Elevating House of Worship Sound with Apollo Networked Audio

Learn how Mt. Bethel Church delivers album-quality live and streaming mixes.

With over 35 years of combined live sound experience, the audio engineering team at Mt. Bethel Church in Marietta, Georgia knows what works — and what doesn't. And in this case, what works for FOH mixer Dave Anderson and streaming engineer Taylor Cinnamon is Apollo x16D audio interfaces running UAD plug-ins on a Dante network. 

Anderson is responsible for mixing the front-of-house live sound for services of around 1,000 people, while Cinnamon handles the church's livestream duties to a similar number of people worldwide. Both engineers have made it their mission to elevate the church’s audio production to a level where every service and livestream sounds like a finished record.

 

Dante Networking: The Backbone of Mt. Bethel’s Audio

Mt. Bethel Church's acoustics are built to project sound, making it a challenge for audio engineers.

 

Running a Dante networked audio system has been essential for Mt. Bethel’s complex audio setup. Dante is a digital audio networking technology that allows for the seamless transfer of high-quality audio over standard Cat6 Ethernet cables, and it’s been at the heart of Mt. Bethel’s system for the last 10 years.

“We couldn’t do any of it without Dante,” says Anderson. “Hypothetically, if we had to replace our entire Dante network with XLR snakes, it could easily cost over a million dollars! We have almost no limitations with Dante.” 

 

"Think of Dante as a virtual patchbay for routing any audio anywhere you want — without any loss in quality."

Dave Anderson, front-of-house engineer, Mt. Bethel Church

 

"No one wants to carry around 1,000 of lbs. of copper cable when a single Ethernet cable can carry hi-resolution digital audio with minimal latency," explains Cinnamon. "From that single Ethernet cable, we can grab audio anywhere we want in the Dante network. Our Dante setup at Mt. Bethel allows for my streaming mix and Dave's FOH mix to be fully independent. My processing needs are dramatically different because they have to compete with the room."

 

Enter Apollo x16D: Front-of-House

Looking to upgrade the sound of their mixes, Anderson turned to Apollo x16D interfaces. “I told my minister we needed an Apollo x16D so we could enhance the sound of our live and streaming mixes another 5 to 7% — boy was I wrong. Our mixes are off-the-charts better now! We've achieved all of our sonic goals, and then some."

 

Mt. Bethel Church's livestream setup runs two Apollo x16D audio interfaces over a Dante audio network. The UAD Satellite provides extra processing power for the Pro Tools mixes.

 

Anderson's goals for FOH were straightforward — improve the sound of Mt Bethel's 50-person choir, add clarity to the Steinway piano, and get some extra sparkle on the vocals.

"For the choir, the C-Vox™ Noise & Ambience Reduction plug-in is my favorite," raves Anderson. “I can remove the room tone from the choir mics and really gain them up so they don’t sound like they’re a mile away anymore.” I also use the C-Vox plug-in on my minister's mic and it takes out all of the handling noise so it's always super quiet."

 

“With Apollo x16D on my Dante network, I can easily record a 50-person choir, orchestra, and six-piece band into Pro Tools, and use UAD plug-ins on absolutely everything,” says Mt. Bethel Church FOH mixer, Dave Anderson.

 

For the piano, Anderson relies on a modern-classic, the Neve 88RS Channel Strip Collection plug-in. "I finally got my Steinway back," he beams. "We have an $80,000 Steinway miked up with two AKG 414s, but live, it never sounded the way it should. I used the Neve 88RS plug-in on it when I remixed some of our services and always dreamed of being able to mix live with it.   Now I can and the piano sounds incredible and exactly the way it’s supposed to — with plenty of extra gain." 

Anderson's fix for the vocals was equally simple, using one UAD plug-in to bring life back to Mt. Bethel's all-important vocal mix. "I had to aggressively cut high end to really de-ess the vocals," he explains. "Unfortunately, that left a lot to be desired in their top-end response. So I use the Maag EQ4 EQ plug-in on every vocal channel and I get my top end magic back!

“With Apollo x16D and UAD plug-ins on my Dante network, I've heard what ‘live sound’ can actually become," concludes Anderson. "I’ve never been happier with my live mixes."

 

Using Apollo x16D: Livestreaming with Studio Sound

"Getting a great livestream mix in a sanctuary built to 'project' sound definitely comes with challenges," says Cinnamon. "For example, my snare sound was always a mile away because it was getting picked up in all the vocal mics. Talk about phase issues! So I use the C-Vox™ Noise & Ambience Reduction plug-in on all vocal, choir, and organ mics. It gives me control of the room tone and is one of my go-to plug-ins."

"My vocal chain in UAD Console is typically C-Vox, Auto-Tune Realtime X, Maag EQ4 EQ, into an 1176 Limiter. Another plug-in that's been indispensable on our streaming mixes is the SPL Transient Designer," continues Cinnamon. "It's been a game changer on my drum sounds. Our drummer likes a "splattier" sound than I do, so I drop the SPL on the drum bus to tighten the kit down with the Sustain control to make it punchier.

 

"With Apollo x16D I can add studio sound to my live mixes without having to travel with a mountain of analog gear," says Mt. Bethel Church streaming engineer, Taylor Cinnamon

 

In our livestream mixes, I want clarity and separation so our mixes translate better to laptops, smart TVs, and mobile phones. So I'll often add harmonics and saturation to make things audible on small speakers, like to the kick drum and bass guitar. Saturation is what makes music feel good. It's that spine tingle that shoots up your body when a deep bass note rattles your bones!

"So I use the Little Labs Voice of God Bass Resonance Tool plug-in on my bass guitar parallel channel, and adjust the low cut and resonance so it sits with my kick drum — without getting in the way or losing any thickness out of the bass guitar. Then I low pass the bass guitar after the Voice of God plug-in — around the clicky 5-6 kHz presence of the kick drum. This lets me really saturate the top end of the mix, and still have clarity in the low end.

 

“Running the C-Vox Noise & Ambience Reduction plug-in gives me complete control over the room tone for all of my vocal mics."

Taylor Cinnamon, Mt. Bethel Church streaming engineer

 

"With Apollo x16D, I can use my studio techniques on live performances," concludes Cinnamon. "I don't believe they're a different thing. It's all signal flow, processing, taste, and technical ability. If you are doing things correctly from the source, you don't need as many magic tricks. But most importantly, be kind and respectful. Listen and observe. And remember to have fun. Music is supposed to be fun!"

— Darrin Fox

 

---

 

Mt. Bethel Church's Top 5 UAD Plug‑Ins:

• Neve 88RS Channel Strip Collection (Steinway Grand Piano)
• C‑Vox™ Noise & Ambience Reduction (Choir, minister, organ mics)
• UA 1176 Classic Limiter Collection (Almost everything)
• Maag EQ4 EQ (Vocal "air" post de‑essing)
• Little Labs Voice of God Bass Resonance Tool (Kick drum and low‑end shaping)

Related Articles:

• Dante® for Dummies
• Introducing Apollo E Series for Dante®