Digital Consoles for Church Sound

I read the following from Alectro Systems and I wholeheartedly agree. Unless a church is operating at a very large scale, digital consoles are just too sophisticated and too expensive for most small to medium-sized churches.

Although a wonderful ideal for user interfacing and audio organizing, digital consoles are simply not cost effective. A well-manufactured professional digital mixer, loaded with the necessary features, is just far too expensive. Due to this fact alone, a digital mixer should often be considered a last resort, and only if there is enough in the budget to pay the massive premium for a top-of-line console. There are exceptions to this rule though, as these mixers are greatly suited for large churches with huge worship teams and productions on Sundays, as well as throughout the week. In those venues, the cost factor becomes insignificant due to the fact that the benefits of a digital console become overwhelming. Those venues have a need for a massive number of inputs, and the ability to interact with them on a much more complex level; this is not the case with the remaining vast majority of churches. In almost every situation, an analogue mixer remains the best choice of consoles for a churches needs. They”™re straightforward, cheaper with far greater quality and features versus a digital console of the same price, and are much easier to teach others how to use – which in a church environment is an absolute necessity for the majority of those able to help with sound teams.

Via.