set with Dante as the priority input, followed by AES as the secondary, and analogue audio as the third level of input redundancy. Should Dante and AES fail, analogue audio will seamlessly take over.
"We know that the Labs sound good, and this was proven when we replaced the stage monitor amplifiers with the FP10000Qs," LeRoux said. "We just did a straight amplifier swap yet every musician and presenter could instantly hear the improvement and thought they were hearing a new monitor system. And it's the same with the FOH system – you simply can't beat the performance of Labs."
Supplied and installed by Brad Law and his team from Cuepoint, four racks of PLMs are located on the catwalk with full control and monitoring available via a laptop anywhere in the venue. Cuepoint engaged Ricki Cook to create and configure the large Lake/PLM file.
"The Lake/PLM software makes controlling this complex system quite simple," Law said. "Of particular note is the grouping feature that allows us to have all key information on the one screen. Having extensive DSP available in every amplifier enabled us to easily cater for the different modes of operation in the church. On a project such as this you want to know that the signal distribution and amplification network are both solid and sonically true. This project has gone very smoothly and the results are indeed what we all had hoped for. We look forward to using PLMs again on future projects."
For more information, please visit www.labgruppen.com.
