In the realm of worship, the fusion of technology and spirituality can create a transformative experience. This potential has been fully realized at the Dover, OH campus of NewPointe Community Church with the integration of the spatial and augmented acoustics solution, d&b Soundscape. The Dover campus broadcasts its services to five other campuses, providing an excellent and cohesive multisite worship experience to all who attend.
Located in rural east-central Ohio, NewPointe Community Church is a non-denominational church, nestled in a town of roughly 30,000 residents that draws a weekly congregation of 2,000 people at its main campus. Being the largest and most modern church in the area, it offers a unique and engaging worship experience. On average, all six campuses together attract a congregation of 4,000 worshippers over two weekly services, a number that has seen steady growth since the end of the pandemic.
[SCN Hall of Fame 2023: Ralf Zuleeg, Developer of Soundscape]
When NewPointe’s production experience director, Ben Abbott, approached MediaNet AV about upgrading their existing large format line array system, Alex Earnhardt, the head of installation, was able to identify some design improvements. Coupled with the age of the current system, this paved the way for a new modern system design approach. Earnhardt proposed the Soundscape system as the ideal technology to meet their requirements. After a live demo in Pittsburgh, Abbott was sold, recognizing that this system could provide the unique worship experience they desired. Earnhardt stated that implementing the Soundscape system along with 24S and 44S point source loudspeakers presented no significant challenges due to the ease of rigging, predictability, and accuracy of the system components. The 24S was chosen for mains as a high-performance, full-range, two-way loudspeaker with its two 12-inch woofers in a dipole arrangement for directivity control. The 44S, an ultracompact point source with flexible mounting including a recessed flush-mount option, was used as the front fill system.
The Soundscape system optimizes speaker performance, adding fidelity and headroom throughout the space. It reduces the burden on the mix engineer and delivers a superior listening experience for the entire congregation while keeping sightlines clear. Soundscape’s flexibility for system design enables an extension of the system beyond the stage, bringing the congregation closer to the worship through additional loudspeakers up to 360 degrees. A 180-plus configuration that utilizes lateral speakers to extend the system into the congregation was implemented for NewPointe Community Church.
Abbott highlighted the transformative impact of Soundscape in the worship environment. “After hearing it at a demo in Pittsburgh, I knew instantly that it was the future of live sound. The Soundscape system, with its immersive experience, stands out in the church world, where most PA systems resemble rock shows, bombarding you with sound from the front with little to no spatial awareness. We see the Soundscape system as the future of the worship experience. When we embarked on this project, our primary objective was to enhance the worship experience. While it’s not our official mission statement, our guiding motto is to ‘create irresistible experiences.’ To achieve this, we believe in leveraging technology that truly engages our congregation. Soundscape, with its immersive technology, combined with engaging video content and lighting, plays a pivotal role in realizing that vision.”
[How d&b Soundscape Pushes the Boundaries]
NewPointe Community Church continues to use technology to create appealing and distraction-free worship environments. The recent upgrade to the Soundscape system reflects their commitment to providing a top-notch worship experience to their growing congregation. This investment in Soundscape not only enriches the church’s audio experience but also paves the way for future technological advancements in worship settings.
The updated Soundscape system at NewPointe Church includes: seven 24S-D point sources for mains, 12 44S for front fills, eight Bi6 in a flown SUB array, five 10S-D for delays, four 8S for lateral enhancement speakers, DS100 signal engine with En-Scene processing, two DS10 Dante network bridges, five 40D amplifiers and three 5D amplifiers.
