Five Tips to Improve your Livestream Mix in Less Than a Week | Emperor Audio

Introduction: Why getting a good livestream mix is difficult

Some Sundays, the mix feels great. Other times, vocals get buried, instruments sound off, and the livestream just doesn’t match the room.

If that sounds familiar, you’re not alone. Most churches don’t have a trained sound engineer—just volunteers doing their best. And even when things go well, the livestream mix can still feel inconsistent from week to week.

Why Does This Happen?

The biggest challenges usually come down to:

❌ A mix that feels thin and unbalanced instead of full and natural

❌ Pastor mics that sound distant, uneven, or have feedback

❌ Livestream audio that doesn’t capture the energy of the room

❌ Soundchecks that feel rushed and undo the previous weeks' balance

❌ Broadcast mixes that always sound off, no matter how much you tweak them

There is hope...

You don’t need expensive gear or a full-time audio tech to fix these issues. A few small but important changes can make your mix clearer, more balanced, and more predictable every Sunday.

This article will discuss five quick fixes that will help you:

✅ Make your worship mix sound full and natural, not thin or artificial

✅ Get clearer, more consistent sound from your pastor’s mic

✅ Capture the energy of the room so your livestream mix feels more alive

✅ Run a soundcheck that actually sets up a better mix for the service

✅ Stop guessing and start each week with a solid & repeatable audio mix for your livestream

These aren’t complicated changes—just practical tweaks that anyone can use.

Let’s get started!

Fix #1: How to Get Wider, Fuller Sound

🔴 The Problem

Most churches that come to us sound thin, small, and cheap. The most common reason this occurs is due to the instrumentalists, and how they are mixed.

The churches fall into one of three categories:

1. They don’t run tracks and also have mediocre musicians
2. Run tracks from an iPad or computer using the headphone jack.
3. Split out each type of instrument in mono using an audio interface

The issue with all of these?

❌ If you aren’t running tracks: you are relying on inconsistent and amateur musicians to fill space appropriately.

❌ If you use an iPad headphone jack: you are forcing mono summing, which sounds artificial, lifeless, and muddies the mix.

❌ If you have an interface splitting out mono tracks: this can be helpful but usually creates more problems—more complexity in mixing, inconsistent balances, and more room for error. Not to mention that it is still MONO.

✅ The Fix

Using tracks correctly to enhance your mix

• Start using tracks (AND A METRONOME) to support your instrumentalists. Most churches don't have a strong synth or EG presence, which gives songs extra fullness.
• Keep your tracks mixed at unity (at 0)—either muted or unmuted, Don’t mess with individual track balances unless some sound is super offensive (like strings usually).
• STEREO IS IMPORTANT to make sure that the tracks feel natural, and separate from the vocals. Mono tracks don't blend well without some mixing help.
• Don’t split out every instrument—this gives your volunteers more things to mess up. We recommend a single stereo track output with click/guide on other channels. If you must split out, stereo synths/EGs, stereo percussion, and stereo ‘everything else’, is our recommendation

🎛️ How to Use Tracks Without Messing Up the Mix

• The best way to run tracks is multichannel output through an audio interface to preserve the full, professional sound they were designed to have.
• ➡ For iPads or computers – Instead of using the headphone jack, use a USB audio interface (like a Focusrite Scarlett or iConnectivity PlayAudio) to send stereo output.
• ➡ For Dante-enabled boards – Use Dante Virtual Soundcard on a laptop on stage to send tracks digitally with no signal degradation.

💡Pro Tip

Tracks are professionally mixed and mastered. If your live band sounds weak compared to the tracks, don’t adjust the tracks—adjust your band mix to match professional levels, compression, and EQ.

Fix #2: Making Your Pastor Sound Great

🔴 The Problem

Most church pastors sound thin, muffled, or distant.

The churches we listen to typically:
❌ Use the wrong mic type for their environment.
❌ Place the mic too far from the mouth, introducing feedback and room noise.
❌ Misuse EQ and compression, leaving speech inconsistent and unclear.

The result? Hard-to-hear sermons, distracting background noise, and complaints from both in-person attendees and livestream viewers.

✅ The Fix

Choosing the right mic, placing it correctly, and using proper EQ settings.

🎤 Pick the Right Mic for Your Pastor:
✔ Headworn Mic (Best Option) – Keeps the mic stable, consistent distance = more clarity.
✔ Handheld Mic – Sounds the best with minimal EQ but can be inconvenient for the speaker. Best when held at chin level, not chest level.
✔ Lapel Mic (Worst Option) – Picks up too much room noise, tonality is usually awful without serious EQ work.

📍 Placement Matters:
✔ Headworn: Place near the seam of the lips, not the cheek or jawline.
✔ Handheld: Keep it at chin level, not chest level to avoid weak projection.
✔ Lapel: Place as high on the chest as possible (but still the worst choice).

🎛️ EQ and Compression for Consistent, Clear Speech

✅ Roll off low end until the voice starts sounding too thin, then back it off slightly. If needed, use a low shelf boost to bring warmth back after the cut.
✅ Find and cut harsh frequencies—listen for what pokes out too much in your room (usually between 400Hz and 1kHz).
✅ Tame high frequencies so the voice isn’t harsh at high volumes but still feels clear and present.
✅ Use fast, aggressive compression to even out low and high moments, but don’t make it obvious—the goal is control, not squashing dynamics.

💡Pro Tip

Handheld mics naturally sound better with less EQ, but they require consistent positioning—if a speaker moves it too far from their mouth, room noise gets louder, and the voice gets thinner. We recommend making ALL talkers hold the mic at their chin.

Fix #3: Bring Your Room to Life Online

🔴 The Problem

Your livestream feels empty, lifeless, and disconnected compared to the in-room experience.

The churches we listen to typically:
❌ Don’t use crowd mics at all, making online worship feel isolated.
❌ Place crowd mics incorrectly, causing echo, phasing issues, or too much background noise.
❌ Fail to EQ crowd mics properly, making them muddy or harsh.

✅ The Fix

Properly placed and EQ’d crowd mics bring energy and engagement to your online audience.

🎤 Choosing the Right Crowd Mics & Placement
✔ Use condenser microphones for detailed, natural sound.
✔ Best mic types:

• Small-diaphragm condensers (Shure SM81, Rode NT5) for a balanced, natural room tone, near the front of the stage.
• Shotgun mics (Audio-Technica AT875R or Sennheiser MKE 600) to focus on audience sound without extra bleed.
  ✔ Placement Tips:
• For shotgun mics: in the air, pointed towards the congregation. Should be level with or in front of the PA to avoid picking up PA spill.
• Use an XY or ORTF stereo pair for a realistic stereo image, put on opposite sides of the room for a wider feel. Use a narrower distance when in a small room - or else you might get an imbalanced stereo image for emptier rooms.

🎛️ How to blend crowd mics without ruining your mix

➡ Keep crowd mics sounding natural with EQ moves to remove room tone and harshness. We don’t compress them too much, just enough to allow the quieter sections to be audible.
➡ Roll off low frequencies (below 150Hz) to clean up boominess and help the bass instruments be more clear

💡Pro Tip

Push your crowd mics louder than you think. Most professional live streams feature crowd mics more prominently than people expect. Bring them up as high as possible until they start clashing with the main mix, then dial them back slightly or EQ them subtractively. If they’re too subtle, you’re probably not using them correctly for a live mix.

Fix #4: Using Soundcheck & Rehearsals to Your Advantage

🔴 The Problem

Your mix falls apart during the service because:
❌ Vocalists don’t project properly, causing inconsistent levels.
❌ The band plays too quietly during soundcheck, then gets louder later.
❌ Wireless mics clip or distort due to improper gain staging.

✅ The Fix

Proper soundcheck structure ensures your mix is locked in before the service starts.

🎤 Fixing Mic Technique & Projection

✔ Train vocalists to keep mics within 1-2 inches of the mouth. This keeps tonality consistent, and a fuller sound overall.
✔ Encourage proper projection—singers often hold back in rehearsal but give more energy during the service. This encourages setting the gain too high.
✔ If a singer is too quiet, don’t just turn them up—encourage them to sing at full energy even during rehearsal, so the mix can be built accurately.

🎸 Gain Staging & Handling Monitor Requests

✔ Vocals should peak around -10dB depending on how everything else is sitting. There isn’t a firm rule, other than what typically sounds best on certain preamps. Just find a number that works and stick to it. We want to avoid clipping (red, distorted), and we want to avoid being too low (thinner sound, harder to get in the mix).
✔ Singers will often ask for more of themselves in their ears—but the solution isn’t cranking preamp gain until it clips.
✔ Instead of raising gain:

• Use makeup gain on the channel compressor or

• Adjust the raw send level to their in-ear mix without affecting FOH.
  ✔ Wireless mics: Check that wireless sensitivity isn’t too high on the mic transmitter or receiver—distortion often happens before it even reaches the board.

🎛️ How to Structure a Proper Soundcheck

➡ Step 1: Get basic levels while musicians play at real performance intensity.
➡ Step 2: Have the band play a full song to fine-tune the balance.
➡ Step 3: Check that singers are projecting properly and playing levels are consistent.

💡Pro Tip

As a mixer, don’t react too quickly to the first few minutes of rehearsal. The mix always feels thinner and weaker at the start—people are still warming up. Hold your ground and be patient. By the time they’re fully engaged in the set, they’ll be singing and playing louder. If you keep chasing levels early on, you’ll end up having to undo your work later when you realize everything is too hot.

Fix #5: Give Your Broadcast Mix Special Attention

🔴 The Problem

Your in-house mix sounds great in the room but weak, thin, or unbalanced online.

The churches we listen to typically:
❌ Send the exact same mix to the livestream—but the room fills in missing frequencies that don’t exist online.
❌ Rely on front-of-house mix decisions that work in the room but don’t translate well online.
❌ Waste time tweaking the mix every Sunday instead of working from a consistent starting point.

✅ The Fix

A dedicated broadcast mix ensures your livestream sounds intentional and professional.

🎛️ Why a Mix Template Is the Game-Changer
✔ A custom mix template eliminates 90% of the guesswork—so you’re not reinventing the wheel every week. The remaining 10% comes from week-to-week adjustments.
✔ Dialed in for your team’s sound and setup—so every instrument and vocal starts at a reliable balance.
✔ Allows non-engineers to get a solid mix—leaving only minor tweaks to adapt for that service.

🎚️ How to Set Up a Reliable Broadcast Mix
✔ Create a completely separate broadcast mix—either using a dedicated board or a DAW to allow for independent processing.
✔ Apply different EQ settings for livestream—what sounds good in the room almost always needs adjustments for online clarity (unless you have a perfectly tuned PA system)
✔ Use gentle compression & reverb to glue everything together and compensate for the missing room reflections.
✔ Start with a mix template built for your specific team and setup so volunteers aren’t making blind adjustments.

🎤 Bridging the Gap to Pro-Level Streaming
✔ Having a structured mix process makes it easier for anyone to get consistent results.
✔ Scene management and recallable settings ensure every service starts from a strong baseline.
✔ The best churches invest in outside expertise to refine their livestream mix—those that do achieve the most consistent, professional results.

🎛️ What if you can't run a separate broadcast mix?

If a dedicated broadcast mix isn’t an option yet, here are some temporary ways to improve your online sound:
➡ Use a dedicated EQ and processing chain for your stream output—don’t just send your FOH mix untouched.
➡ Use crowd mics (from Fix #3) to keep the livestream from sounding too dry.
➡ Test your stream with headphones—this is how most people listen at home.

Even the best front-of-house mix won't fully translate online. A proper broadcast mix template eliminates these issues entirely, giving your team a repeatable, professional starting point every week. 

💡Pro Tip

The best professional streams don’t mix from scratch every week—they refine a strong foundation. If your team is struggling with mix consistency, bringing in expert guidance to help develop a custom broadcast mix can be a game-changer.

The best way to put these tips into practice

You now know how to solve some of the biggest church sound challenges, as we have seen with some of our best clients.

But knowing this information is only the start. You have to develop an action plan to tackle all of these. And many churches we talk to have delays, especially when it comes to new purchases. If you were ambitious, you could put most of these into practice next week.

It won’t happen overnight. But what if there was a way to get a MASSIVE improvement with little work on your end, and in less than a week?

We want to offer you another free resource that can take your livestream to the next level.

How to further improve your audio quality: get your Broadcast Audio Review Session!

🎯 Book a free session with one of our online ministry directors.
✔ We’ll analyze your livestream or in-house mix.
✔ We’ll give you specific feedback & quick improvements.
✔ You will know the next steps to increase your audio quality and we will introduce to you the process that we use to help churches sound amazing overnight