St. Mary's Cathedral is one of the most popular and beautiful Catholic churches in the Portland area. It serves as its parish's diocese, hosting weekly masses, services and sometimes daily visits for a large, devoted congregation. The church needed to ensure its audio-visual equipment could convey its important messages in a smooth, intelligible manner-something that was previously lacking due its domed cathedral and marble walls. When it came time for an AV upgrade, St. Mary's turned to Alpha Sound, a leading AV installer in the Pacific Northwest. With 40 years' experience, the Alpha Sound team was ready to tackle the live acoustical issues at the cathedral while also choosing equipment that would not impede the church's elegant d cor. To accomplish this, the installer selected more than 20 mics from DPA Microphones, the largest DPA install to-date in the area.
Everything about this space is elegant and high-end, says Devin Sheets, lead engineer, Alpha Sound. They have gone to great lengths to beautify the space, and we wanted microphones that would complement the aesthestics of the church. The placement was also crucial, as they did not want any microphone stands regularly in the way.
Built in 1925, St. Mary's Cathedral has experienced concerns with its congregates not being able to clearly understand spoken word and the music portions of services due to the reverberant acoustics in the church. This also affected the livestreams of services, which have become an integral part of its offerings since the start of the pandemic. With these challenges, it was critical to choose mics that perform well, yet fade into the background to allow for the live masses and services to shine. Included among the many DPA mics at St. Mary's are 4097 and 4098 goosenecks, 4099 instrument mics and 4080 miniatures, along with 4006C and 4011F pencil mics.
In addition to eliminating the need for stands on a regular basis, there was an immediate requirement to solve the intelligibility issues both in the room and for the livestream, continues Sheets. The space is very reverberant, so we needed microphones that would sound as natural and clean as possible. This way, we could ensure that we were not compounding the inherent difficulties of the acoustics. There are also several fill speakers nearby, which frustrates the ability to achieve gain from the presenter microphones as they move about the venue. The DPA 4098 Gooseneck Podium Microphone and the DPA 4080 Miniature Cardioid Lavaliers are absolutely astonishing in terms of inherent gain before feedback. For the livestream, having dedicated pairs of microphones for the piano, organs and choir really help to clear up the sound when combined with the 4006C ambient mics in the center of the room to pick up audience responses.
Alpha Sound also selected eight DPA 4097 CORE Micro Gooseneck Microphones hanging from the ceiling above the choir and above the front and rear organs, supported by a pair of DPA 4006C Omnidirectional mics for ambience. This setup gave the church the audio solutions it needed without sacrificing the visual appeal. The team also installed four DPA 4011F Cardioid Capsules on MMP-F Modular Active Booms and two 4011C mics on short stands for various special events where the choir changes and instruments were added. Two DPA 4099P Piano Microphones were also selected. The 4099P mics can be left inside the piano when the lid is closed for storage, eliminating the need to set the mics back up before each use.
DPA was initially chosen because of its impressive performance in past Alpha Sound installations. Going this heavy with DPA was a really big step for our company; it means the brand really impressed us, says Sheets. We previously used DPA microphones with incredible results. The sonic quality really stuck in our minds. That, combined with the industry name recognition, made it obvious that we should be moving in the direction of DPA for our high-end clientele. The DPA 4098 Gooseneck Microphone was so impressive in a prior install that we amended the St. Mary's quote to include this mic.
The DPA microphones also work seamlessly with the rest of the equipment Alpha Sound selected, which includes a Dante-enabled network with a Yamaha MRX7-D processor to ensure day-to-day operations perform without skipping a beat. A custom-decorated Nexo line array speaker system was additionally installed in the open air high above to enable maximum sound quality in what the team dubbed, a difficult acoustic space for amplification.
In our opinion, you can't buy better than DPA, says Sheets. People all around the world respect the brand and we know that it's good. We've experienced the mics and we love them.
Most recent headlines
16/12/2025
Hawkins has landed on Spotify, just in time for Stranger Things Season 5, Volume...
16/12/2025
Wherever you are, your favorite music and audio content should go seamlessly with you. That's why Spotify has partnered with NAVER Corp, Korea's leading...
16/12/2025
2025 Wrapped arrived bigger and bolder than ever. This year's experience is designed to be ultra personal and shareable, with new features like Wrapped Part...
16/12/2025
Three 12-kilowatt Advanced Electric Propulsion System thrusters, supplied by L3Harris Technologies, form the core of Gateway's propulsion system. Pictured i...
16/12/2025
The challenge facing America's defense industrial base is not just about speed - its about rebuilding the foundation that makes speed possible. Our nations ...
16/12/2025
Share Share by:
Copy link
Facebook
X
Whatsapp
Pinterest
Flipboard...
16/12/2025
SEVILLE, Spain Canal Sur, the public broadcasting service for Andalusia, Spain, has completed a total technology refresh based on Pebble's resilient, softwa...
16/12/2025
NEW YORK Teleprompting hardware provider Telescript International has acquired all software code and intellectual property previously owned by Telescript West. ...
16/12/2025
As cable operators face increased competition from 5G fixed wireless access providers, a new report from Ookla Research finds that T-Mobile is the FWA speed lea...
16/12/2025
Apple has announced a major upgrade to the Apple TV app for device owners outside the Apple ecosystem with news that the Apple TV app for Android now supports G...
16/12/2025
Space42 grows Direct-to-Device partner ecosystem through a Memorandum of Underst...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON Announces Release Date for Full Year and Fourth Quarter 2025 R...
16/12/2025
16 Dec 2025
VEON's Kyivstar Invests in Renewable Energy in Ukraine with Acq...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Emma Appleton, Fares Fares, Frida Gustavsson and Jakob Oftebro...
16/12/2025
Back to All News
Docu-reality My Korean Boyfriend Gets a Trailer and Premiere D...
16/12/2025
Harmonic's XOS Advanced Media Processor Improves Streaming Video Quality and Boosts Viewer Engagement SAN JOSE, Calif. - Dec. 16, 2025 - Harmonic (NASDAQ: ...
16/12/2025
RT Sport Awards 2025 live on RT One and RT Player at 8:05pm on Saturday 20 December.
On Saturday 20 December live on RT One and RT Player at the earlier t...
16/12/2025
Singer -songwriter Brian Kennedy has been announced as the final celebrity dance...
15/12/2025
Harlem Globetrotters Celebrate 100th Anniversary With New Brand Campaign From Th...
15/12/2025
Top L-R: La Tierra Del Valor (The Home of the Brave), Mangittatuarjuk (The Gnawe...
15/12/2025
L3Harris will leverage 15 years of experience supporting the E-4B Nightwatch and...
15/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the loss of federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and operational changes, the statewide pub...
15/12/2025
BOULDER, Colo. Public Media Venture Group (PMVG), Venture Technologies Group (VTG), and WQED have completed a multipart agreement that they say will significant...
15/12/2025
Cape Town, November 13, 2025 - SES and International artist and humanitarian, Fo...
15/12/2025
Luxembourg, December 15, 2025 - SES, a leading space solutions company, and Abra Group launched fast and reliable multi-orbit inflight connectivity service on t...
15/12/2025
How Rivian s Design Puts Drivers First-And Why That Matters Published on Dec 15, 2025 Categories: Business Solutions
LinkedIn Corporate Communications
Sha...
15/12/2025
Space42 and Cobham Satcom completed the full range of advanced terminals for the...
15/12/2025
15 Dec 2025
VEON's Beeline Kazakhstan Delivers First Starlink Direct to Cel...
15/12/2025
Andrew Mountbatten-Windsor finds himself the topic of year's cracker jokes
Oasis, David Harbour, Celebrity Traitors and Angela Rayner all feature in this y...
15/12/2025
Comscore Expands Cross-Platform Campaign Measurement to Include Audio and Social New capabilities strengthen cross-platform campaign reporting suite; CCR rebran...
15/12/2025
NVIDIA today announced it has acquired SchedMD - the leading developer of Slurm, an open-source workload management system for high-performance computing (HPC) ...
15/12/2025
RT .ie has reached one billion page views this year and is on track to finish 2025 2% ahead of last year. Average time spent on the site is up 3% on 2024, with ...
15/12/2025
Modern workflows showcase the endless possibilities of generative and agentic AI on PCs.
Of many, some examples include tuning a chatbot to handle product-supp...
13/12/2025
Powering Client Growth: Horizon Deepens Nielsen Partnership, Enabling More Effic...
13/12/2025
In a move that will help it offer more flexible and less costly programming options, YouTube TV has announced that it will be launching YouTube TV Plans with mo...
13/12/2025
SINGAPORE Magna Systems has designed, built and completed what is believed to be the first full UHD and IP-based OB truck in Southeast Asia for a Singapore medi...
12/12/2025
SVG Summit 2025 Preview: Everything You Need to Know for Next Week's Big Sho...
12/12/2025
Hailey Gates at the Atropia premiere (photo by George Pimentel / Shutterstock for Sundance Film Festival)...
12/12/2025
Last month, Spotify announced a new collaboration with the ATP Tour, the global governing body of men's professional tennis, aimed at bringing the next gene...
12/12/2025
CONWAY, Ark. In a notable example of how the elimination of Federal federal funding is forcing public stations to make massive cuts and changes in the way they...
12/12/2025
Wisycom and DPA Microphones announce the appointment of Ren Moerch as Group Product Director, Wireless, a strategic leadership role that will guide the combine...
12/12/2025
SMPTE , the home of media professionals, technologists, and engineers, in conjuncture with the European Broadcasting Union (EBU) and the Entertainment Technolog...
12/12/2025
Keepit, the vendor-independent, cloud-native data protection provider, today announced a strategic go-to-market relationship in Poland with Ingram Micro, a lead...
12/12/2025
Atomos announced the immediate availability of a new firmware update for its Ninja TX GO and Ninja TX monitor-recorders, unlocking Open Gate 48P RAW recording w...
12/12/2025
Professional Wireless Systems (PWS) once again played a critical role in delivering flawless wireless coordination and support at the 2025 Latin Grammy Awards a...
12/12/2025
The Alliance for IP Media Solutions (AIMS), together with the Video Services Forum (VSF), the Advanced Media Workflow Association (AMWA) and the European Broadc...
12/12/2025
DHD audio will demonstrate the latest additions to its range of digital audio production solutions on Booth 321 in Hall B6 at Hamburg Open 2026. The show will b...
12/12/2025
Chaos today announces the release of V-Ray for Blender, update 2, bringing its award-winning rendering technology to even more Blender users by adding support f...
12/12/2025
Lighting specialist UltraLEDs has launched Precision LED Tape, a high-CRI lighting solution designed specifically for professional film, TV, and studio use.
P...
St. Mary's Cathedral is one of the most popular and beautiful Catholic churches in the Portland area. It serves as its parish's diocese, hosting weekly masses, services and sometimes daily visits for a large, devoted congregation. The church needed to ensure its audio-visual equipment could convey its important messages in a smooth, intelligible manner-something that was previously lacking due its domed cathedral and marble walls. When it came time for an AV upgrade, St. Mary's turned to Alpha Sound, a leading AV installer in the Pacific Northwest. With 40 years' experience, the Alpha Sound team was ready to tackle the live acoustical issues at the cathedral while also choosing equipment that would not impede the church's elegant d cor. To accomplish this, the installer selected more than 20 mics from DPA Microphones, the largest DPA install to-date in the area.
