First Baptist Church Snellville relies on Countryman Associates
Published: WORSHIP
WORLD: The US-based First Baptist Church Snellville is currently using two Countryman Associates B2D directional lavaliere microphones for its 1,500 capacity sanctuary. Under music minister Wayne Grothman’s direction, the church is home to a 130-voice choir, a 40-piece orchestra and a vocal praise team, leading pastor Steve Foster to seek out a ‘solid’ yet discreet microphone solution.
Choosing the Countryman Associates solution was First Baptist Church Snellville’s media director, Andy Terrell. ‘The church extended the podium position forward so that it is now located almost directly underneath the main PA wash,’ he explained. ‘The B2D’s ability to reject the sound from the house sound system is nothing short of amazing. I’ve tried several other mics from various manufacturers and none of them had the performance capabilities of the B2D. Because of those overhead loudspeakers, I either had to EQ the signal to the point where speech intelligibility suffered or deal with feedback and low signal level. In this regard, the Countryman B2D is exceptional,’ he enthused.
‘This mic also has a very tight polar pattern,’ he continued. ‘As a result, it rejects a lot of the room ambience. This aspect of the B2D makes it much easier to gain the level we need. The mic’s sound is so natural and clear, we use almost no EQ on the mic at all – just a small amount of hi-pass filter to eliminate any chance of low frequency pops, but that’s it. When you consider that the house loudspeakers are almost directly over the pastor’s head, I am positively thrilled with the audio quality and level this mic provides.’
The B2D is positioned approximately 3.15cm beneath pastor Foster’s tie knot, and the mic is mated with a Sennheiser ew 300 G3 series wireless microphone system. ‘The Countryman mic and the Sennheiser wireless setup make a terrific pair,’ Mr Terrell continued. ‘That tiny microphone delivers a bigger, clearer sound than any mic I’ve ever encountered. The speech intelligibility is terrific, so the congregation hears every word clearly.’
Mr Terrell added that ‘everyone I’ve spoken with at Countryman has been a pleasure to deal with. Of the few times I’ve called, I’ve received courteous, responsive assistance. Combined with a great warranty, this is a company that really stands firmly behind its products. I couldn’t be happier with the performance of the microphones. It’s surprising just how big and natural a sound that little microphone delivers. The B2D is the one thing I never have to worry about on Sunday mornings. It just works!’