5 Broadcast Mixing Accessories for Church Live Streaming

One of the most important elements of worship ministry today is the broadcast mix. Through a church’s broadcast mix, the gospel is shared, God’s Word is preached, and the church is made accessible. But building, running, and accessorizing a broadcast mix station isn’t easy, so that’s where Churchfront is here to help! 

In this post, we’re going to pitch five solid and helpful broadcast mix accessories that will be sure to improve your worship ministry. But if you want in-depth training on how to build and operate your church’s broadcast mix with excellence, check out our Broadcast Mix Mastery course. From Ableton, to using plugins, to running a livestream, we cover it all. So check it out!

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First Accessory: Klark Teknik DN9630

A computer running an Ableton broadcast mix needs audio from the mixer, right? Well, running audio over USB more than probably 5 to 10 feet is a bad idea. USB cables start creating issues when they run really long.

Introducing the Klark Teknik DN9630. 

Newcomers to Churchfront will learn quickly that we advocate using a Dante network over AES50 protocol to route audio throughout the room. However, this tool can act as a great stand-in for those who maybe can’t order or access a Dante card at this time. If a church owns a mixer like the Behringer WING, then this is where the three AES50 ethernet ports on the back come in handy. Use the A and B ports for stage audio, and then use the C port for the broadcast mix. Running audio over CAT-5 can span hundreds of feet without connectivity issues.

Second Accessory: The Optogate PB-05

Talkback mics are important. They help volunteers in the back interact with the worship leaders at the front. But isn’t it annoying to hit the talk back button every time you need to talk? 

This is a cool little tool. The Optogate is a noise gate that only opens up via infrared. So put your mouth up to the mic and the infrared red sensor is triggered that opens the gate. Just start talking! Never worry about toggling a button again. 

Third Accessory: touchAble Pro App

This is an accessory for controlling an Ableton broadcast template with an iPad. Purchase it for $15 on the app store, connect it over USB or Wi-Fi to the computer using Ableton, download the desktop app, and touchable will automatically sync with the computer, giving complete control through the iPad.

Screenshot of touchAble Pro on iPad

The visual feedback for the faders is great, even better than the feedback Ableton provides. TouchAble provides audio metering, it matches the color-coding, and you can record and solo channels. It does it all, and it’s always connected. 

Fourth Accessory: Alclair In-Ear Monitors

Jake getting his ears molded for his Spire Six Drivers

A recent video highlighted Jake upgrading his headphones when he stopped by Alclair. Jake ordered six driver headphones, the Spire Six Drivers, to be exact. They go for $849 here on Alcair's website. Jake was blown away by the difference from his RSM Quad Drivers to these headphones. He could hear the highs and lows so much better. 

The RSM Quad Drivers are great. But if you have the money, we would recommend these Six Drivers over the Four Drivers. The difference is significant, especially when comparing between two custom sets. These are very important tools for a Broadcast Mix because hearing everything that’s going on is crucial. The mix also has to be very isolated, excluding any room noise bleeding in to the mix. This is where the Six Drivers shine.

Fifth Accessory: Elgato Stream Deck

The magic of a Stream Deck is that settings can be changed within different applications at different stations with just the push of a button. It uses MIDI commands through a native Stream Deck app and toggles functions of other apps/devices. Whether it’s muting/unmuting, mimicking keyboard commands, or other commands, the Stream Deck removes the pain of pointing your cursor to click on things. It saves time. It makes things simple.

It has things clearly labeled, and it provides great visual feedback. Most of all, the amount of errors that a tech team could make.

There you have it!

We hope these accessories can be a blessing and improvement to your worship ministry and broadcast mix. Again, be sure to check out our Broadcast Mix Mastery Course if you or your team desire more training in all things broadcast mix and live-streaming. Happy mixing!

Wireless Headset Comms for Worship Tech Teams | Eartec UltraLITE Review

Want a full list of recommended gear and software for worship ministry? Download our FREE Worship Ministry Toolkit!

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There are countless churches out there that are looking for a discrete communication system between just a few tech team members. For most, there is often a need for a video director to give direction to a camera operator up front, or maybe there’s need for communication between the audio engineer in the tech booth and a broadcast mix engineer in another room. 

One option is to invest thousands of dollars into a high-end system using Clear-Com infrastructure. But for most churches, this option is overkill and a bit too expensive. 

The other option is to invest in the Eartec UltraLITE, and most churches should give these headsets a serious look.  

Good Stuff

• Very affordable for churches

• Simple to set up

• Doesn’t need a base station and/or belt pack 

• Simultaneous communication

Bad Stuff

• Build quality is “meh”

• Auto-mute could be frustrating (but manual mute is available)

The Eartec wireless headsets come in various package sizes. Purchasing options include a pair of headsets, or it’s possible to purchase up to seven. These headsets use full duplex wireless communication. That means all the devices on a network can communicate with each other simultaneously unlike a traditional walkie-talkie system that allows for one person to speak at a time.

To Mute or Not to Mute

The Eartec headsets use auto-mute technology to enable or disable a user's microphone when the mic is in the down position in front of the user's mouth. Auto-mute isn’t always the best in a live music venue because operators often hear room noise through the other user's mic. It can sound like a noise gate with the threshold set too low. But move the microphone into the upward position, and it will manually mute the signal. Most church tech teams will want their camera operators to do this so noise from the PA system or the band doesn't bleed through their microphone when they're not talking. There are also two choices for either a dual-ear headset and single-ear headsets. Dual-ear headsets would make sense for camera operators on stage who need better noise isolation.

Build Quality

The build quality of these headphones is decent at best. You get what you pay for. They are mostly made of plastic (probably entirely of plastic), so a church’s team members would need to be gentle with these headsets. No throwing them around or abusing them too much. 

Simple Setup

Aside from the low price, the best part about these headsets is there isn’t a need for a base station or belt packs if a church uses five headsets or less. And the system is expandable from five to seven headsets with the two-channel Eartec hub. All that’s needed to get up and running is to charge the removable batteries, put the batteries back in the headsets, fire up the headsets with the power button, and then the headsets will automatically sync to one another. The batteries last around six hours on one charge so they will last multiple Sunday mornings before needing recharging. It’s always wise to pick up some extra batteries so fresh ones are always handy in case one of the batteries dies unexpectedly.

What’s the Range?

Finally, let’s talk about the range of these systems. The Eartecs will work perfectly for the majority of worship venues. They have up to 1000 feet of line-of-sight range. Need to speak to someone in a different room? They should work fine so long as the headsets are not much farther than a couple hundred feet away. 

The Verdict

A church cannot go wrong with this setup for this price. If a church has, say, a team of three production members who need wireless hands-free communication, with the UltraLITE headsets they can make that happen for less than $600. That’s a great deal for a great product that will grow your worship ministry.