Consoles
Church Input List Template
Quick answer
A full church input list runs to 32 channels: four speech inputs, four vocals, eight band channels, nine drum channels, three choir microphones, stereo playback and a stereo ambience pair. A 250 seat church typically uses 16 of them.
An input list is the document that turns a wish into a system. It is the thing a designer asks for first, the thing an installer quotes from, and the thing that decides console size, stage box size, snake count and how many microphone stands need buying. Most churches do not have one, which is why most church quotes are guesses.
Writing one is an afternoon of work. List every source, decide its microphone, note whether it needs phantom power and a stand, and number it. What follows are four worked lists at the sizes churches actually run, built so you can delete rows rather than invent them. Size the console from your finished list with the mixer channel calculator.
On this page
The full 32 channel church input list
The complete list for a large platform with a full band, a miked drum kit, a choir and a livestream. Channel order follows convention: speech first, then vocals, then band, then drums, then choir, then playback and ambience. Keeping that order means any visiting engineer can read your desk.
A full church platform uses 32 input channels, of which 9 are the drum kit and 13 carry phantom power for condenser microphones and active direct boxes.
Channels 31 and 32 exist for the livestream and must never be routed to the main loudspeakers, because a microphone facing the congregation and a loudspeaker facing the congregation is a feedback loop by construction. Phantom power should be switched per channel, not globally, as set out in the phantom power requirements chart.
Smaller input lists: 8, 12 and 16 channels
Most churches do not need 32 channels. These three lists are subsets of the one above, built by deleting rather than by redesigning, so a church can grow along this path without renumbering anything.
A church plant needs 8 input channels, a 100 seat sanctuary 12, and a 250 seat sanctuary 16, each a strict subset of the full 32 channel list.
| Ch | Church plant, 8 ch | 100 seat, 12 ch | 250 seat, 16 ch |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Speaker headset | Pastor headset | Pastor headset |
| 2 | Handheld wireless | Pulpit gooseneck | Pulpit gooseneck |
| 3 | Worship leader vocal | Handheld wireless | Handheld wireless 1 |
| 4 | Vocal 2 | Worship leader vocal | Handheld wireless 2 |
| 5 | Acoustic guitar DI | Vocal 2 | Worship leader vocal |
| 6 | Keys or playback left | Acoustic guitar DI | Vocal 2 |
| 7 | Keys or playback right | Electric guitar | Vocal 3 |
| 8 | Cajon | Bass DI | Acoustic guitar DI |
| 9 | n/a | Keyboard left | Electric guitar |
| 10 | n/a | Keyboard right | Bass DI |
| 11 | n/a | Cajon | Keyboard left |
| 12 | n/a | Playback, mono | Keyboard right |
| 13 | n/a | n/a | Cajon or kick |
| 14 | n/a | n/a | Snare or overhead |
| 15 | n/a | n/a | Playback left |
| 16 | n/a | n/a | Playback right |
The 250 seat list deliberately carries only two drum channels. In a room that size a full nine channel kit adds level nobody wanted and costs gain before feedback on every open vocal channel. A cajon, or a kick and one overhead, is the honest specification below about 300 seats.
What each list means for the rest of the system
An input list is not just a console decision. Each one implies a stage box size, a number of stands to buy, a phantom power load and a monitor bus count, and those are the items that get left out of budgets.
A 16 channel input list implies a 24 channel console, 6 microphone stands and 5 phantom powered channels, alongside four monitor mixes.
| Input list | Console size | Stands needed | Phantom channels | Monitor mixes | Stage box |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 8 channels | 12 | 3 | 2 | 2 | None. Direct to the console. |
| 12 channels | 16 | 4 | 3 | 2 | None, or a 16 channel box. |
| 16 channels | 24 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 16 channel stage box. |
| 24 channels | 32 | 9 | 9 | 6 | 16 or 32 channel stage box. |
| 32 channels | 40 | 12 | 13 | 8 | 32 channel stage box. |
Stand counts exclude clip mounts supplied with drum microphone kits and exclude pulpit and ceiling mounts. Phantom channel counts drive the total current demand on the console supply, which matters past about a dozen condensers. Monitor mix counts follow the same model as the monitor mix planning chart.
How to write your own input list
- Walk the platform and write down every sound source. Every voice, every instrument, every playback device. Include the things that only appear at a funeral or a carol service, and mark them as occasional rather than leaving them off.
- Split every stereo source into two lines. Keyboards, playback computers and ambience pairs are two channels each. This is the single most common undercount, and it is always discovered on a Sunday.
- Assign a microphone or direct box to each line. Work from source level: dynamics for loud and handled sources, condensers for quiet and distant ones, direct boxes for anything with an output jack. Use the microphone type by source chart rather than preference.
- Mark phantom power and stand requirements. Two extra columns that turn the list into a purchase order. A church that budgets microphones and forgets stands will be short by several hundred dollars on install day.
- Number the channels in conventional order. Speech, vocals, band, drums, choir, playback, ambience. Any visiting engineer can then read your console without a tour, and the order survives every console you will ever own.
- Add 25 percent and size the console. Run the finished count through the mixer channel calculator. Size the stage box, the snake and the monitor buses from the same list at the same time, because those are the items quotes leave out.
Where this template does not apply
It assumes a single service style. A church running a traditional service at one hour and a contemporary service at the next has two input lists sharing one console. That is what scene recall exists for, and it is the strongest practical argument for a digital desk in a church with mixed services.
It assumes the drums are worth miking. In a room below about 300 seats the kit is already audible everywhere, so channels 17 to 25 add level nobody asked for. The honest specification for a small room is a cajon channel, or a kick and one overhead, and the nine channel kit belongs in a large room with a shield.
It does not cover broadcast splits. A church producing a separate stream mix needs the sources split to a second console or a second set of buses, which doubles some of this list. See how to mix for livestream.
Occasional sources belong on the list but not on the desk. A brass ensemble at Easter and an orchestra at a carol service need channels for one service a year. Plan the stage box inputs for them, leave the console channels unassigned, and store a scene rather than keeping twelve channels permanently patched.
It says nothing about who mixes it. A 32 channel list in a church with volunteer operators who serve monthly is a training problem as much as an equipment one. Fewer channels, named and recalled from a locked scene, will sound better every week than a large list nobody has time to learn.
Sources
- Console sizing and growth allowance arithmetic as implemented in this site’s mixer channel calculator
- Microphone selection by source level, following the same figures used across this site’s reference charts
- Conventional live sound input list ordering as used in professional production practice
Frequently asked questions
What is a church input list?
A numbered list of every sound source on the platform with the microphone or direct box assigned to each, whether it needs phantom power, and what stand it sits on. It is the document that decides console size, stage box size, stand purchases and monitor bus count. Most churches do not have one, which is why most church quotes are guesses.
How many channels does a small church need?
A church plant typically needs 8 input channels: a speaker headset, a handheld, two vocals, an acoustic guitar direct box, stereo keys or playback, and a cajon. A 100 seat sanctuary runs about 12 and a 250 seat sanctuary about 16. Each of those lists is a subset of the full 32 channel plan, so a church can grow without renumbering.
What order should input channels be in?
Speech first, then vocals, then band, then drums, then choir, then playback and ambience. This is the conventional order and its value is that any visiting engineer can read your console without a tour. It also survives every console you will ever own, so a future upgrade does not mean relearning the layout.
Should ambience microphones go to the main speakers?
Never. An ambience pair faces the congregation and the main loudspeakers also face the congregation, so routing one to the other is a feedback loop by construction. Those channels exist purely for the livestream, where they capture congregational singing that otherwise makes a stream sound empty. Route them to the stream bus only, and check the routing after every scene change.
Do I need to mic the whole drum kit?
In a room below about 300 seats, no. A kit produces 105 to 120 dBA at three feet and is already audible at the back row unamplified, so nine drum channels add level nobody wanted and reduce gain before feedback on every open vocal microphone. A kick and one overhead, or just a cajon, is the honest specification for a small room.
How do I plan for a service that only happens once a year?
Put occasional sources such as an Easter brass ensemble on the input list and size the stage box to accept them, but leave the console channels unassigned day to day. Store a scene for that service instead. This gets you the inputs when you need them without carrying twelve permanently patched channels that confuse volunteers every other week.
Researched, not professional advice. This page is compiled from published manufacturer specifications, operator manuals, FCC rules, published standards and owner-review consensus, not hands-on testing. Sound system design, rigging loudspeakers overhead, and any electrical work are jobs for a qualified professional: have flown loudspeakers and their attachment points signed off by a structural engineer or a certified rigger, and have all wiring done by a licensed electrician to your local code. Wireless microphone rules change, so confirm the current FCC position before buying. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases.