sound systems for live recording

I'm setting up a sound system for my local church. we are getting a totally new system, minus the speakers. We are on a very tight budget. We want to be able to record the service on a computer. What interfaces mixers etc. would youguys suggest.( We only have three XLR mic inputs, the church is very small).

Depending on the length of the sermon, music and comments.... most audio CD's hold 84 minutes now?

you can buy a CD recorded/burner for a couple hundred bucks like the Sony RCD-500C. This is a recorder that I have. It allows direct to CD streaming burns just like using a cassette recorder but with CD's. It's the least complicated way to record the sermons. It also has high speed dubbing with 2 trays. You can press a button to insert track markers after each song or sermon start point as well.... it's pretty cool. I used it a lot in the past for burning stuff direct from the mixer.... I use it now to play CD's.

You can also use a laptop with Cakewalk and a decent audio interface to record to your hard drive..... for expediency, however, I would go with a burner like the Sony. Using Cake adds additional steps to the CD process.

One church that I attended had a streaming burner like the Sony. With a high speed duplicator and a stack of CD's, they recorded the first service and had the CD's for sale on the table in the foyer within minutes, and a good supply was available at the end of the 2nd service.  My current church does it but they are one week delayed. Even with a 6 bay high speed duplicator.


ditto on the 16 channel board recommendation.

All churches are "tight" ...at least that's what they all claim.....

I went to one that spent $150,000 on a sound upgrade...and I was  blown away by what they actually got .... I could have done better for $15k ( and made a healthy profit) than what they got for 10 times that amount.... then.... believe it or not, they were talking  a few months later about spending another $12k for a sub woofer...cause they didn't get it in the $150K.....!!!!!!   They should have asked me for advice and guidance but the music minister was one of those know it all's who really didn't know jack..... and got took to the bank.   And the new system to me did not sound as good as the old.... could not tell them that though.

Seriously, all they got was one speaker cabinet with 2 12's and a horn in one cabinet,  hanging from the ceiling, a couple of new power amps, a new mixer and they redid the mic & power cabling to the stage. I remembered seeing the "sound company truck" parked in front of the church for the better part of the week, and thinking...this is going to really sound sweet..... how disappointed I was  that Sunday.



The church I now attend has a similar problem.... no body wants to ask for help...it has been offered, more than once. They want to PAY some company to come in and EQ the room with some fancy gear...and pay out the butt for it,   and then buy whatever high priced solution that company is peddling as the magical cure for the sound issues. 

They have a nice sounding room.... carpet, padded seats, sound absorbers on the walls, and all they need is a bit of advice and training in the sound booth...move a few of the  stage/choir monitors around and buy a power amp or two to separate the monitors for more flexibility..... they have a state of the art Aviom 16 channel monitoring system for the orchestra. They could stand to add another 16 network addresses to it ( for a total of 32)  so everyone could have their own personal monitor mix.

I have spoken with both the music minister who never played in a club band in his life, and the "sound guy" who also never gigged in bands (FOH) and had to make the best sound possible depending on the club.  I told them both, if the sanctuary was a nightclub it would be one "fine sounding club"...easy to set up and play. I've offered, and they know what I can do with sound. They smiled and said...oh well, we'll see..... In other words... no thanks... So.... it's hands off for me.


Heck... this latest music minister doesn't even tune the orchestra with a tuner..... are you kidding me....? wish I was.... says he does it better by ear..... I've thought about taking my flip video in on a Sunday and recording it...cause it sounds like a train wreck at times.... (the tuning).... fingernails on a musical chalkboard.... We ( the sound guy and the bass player and me) even bought him a chromatic electronic tuner. He refuses to use it.

I "retired" from the orchestra for these and several other reasons almost 2 years ago now. Could not take it any more.

Last edit...I promise... If they called me tomorrow and said hey we would like to hear your thoughts on the sound.... I'd be there!

It boggles the mind... you try to help...have the expertise to do so..... and ......... nada!


I'm done ranting ......

Defining "very small" might help. I'm thinking you mean 50 or less people but then Albert's picturing around 200.

When you say you only have 3 XLR inputs - I'm assuming that's all you have now, but is that enough, or how many do you need?

There are units out there that could serve as both your mixer and interface - they have outputs that could go to your PA system, then also connect to your computer via USB or firewire.

The church service where I play averages about 200-250/week at each service, and when we record it we just go straight out of our Mackie mixing board into a CD Recorder - not even going into the computer. I've done some basic editing of these recording by just importing the audio into Sonar. But there you're just recording a stereo file without the ability to mix the individual tracks later. But there are definitely units out there you could use for your live mixing board and your computer interface - especially if you're using 8 or less inputs.  
 
For example this unit:

http://www.sweetwater.com/store/detail/Onyx1620i/

Could have outputs to a power amp and then also go to your computer and track each input separately so you could mix it later.

The Presonus StudioLive looks excellent