North Point Community Church receives first deployment of L-Acoustics’ Source Intelligence
North Point Community Church receives first deployment of L-Acoustics’ Source Intelligence
North Point Community Church – one of the largest congregations in the US – has taken delivery of an L-Acoustics L-ISA Hyperreal Sound system at its Alpharetta, Georgia sanctuary. Reportedly serving 43,830 people weekly across eight Atlanta-area campuses, the Alpharetta venue has also become the first HOW to deploy L-Acoustics’ Source Intelligence real-time voice-separation technology. The solution was organised by Clark, an L-Acoustics Certified Provider integrator that has served every North Point campus since the central Alpharetta location opened in 1999.
“What’s taken place at this location with L-ISA has turned the audio into a consistent spatial experience, no matter where you sit in the room,” said JB Bowling, chief operating officer and principal at Clark, which has installed all three sound systems the venue has had since it opened. “No matter where you are, you’re getting the same low frequency, high frequency and just a great experience that is immersive, clear and beautiful.”
The main Scene system is comprised of five hangs of L2D, flanked by four Extension arrays of four A10i Focus, two per side. Nine KS28 subs in three cardioid hangs of three are flown behind the centre L2D array, and complemented by 17 SB15m “punter” subs spread out in an arc under the curved stage. Spaced out on the steps above the ground subs, plus across the face of the stage thrust, are 17 compact X6i coaxial enclosures used to provide spatialised front fill.
Two outfill arrays of six Kara IIi each are flown between the Scene 1/2 and 4/5 L Series arrays to address the far left and right seating areas, with an X8 firing at both of the room’s front corners for additional fill. A single X12 flown per side out in the house also provides additional fill for the far back corners of the balcony. LA7.16i amplified controllers drive all of the MF/HF devices, while LA12X drive all of the subs, and an L-ISA Processor II controls the room’s object-based mix. Additional components include a P1 processor and LS10 Milan-AVB switches.
Luke Roetman, North Point Ministries’ production applications director who is in charge of all of the campuses’ audio systems, loves the immersive, inclusive effect that the L-ISA system imparts to worship there. “It’s been just unbelievable,” he added. “With a full band playing, you feel fully immersed in the sound in the room. We have dozens of large rooms in our organisation with large stereo PAs, but this is the first time where if I close my eyes, I don’t feel like I can even point to a speaker. I feel like the sound is coming from the stage, but I can’t tell you where it’s coming from because it feels like I’m just immersed in it.
“It’s impressive how much more gain-before-feedback Source Intelligence gives us on headset microphones and how much it cleans up drum bleed in vocal microphones without altering the tonality of the input,” Roetman concluded. “It allows us to get the gain we want out of the mic without worrying about either feedback or other stage noise that can impact the mix.”
