Sound Quality at Vancouver I & II

[the olive]

Caught both Vancouver shows from the floor and while U2's performance was great as usual, I was stunned that the sound quality was so poor. I had read some of the reviews regarding the sound on this tour but I wanted to see for myself, especially since GM Place is considered one of the better arenas acoustically. I've been to dozens of concerts - I was at 2 Cher shows last weekend and the difference in audio quality was disturbing. Cher was loud, well mixed, clear and free of distortion. U2 was loud, however there was a high pitch layer of distortion that overwhelmed the music, and there wasn't nearly enough bass in the mix. Bono's voice was not clear, even during the speaking only segments I had to concentrate to understand what he was saying. I went to 2 Elevation shows (floor too) and they both sounded fine. I would be shocked if U2 were not aware that the sound quality was subpar.

I bought earplugs to both the Vertigo shows to drown out KOL, however I ended up putting them in during U2, and that actually helped clean the sound somewhat. I have never used earlplugs during a headline act before. My only clue as to why the sound is lacking was the PA racks appear smaller than I've seen before, almost as if they are pushing less speakers to give more.

I'm not bitching - U2 was great, I got my money's worth, I'm just hoping that they are aware of the audio issues that it seems like they are having on this tour. My advice to those that are going - bring earplugs, just in case.

 

[dserink]

I was at Vancouver for the second show and the sound quality was awful. I've seen U2 twice before, on Pomart and Elevation and I understood Bono perfectly both times. The Vancouver show was terrible. I kept thinking about some poor fan who has never seen U2 before and listening to that. Bono could have been speaking a different language and it wouldn't have mattered. I love U2 and the Edge stole the show in my opinion, but not being able to hear Bono's magnificent voice sucked. I wanted to hear SYCMOYO live just for Bono's voice and all I got was the melody and a mash of sound from the terrible audio. I give the concert a 6 out of 10. Please fix the audio.

 

[gursky]

And I thought it was just me who found the audio quality to not be that great. I was located in Section 118 and blamed the imperfect mix on the side stack, but I guess there was more at fault than the side speakers. If anything I thought the acoustics in GM Place would have been superior since the rehersals were done there so there would have been a better understanding of how the venue reacts to the noise (although not having a full stadium greatly affects the sound too).

I made a post about my recording of Vancouver 1 here (http://forum.interference.com/showthread.php?s=&postid=2377441#post2377441) and the sound not being perfect. So partially that can be blamed on recording in seats and also on the inhouse mix too. Hopefully someone else recorded the show and was able to achieve a better recording than I did.

 

[ultraviolet353]

I actually think they are still working out the vocal mixing on the new songs in particaular COBL, LAPOE, and SYCMIYO. I saw LA1 (vocal mixing was awful--couldn't even hear "can you hear me when I sing" line from SYCMIYO) and LA2 (vocal mix was a lot better but still some hiccups). I noticed that the older songs sounded much better as far as sound quality--much more of a sweet spot between band and vocals. I think it will get better as the tour goes on. I honestly think some of the new songs are very tricky to mix ina live setting.

 

[poppedtart]

I thought that some adjustments were made shortly after opening as I thought the show sounded better as time went on.

 

[mr_perfect]

I was on the floor 2nd row outside the elipse for the first show...the sound wasnt horrible until after a few songs were played...around the time of miracle drug and for the rest of the show, I thought it was great.

for the 2nd show, I had absolute nosebleed on the opposite end of the arena 3 rows from the top, the sounds was actually pretty decent, cobl was kind of muffled, but after that everything sounded awesome...

 

[mr_perfect]

sorry I meant to say for the first show the sound WAS horrible until miracle drug...

 

[teamchachi]

I was GA for Van1 and I thought the sound was pretty good.

I was section 108 for Van2 and though the sound was not great. Much more difficult to understand what Bono was saying.

I attributed it to the change in seats. Tough to say.

 

[LyricalDrug]

I've been to dozens of concerts - I was at 2 Cher shows last weekend

If you're attending multiple Cher shows, then U2's sound quality is the least of your hearing problems

 

[korczykp]

Re: Re: Sound Quality at Vancouver I & II

If you're attending multiple Cher shows, then U2's sound quality is the least of your hearing problems

It's funny 'cuz it's true

 

[the olive]

Re: Re: Sound Quality at Vancouver I & II

If you're attending multiple Cher shows, then U2's sound quality is the least of your hearing problems

Hey come on, she does a rockin' ISHFWILF

I can usually get great tickets and this time friends and family wanted to go. I am not a big fan but she is a pretty good performer. Did I mention the Village People opened? Now there is an impressive act.

 

[boosterjuice]

I was at the VAN2 show on the floor. I can relate perfectly to what the olive is saying. There was a lot of mud layered in the output. I also brought earplugs just in case. When u2 came on, I experimented a little with the plugs. I listened without them in, and with them in. With earplugs it definitely sounded better. You could hear Edge's guitar perfect I could understand everything that Bono was saying. I didn't have the earplugs inserted all the way. I just had them partially in. I found that it gave the best sound quality that way. AFter the concert, my ears were not ringing.

 

[dserink]

Cher probably sounded good because she was lip synching. As much as I was disappointed with the sound of Bono's vocals through the beginning of the show the band sounded super. The mix did get better around Love and Peace or Else and Running to Stand Still was perfect. I would rather see them live and have mistakes then to see them lip synching. My dilemma is I have to see them again now. I'm going to wait until fall so they can get all the kinks out of the audio. A friend of mine always told me to wait about 6 months into a tour to get the best show. I know why now. Still the U2 concert in Vancouver was great, just not spectacular as I expect from U2. I'll see them again and by the way I'm a perfectionist, can't you tell.