Feeding Pulpit Microphone Audio into Zoom with no "Audio Out" hookup from Pulpit

I currently stream my Ward's Sacrament Meeting via Zoom, I have an external usb "Blue" brand microphone that we set next to the pulpit for the Audio. Most Sundays this works well but the last few Sundays I've had a few folks mention that the Audio is sometimes Muffled alittle bit.

I am hardwired into the internet port that's directly on the side of the pulpit so I'm hardwired to the buildings Wifi Signal, I am wondering with that in mind if the audio issues folks are experiencing may be coming from their end or if perhaps it may be possibly on my end. and if it is on my end what options I might have available to feed the sound directly from the pulpit into my laptop instead. I know there isn't an "Audio Out" option on the pulpit anywhere, but the sound system rack is in a storage room just on the side of the chapel, would there be any possible connections on the sound rack I might be able to use to get a live feed of the audio from the pulpit posssibly.

I know they are likely redoing our sound system within the next year or so and at that point there will be an "Audio Out" hookup installed somwhere.

My original solution was to place the webcam close to the podium, and use the mic on the webcam. Then I bought a wired Lavalier mic that had a 15-foot cord, and attached that mic to the mic boom on the pulpit. Finally, I decided to purchase a 50-foot stereo cable, which I use to connect the laptop to the Audio Out jack under the Sacrament table. Some laptops, such as Dell, allow me to use the headset jack, which automatically adapts to either TRS or TRRS plugs. However, for the Lenovo laptops that my stake purchased, that did not work. So I bought a USB dongle, which allows the connection of microphone input and speaker output.

So many chapels have different sound systems that it's difficult to give specific advice.

There is always a way to break an audio feed out from the in built system. The quality will almost always be better than an external solution.

The degree of difficulty varies depending on the system.

So I went over to my Ward Building and checked for any Audio Out type connections:

There wasn't anything on the Sound Rack, but I did notice something under the Sacrament Table where the Microphone is hooked up.
it appears to be a headphone jack of sorts that would allow for recording this with a tape recorder (See the picture I included), what sort of aux cord would I
Need to use that can hook into that and then also hook directly into my laptops mic/headphone port.

brandonm35 wrote: Fri May 27, 2022 9:14 am what sort of aux cord would I Need to use that can hook into that and then also hook directly into my laptops mic/headphone port.

Use a standard 3.5mm to 3.5mm and then plug it into this device. There's too many variables to plug it straight into your laptop. Even if you find the right adapter, it's more expensive than this device.

Since different wards have different setups for their computers in our building, I took a standard 3.5mm to 3.5mm cable and cut it in half, put XLR connectors on the cut ends and use a normal mic cable from the library to extend the aux cable to wherever it needs to be to feed the laptops. Works great.

I used one of the hearing assist receivers from the library. I built a voltage divider circuit to knock down the headphone signal to line level and I feed that into a USB audio interface and feed that directly into the zoom computer. To keep from having to change batteries in the receiver, I used a 12 volt wall power supply and used a 9 volt Zener diode to clamp it down to 9 volts. I mounted all this on a board so it makes it easy to setup and take down.

I'm all set now thanks for the fantastic information:

I was advised to buy a specific Aux Cord to use with the USB Item Pictured, I simply plug one of of the Aux Cord into the "Audio Out" or "Tape Recording" spot that's underneath the sacrament table. and then plug the other end of the Aux Cord into this USB Item and plug that into my laptop and that provides crystal clear audio for the Zoom Streams I currently run for my ward.

The problem I have is that you can't pick up the organ or choir, but the speakers come across very clearly. Any suggestions? I added another mic just on a stand to see if we could hear the organ but that didn't work. Any suggestion would be appreciated.

If you're using a dynamic mic then you will need to position it very close to the sound you wish to hear.

The alternative is a condenser microphone. Some of which can pick up sounds a good 30 feet away.

We are using the pulpit mic. But the organ should be directly connected to the sound system. I will check the type of mic. Thanks

Some buildings have the organ pre wired into the sound system, some don't.

Some are easy to use an existing signal and feed that into the sound system either on the stand or at the rack, but some are much more difficult.

Depends on which combination of organ and sound system you have.

Retaining the podium dynamic swan neck microphone for the speakers and then adding a secondary microphone on a stand to capture the organ can work well. If it's a dynamic mic then it will need to be positioned very close. It won't capture the singing at all though.

A condenser microphone could capture both the organ and the congregation singing but would need to be muted during the speaking sections.

I don't think the difference between dynamic or condenser makes that big a difference in sound level. However, dynamic can fail in a way that makes them quiet.

If the organ is connected and how it's routed may vary between buildings. I'm not sure as you'd want the organ in the feed from the sound system as it would completely drown out any choir that might be signing along. (Not that you have control of that anyway.)

Plugging in an external mic into the sound system may help, but you'd probably have to boost the levels during that portion of the program. Adding a sound mixer just for the webcast and adding a secondary mic is what's going to git you the best results - but it takes extra equipment and more effort to operate.

A dynamic microphone will not be as sensitive as a condenser microphone if we're talking in general terms, so if you want to capture ambient sound like congregational singing complete with organ then I don't see dynamic mics being effective for this use case.

Although there are different types of condenser microphones for different applications, it is easy to find many cost effective solutions that have a pick up range of 15-30 feet. You just won't get that with a dynamic microphone which most tend to favour a 1-2 foot pick up range.

Apart from stand mounted mics, you could also benefit from boundary or ceiling hanging microphones too.

I've spent far too many hours trying to effectively capture a stage theatre production without having radio lav mics on every actor!

Wattsuk wrote: Mon Mar 13, 2023 11:31 am Some buildings have the organ pre wired into the sound system, some don't.

Organ audio is not routed to the audio output jack of any church building. Any organ you hear from that jack is being picked up by the pulpit mic.

daveg123 wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 1:16 pm Organ audio is not routed to the audio output jack of any church building. Any organ you hear from that jack is being picked up by the pulpit mic.

The organ at our stake enter feeds into the meetinghouse sound system when the overflow dividers are open and the cultural hall speakers activate. This is according to instructions we received from both headquarters and the audiovisual specialist who installed the sound system when the meetinghouse was built.

lajackson wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:43 pm The organ at our stake enter feeds into the meetinghouse sound system when the overflow dividers are open and the cultural hall speakers activate. This is according to instructions we received from both headquarters and the audiovisual specialist who installed the sound system when the meetinghouse was built.

You are correct, organ does feed into the gym speakers when the gym is open to the chapel (in most stake centers). But organ does not feed into the audio out jack that you use for webcasting, even when the gym is open.

I am an installer for the Church. Just trying to keep the info on this board accurate.

daveg123 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:32 am But organ does not feed into the audio out jack that you use for webcasting, even when the gym is open.

I am an installer for the Church. Just trying to keep the info on this board accurate.

Ah, I see the difference. Thank you for clarifying.

I was confused in this chain as well. Wattsuk stated that some organs are pre-wired into the sound system. He did not state that it was wired into the output jack, which appeared to be an assumption by daveg123 that may not have been accurate. I'm glad it is clarified now.

daveg123 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:32 am

lajackson wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:43 pm The organ at our stake enter feeds into the meetinghouse sound system when the overflow dividers are open and the cultural hall speakers activate. This is according to instructions we received from both headquarters and the audiovisual specialist who installed the sound system when the meetinghouse was built.

You are correct, organ does feed into the gym speakers when the gym is open to the chapel (in most stake centers). But organ does not feed into the audio out jack that you use for webcasting, even when the gym is open.

I am an installer for the Church. Just trying to keep the info on this board accurate.

Does this still apply to those much older sound systems?
We have a chapel here with a system from 2001 and the chapel organ sound is fed to the audio output that is in the gym.

Could the configuration be updated to allow organ signal to passthrough to the front audio out jack?

Wattsuk wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 9:49 am

daveg123 wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 12:32 am

lajackson wrote: Mon Jun 05, 2023 8:43 pm The organ at our stake enter feeds into the meetinghouse sound system when the overflow dividers are open and the cultural hall speakers activate. This is according to instructions we received from both headquarters and the audiovisual specialist who installed the sound system when the meetinghouse was built.

You are correct, organ does feed into the gym speakers when the gym is open to the chapel (in most stake centers). But organ does not feed into the audio out jack that you use for webcasting, even when the gym is open.

I am an installer for the Church. Just trying to keep the info on this board accurate.

Does this still apply to those much older sound systems?
We have a chapel here with a system from 2001 and the chapel organ sound is fed to the audio output that is in the gym.

Could the configuration be updated to allow organ signal to passthrough to the front audio out jack?

Unfortunately no.

Wattsuk wrote: Tue Jun 06, 2023 9:49 am
Could the configuration be updated to allow organ signal to passthrough to the front audio out jack?

Fwiw, my building was recently built. The audio routing within the chapel hasn't exactly changed, but there is a new AV rack (in a closet) with discrete audio outputs for podium, organ and choir pit (there are 2 XLR input in the choir area that pass directly to the AV closet). The AV closet has a very broadcast friendly setup.

Yes, the new buildings and their setups are quite nice. We are talking buildings built in 2013/2014- after the Heritage 98 design expired. Keep in mind though that up until this past year, the buildings were still getting the Ivie 1280 or the BLU systems sound system solutions. They are good, but the latest QSC setups are impressive. QSC is the new solution as IVIE and BLU are no longer approved by the church and ivie has ceased production of parts for the 1280, so the buildings will get upgraded to the QSC solution either when they reach the end of life expectancy or they cannot get parts to repair. It's a time consuming and expensive upgrade.