The Dwelling Place Church in Houston with TiMax

	"I design the whole room so the speakers disappear. This set up gives me also enough localization to widen the soundstage on the stage," says Hettinger.

Houston house of worship, The Dwelling Place, opted for TiMax SoundHub-S32 object-based spatialization to complement a Meyer Sound loudspeaker system upgrade within its sanctuary space. Sound designer, John Hettinger, wanted to create an immersive experience that would reach out to his congregation, work seamlessly with his choice of loudspeakers, and liberate vocals from static positioning at the front of the church.

The Dwelling Place previously worshipped in a traditional stereo audio set up and Hettinger noted the main problem was "...how few of the seats were truly stereo in this set up."

The sound designer adds, "We wanted a sound system that had depth and soundstage for every seat in the room. We wanted to create a worship experience you could get lost in, and that was an experience you had to be in the room for. Broadcast is incredible, but a completely different experience."

Hettinger explains, "Once I'd helped the sound team here learn how to create an object-based mix we quickly hit that spot where the PA disappeared and the music wraps around you. Absolutely beautiful."

The sound team mix from a Waves LV1 audio console from which the audio outputs via an MGB Soundgrid into the TiMax. TiMax outputs MADI into Auvitran which converts the signal to AVB for the Meyer Sound Galaxy Processors, feeding out to a total of four main hangs of Meyer Sound line array and front fills, with surrounds fed direct from TiMax analog outs.

The objective of this sound design was to wrap the worship music around the room, with the option to localize the music back to its originating position. To this end, the four line-array hangs are positioned around a phantom center, while front-corner, side and rear surrounds are positioned, in Hettinger's words, "...with enough overlap between all the speakers so TiMax creates full immersion."

Hettinger and the sound team at The Dwelling Place put TiMax SoundHub through its paces to discover the full and powerful extent of it spatialization capabilities. Hettinger noted that he really delved into the delay-matrix adding that this feature, "....and of course the PanSpace spatialization, is great for getting creative with different setups, wrapping stereo keys, guitars and pads around the room. Having moving drum samples for effects in worship."

Hettinger concluded that, "...TiMax is pretty incredible in its capability to work in any configuration." He confirms, "I design the whole room so the speakers disappear. This set up gives me also enough localization to widen the soundstage on the stage."

The effect of widening the soundstage is a highly effective TiMax feature and used commonly for getting the best overall sound for the audience from orchestras and bands. By localizing each instrument and voice to its originating position and spreading them out, they are effectively given more space so that the music comes alive to the listener.

The result, according to Hettinger was, "...vocal clarity and depth for every seat in the room, as well as an immersive soundstage. Using TiMax, we were able to design a system with not only tonal balance, but fully balanced energy and immersion across the whole room."

The difference TiMax has made to the perception of the music during worship is palpable and could not go unnoticed. Hettinger states, "The sound is world class, and people have reached out after hearing it to get more information on how to go immersive, as well as asking for demos. It's convincing people immersive is more than just a gimmick."