Are Avioms Still Used?

I’m 32 years old. I remember when I first starting playing drums at church, something that you would remember to if your ears ever had to endure. Needless to say, I gave that up and picked up guitar. I was 12 years old and using these crazy looking blue boxes that somehow magically gave me 16 channels of inputs PLUS panning and presets. The Aviom was introduced in 2001 and is still a viable product today. Through the years I’ve played guitar at many churches, conferences, and events. Through these experiences I’ve actually grown to hate using Aviom units. Despite my opinion, these are actually still incredible units, but you just have to know the facts about them before considering them as a purchase. Times have changed and made things slightly different with Avioms I/O which is a great starting point. So are Avioms still being used today? The short answer is yes. The longer answer is that there are other options out there for better price points or functionality that just weren’t their way back in 2001. 

Avoim Was the Original

Aviom was the first personal monitoring system that actually made sense in the church world. They were, without a doubt, the forerunners in personal mixers for in ear monitors. Through the years many companies have released their own take on what the Aviom does. I would be an ignorant sound tech if I could give credit to where credit is due. The church world was changed drastically when Avioms were originally introduced. 

Aviom Routing: Analoge vs Digital

For a while my biggest complaint with using Aviom units is that you would, at least in the beginning, have to use inserts into each channel that you wanted to monitor. If you chose to keep a separate gain structure for your ears, you could obviously use a tie-line and split the signal to a separate mixer, specifically being used for the Aviom system. So why is this a problem? Since the introduction of digital mixers, we’ve seen sound consoles get smaller and smaller. We’ve seen new features get loaded up in to small packages that pack a serious punch. The trade-off for this is that we’ve seen sound consoles lose hardware. One of the big hardware pieces that you don’t really see anymore is the inserts for each input channel. Therefore, any channel you place into an Aviom would require you to lose an output channel, unless a tie-line was used. Things changed since they introduced a Dante version of the D400-Dante A-Net Distributer. You always needed their distributor with the old units, but this unit allows you to send everything over via Dante. This could actually save your old Aviom system. Sorry musicians, sometimes you have to use every part of the buffalo. Especially when paired with the newer black Aviom units, this option is a complete game changer in the world of Aviom. Especially if you’re already married to the system. 

The Aviom Price Point

Avioms were once the only option, so they had the edge on this market. Considering this market has so much competition now, I don’t find their price point to be super competitive. The new A640 units look incredibly promising, but their price point is about $950 USD. For churches wanting to get the best bang for their buck, wireless in-ears are a better option. Especially if you want don’t want to see the mixers on stage. Let’s be honest, personal mixers on stage are an unnecessary run of wires in most case. For that price point, I’m in the camp of just going wireless. If you’re in a studio setting however, I could see the benefit of these. I would personally look at the p16 or DP48 systems in that case though. 

The Blue Resale Trend

I can’t tell you how many listings I’ve seen on Reverb or Facebook of boxes and boxes of Aviom units. Typically I’m seeing more of the old and ugly blue units, but I’ve seen my fair share of the newer units too. I think this is again due to price point to upgrade or add more units vs the quality and features of the units. Don’t get me wrong, if you get a system for a good deal and it works for you, do it. Every church is different and requires different systems. At the end of the day, budget is my main consideration here. 

A Poorly Setup Aviom System Sounds Awful

I’ve seen many Aviom systems in my time as a tech and musician. Many of these Aviom systems were setup poorly and sound down right dreadful. The Dante Aviom setup is obviously a lot less problematic. This is applicable to any personal mixer but for some reason I find the Aviom system to be less forgiving in that regard. If you go Dante and that side is configured properly, I think these units actually sound incredible. It’s all about how it’s setup. 

So Are Avioms Still Used Though?

Honestly, I don’t really see many churches anymore using Aviom. Blame it on price range? Maybe it’s a failure to innovate like they did back in 2001. It could even just be a cultural shift in the church world of things. These boxes are sturdy and typically stand the test of time, just do your research before installing or converting to this system.