Daystar Television Network Upgrades its Production Studio Complex with a Custom Solid State Logic System T S500 and Two SSL Live L550 Plus Consoles
Daystar Television Network has upgraded the audio capabilities at its production studio complex in the Dallas-Fort Worth Metroplex with the installation of a custom configured, dual-operator Solid State Logic System T S500 broadcast audio platform and a pair of SSL Live L550 Plus mixing consoles. The network, which reaches more than 2 billion homes worldwide, has additionally integrated two System T Furniture Fader Tiles, one with a Tempest Control Rack, together with an SSL Live Remote Expander plus a pair of Live Remote Tiles.
Installed in Daystar’s Broadcast Audio Control (BAC), the System T platform features a dual S500 frame outfitted with two master sections and three touchscreens with five Fader Tiles providing access to 80 channel faders. Powered by redundant TE2 Tempest Engines licensed for 800 paths at 48 kHz, the control surface provides two operators with independent control over their respective mixes and duties.
Technical architecture
The principal mixer handles all dialogue and vocal microphones as well as video roll-ins and external remote sources, including a direct feed from Daystar’s studio in Jerusalem, Israel. The secondary mixer, in addition to managing the band instrument sources, handles mix-minus feeds, playback sources and 192 channels of DAW recording and playback. The room handles both broadcast and post-production mixing or remixing. For broadcasts, the BAC System T generates a 5.1 mix along with stereo and mono downmixes, mix-minus dialogue, dialog-only and instrument-only feeds.
The network’s flagship broadcast, Ministry Now, produced live daily, is hosted by Daystar co-founder and president Joni Lamb — who also presents daily discussion show Joni Table Talk — alongside her husband, Dr. Doug Weiss. “The main live show that we do here has a band and singers,” explains David Ribb, Director of Audio. “There’s so much traffic going on and, because of the pacing, we have found it easier to have two people mixing. Plus, twice a year, we do a special version of that show. That was the main reason we made the System T surface as large as we did, in addition to our input count.”
An SSL Live L550 Plus in Studio Audio Control (SAC) sends more than 60 feeds to various line arrays and nearly two dozen speaker zones in the 10,000-square-foot main studio, which houses multiple set locations in addition to a band performance area, as well as wedge monitors and wired and wireless IEM and IFB feeds. A second SSL Live 550 Plus on the studio floor manages monitor mixes for the singers and the band, feeding over a dozen IEMs and a 128-channel KLANG immersive mixing system with a combination of direct sources and mix stems.
Improved production audio quality
According to Doug Leake, Audio Systems Engineer, the three new SSL consoles have noticeably improved production audio quality, especially on the stage. “It’s a quite lively environment for a television studio, because there’s a group of people that like to hear the same kind of energy and momentum that you would find in a modern, contemporary church service or performance venue,” he says. “Everyone has noticed a big sonic difference. Many of the singers that are on in-ears, or just hearing how it sounds in the main PA out in the room, have commented on how well it’s translating and sounding.”
The SAC L550 Plus has head amp control of all studio-sourced inputs, controlling input gain for both the System T and the L550 Plus monitor console. It also has a 192-channel DAW recording and playback rig for virtual soundcheck purposes that additionally provides a broadcast safety capture. The SAC L550 Plus is coupled to an SSL Live Remote Expander to create an extended control surface with six Fader Tiles (a total of 72 faders) and two touchscreens with a central master section. The Live Remote Expander can be used as an extension of the main SAC console or for remote control of the L550 Plus monitor console, which is integrated with a third 192-input DAW record/playback rig, on the studio floor.
Scaling production requirements with SSL’s Automix
Just in terms of live microphones, there can be as many as 14 lavaliere mics and up to 12 handheld wireless mics for speech applications on Daystar’s flagship show. In addition, there are typically 12 to 14 singers with a large house band and potentially up to 10 guest vocalists, while a further 32 channels are reserved for guest band instruments. To handle the high microphone channel count, Daystar is making extensive use of SSL’s Automix functionality, which is found on both System T and Live consoles.
“Most, if not all, of the productions that we produce in-house are interview-based or have multiple talking microphones,” Ribb elaborates. “It can get up to 10 to 12 mics very easily, so that Automix functionality is tremendously useful on the broadcast side. But it even comes in handy on the studio side, helping clean up the mix environment.”
The three SSL consoles access a variety of SSL Net I/O interfaces and converters over the Dante network, including nine SB32.24 Dante Stageboxes interfaced via a pair of X-Light Bridges. A Blacklight-II Bridge and a pair of MADI-Bridges further facilitate I/O across the Dante network. Additionally, there are three SB 16.12 stageboxes and a single SB 8.8 stagebox, plus an A16.D16 interface.
World class support from SSL
Daystar has installed one System T Furniture Fader Tile with a Tempest Control Rack in the equipment room to provide BAC console redundancy. A second tile will be integrated at an engineering position at a future date for QC or other remote operations. Two Live Remote Tiles have been set up on a rolling desk in the studio as an alternative for operators to fine-tune monitoring in the space rather than from the SAC Live Remote Expander.
The remote capabilities of SSL’s consoles also came in handy during the installation phase of the project, Ribb reports. “SSL’s online support was very helpful to us trying to troubleshoot some of the challenges and has been a great bonus. The SSL support team has been very, very helpful, not just in commissioning, but also continuous follow-up and working through things. They’ve been great to work with.”
SSL at NAB 2025
Solid State Logic looks forward to meeting its customers and partners at NAB 2025 and will be offering live demonstrations during each day of the show. To learn more, register for NAB, or book an appointment with an SSL expert, please visit https://solidstatelogic.com/events/nab-show-2025.
About Solid State Logic
Solid State Logic is the world’s leading manufacturer of analogue and digital audio consoles and provider of creative tools for music, broadcast, live and post production professionals. For more information about our award-winning products, please visit: www.solidstatelogic.com.
