Church translation equipment
Church translation equipment: headsets, interpreters or phones.
A church can translate a service with headset receivers and a person interpreting each language, or with live translation on the phones people already carry. This guide prices both in 2026 and says what each does well.
See it
No receivers: the phones people carry.
A sample service on the big screen and two phones, each in its own language, with nothing to hand out. Press play.
The three ways churches translate a service
1. An interpreter on stage
The preacher pauses after each sentence and an interpreter repeats it. It needs no equipment, but a 45-minute sermon becomes 90, and only one other language fits.
2. Headsets and an interpreter in the back
An interpreter speaks into a headset microphone, a transmitter sends it on an FM or infrared channel, and listeners wear receivers. Each language needs its own channel and its own interpreter, every week.
3. Live translation on phones
The sound desk sends the sermon to a translation service, and each listener scans a QR code and reads or hears their own language. With Voclyn that is 100+ languages to choose from, and the pastor can switch languages mid-sentence. No receivers, no transmitter, no interpreter required.
What the equipment costs in 2026
| Option | What you get | Price, checked October 2026 |
|---|---|---|
| Enersound TSB-10 | 1 language, 10 listeners, FM | $1,085 |
| Listen Technologies Wi-Fi kit | 2 channels to phones or receivers, 8 receivers | $5,527 |
| Williams AV Digi-Wave | 4 languages plus the floor, 50 receivers, 4 headset mics | $22,323 |
| Receiver rental | Per receiver, per day: FM, infrared or digital | $10–30 |
| Voclyn | Phones people already carry: captions in 100+ languages, an AI voice (TTS) | Free plan, or $69–$249 a month |
Headset prices are retailers’ list prices in US dollars and don’t include the interpreters. Every headset system still needs a person interpreting each language every week.
The part that isn't equipment: interpreters
Most churches rely on bilingual members who volunteer. Where a church pays, the US median wage for interpreters and translators is $28.93 an hour; conference interpreters charge by the day and work in pairs. A service in four languages needs four people ready every Sunday, and someone to cover when one is away.
That is usually what decides it: not the receivers, but finding the people.
What headsets and interpreters do better
- They don’t depend on Wi-Fi or mobile data.
- A person understands humour, prayer and a pastoral moment in a way software doesn’t.
- Receivers work for members without a smartphone, and the same receivers can double as assistive listening for people with hearing loss.
What phones do better
- Every language at once, without an interpreter for each.
- Nothing to buy, charge, hand out, collect or clean.
- People can read, which helps when the room is loud or hearing is hard, and the text can be large.
- The same captions can go on the projector and the livestream.
- With a church glossary, names and church words stay the same every week; with Scripture lock, readings come from a published Bible in five languages.
The hybrid many churches choose
Keep the interpreter you have for your largest language group, and let phones cover everyone else, the projector and the livestream. Voclyn captions whoever is speaking, the interpreter included, so nothing about the service has to change on the first Sunday.
Questions to ask before you buy anything
- How many people need translation, and in how many languages?
- Do they all have smartphones? Is there Wi-Fi or mobile data in the room?
- Who will interpret each language every week, and who covers when they’re away?
- Does it need to reach the projector or the livestream too?
- What will it cost over three years, people included?
Questions
What churches ask.
Something else on your mind? Write to us at hello@voclyn.com.
With headsets: an interpreter's microphone, a transmitter for each language and a receiver for each listener. With phone-based translation such as Voclyn: a laptop or old phone connected to the mixer, and a printed QR code.
In October 2026 we found $1,085 for a one-language, ten-person FM kit and $22,323 for a four-language, fifty-receiver system, not counting the interpreters.
For translation, yes: people scan a QR code and read or hear their language. Keep a few receivers or printed text for members without a phone, and assistive-listening receivers for people who need them.
Not for Voclyn to work. Many churches keep their interpreter for one language and let phones cover the rest.
A laptop or a phone connected to the mixer's spare output (or placed near a speaker), and an internet connection.
No receivers to hand out this Sunday.
Connect a laptop to the mixer, print the QR code and preach. 30 days of the Church plan free, no card.
Your first month is on us: the Church plan, normally $99 a month, with unlimited listeners, translation hours and AI voiceover. No card; then choose a plan, or stay on Free.