With all the advancements that have been touted in professional sound reinforcement (aka, PA systems) in the last several decades, has the live sound that the audience experiences in arenas really improved that much over what people heard in, say, 1972 or 1975?

In some ways, I think it is probably worse. Give me low-tech, but blasting volumes, well, most days of the week. Are sound techs too clever by half these days? Overthinking it? [Give me the amp (and PA) turned up to 11, said Nigel Tufnel.]

I've only got first hand experience of arena rock since about 1981, and honestly, I don't think the shows I've heard this year sound any better, sound wise, than what was pumped out back then. I'll ditto stadium sound as well, which is a different beast, but for all the talk of high-tech arrays and better overall sound reinforcement, I think what has been lost is an overall intensity (and yes, volume) that personally I like to have in a rock show.

[At Stones shows, part of this is the Stones choice to evolve into a non-guitar band, so I always feel a little bad criticizing their sound reinforcement when it's more of a band choice to emphasize horns and keyboards over guitars, etc. The sound guys can't help it if the band themselves want to emphasize other things outside of the stringed instruments.]

But forget we're talking about the Stones. In general, has live concert sound really improved since Showco's hey-day?

At least the stacks of speakers no longer mess up sight lines.

Hmm...I think it's more the venues than the sound reinforcement. Really hard to make a concrete sports arena sound good, so they usually compensate with volume, which is not the same thing as quality sound. I paid my dues in the 70s going to all kinds of stadium, arena and festival shows and I have become quite a concert snob these days. I want to go to a nice hall with good acoustics.

And the early learned moral to the story was/is
sit/stand up close in front of the stage and no worries, even with 80,000 people

Early in life I learned "fk sitting on the sides or in corners" and hearing those fking echos in the old halls, thus so I became addicted to first 10 rows*. Be in the front 10 row or I didnt want to go... Bad accoustics can ruin a concert.


*of course this whole concept worked better with 5.50-$20.00 face value tickets (bought from scalpers for $10.0-$50 for front row).... I miss those days so much that it hurts.

Quote
Max'sKansasCity
And the early learned moral to the story was/is
sit/stand up close in front of the stage and no worries, even with 80,000 people

Early in life I learned "fk sitting on the sides or in corners" and hearing those fking echos in the old halls, thus so I became addicted to first 10 rows*. Be in the front 10 row or I didnt want to go... Bad accoustics can ruin a concert.


*of course this whole concept worked better with 5.50-$20.00 face value tickets (bought from scalpers for $10.0-$50 for front row).... I miss those days so much that it hurts.

Yep.

It's a dicey issue. I've been to some recent arena shows where the sound was not that great, but my experience of stadium shows has been that of greatly improved sound quality, in most cases crystal clear and still very loud...but it also depends on where you sit. My last two Stones shows were in a stadium on the BB tour; one show right up close, the other at the far end. At both shows the sound was spectacular, very loud and I must say, the guitars were once again very loud and up front in the mix as opposed to the piano based sound of some earlier tours. A huge improvement from my first stadium show sound in 1978.

I've never been to an arena or stadium show that sounded good as the sound reverberates and echoes around too much. The Stones in Cardiff stadium in 2006 was the abslute worst, I could not hear a thing from my quite high up seat, just a complete mush of noise.

I find the best sound is when it's open air like at festival venues - when you're at the right distance from the stage the sound will perfectly clear.

Arena sound is normally very good these days simply because THEY TURNED DOWN THE VOLUME.

Concerts in the 70's were way too loud - there was a thing about trying to break indoor decibel records.

I saw the Stones at Stafford Bingly Hall in 1976 and The Who had played there a few weeks before and broke the record.

I think the Stones were trying to break that.

It was way too loud and half the concert was just white noise overload, there is no way you could tell what they were playing until the quieter passages.

I think they have it pretty good mostly these days.

I saw Leonard Cohen (yeah not a loud rock demon) in Liverpool Echo Arena a couple of years back and the sound was just so perfect - it was delicious.

I have been going to concerts since the mid-1980s and have played in bands - I can honestly say that I have not heard any improvement in sound quality over the years.

In terms of Stones shows - the B2B tour had fantastic sound - by far the best sound of all their stadium tours as far as I can recall. I also remember the that the No Security tour had great sound (I saw them twice in Boston - once from behind the stage, and once from the side, and both sounded great).

Sound quality on the Licks and Bigger Bang tour varied dramatically - I know that the Sydney Bigger Bang show had terrible sound, but the Melbourne show (indoors) sounded great. The Melbourne Rod Laver Arena has great sound - saw 3 Licks shows there and they all sounded great.

Generally speaking, it seems to me, that sound quality at indoor venues has pretty much stayed the same while the sound quality of outdoor venues has vastly improved.

Quote
BluzDude
Generally speaking, it seems to me, that sound quality at indoor venues has pretty much stayed the same while the sound quality of outdoor venues has vastly improved.

I agree. Indoor venues pose a huge challenge sound-wise. These places are not designed for sound and pose huge echo challenges, etc, no matter how good the technology. Somehow outdoor stadium sound technology has overcome a lot of obstacles over the years. The first time I noticed a major improvement was when I saw The Who at Giants Stadium in 1988. Absolutely every little nuance of Townshend's accoustic guitar was clear as a bell, as was every other instrument in the band. Pretty much every other stadium show I've been to since has pleased me with very clean and clear sound, these being Stones shows at Shea Stadium in '89, Giant's Stadium in '02, '05, & '06. Also very pleasingly LOUD!

Way too much bass these days which usually results in a lot of melodic stuff being cancelled out as your ears get obliterated by volume and low frequencies.

Quote
His Majesty
Way too much bass these days which usually results in a lot of melodic stuff being cancelled out as your ears get obliterated by volume and low frequencies.

This I have to agree with. Even though my last few stadium shows sounded crystal clear, I should've said for every instrument EXCEPT the bass. My last few Stones concerts, I could not distinguish a single note D. Jones was playing; I could just feel the thump. However, ironically, Charlie's bass drum was also very loud but crystal clear in the mix.

Quote
rocker1
With all the advancements that have been touted in professional sound reinforcement (aka, PA systems) in the last several decades, has the live sound that the audience experiences in arenas really improved that much over what people heard in, say, 1972 or 1975?

In some ways, I think it is probably worse. Give me low-tech, but blasting volumes, well, most days of the week. Are sound techs too clever by half these days? Overthinking it? [Give me the amp (and PA) turned up to 11, said Nigel Tufnel.]

I've only got first hand experience of arena rock since about 1981, and honestly, I don't think the shows I've heard this year sound any better, sound wise, than what was pumped out back then. I'll ditto stadium sound as well, which is a different beast, but for all the talk of high-tech arrays and better overall sound reinforcement, I think what has been lost is an overall intensity (and yes, volume) that personally I like to have in a rock show.

[At Stones shows, part of this is the Stones choice to evolve into a non-guitar band, so I always feel a little bad criticizing their sound reinforcement when it's more of a band choice to emphasize horns and keyboards over guitars, etc. The sound guys can't help it if the band themselves want to emphasize other things outside of the stringed instruments.]

But forget we're talking about the Stones. In general, has live concert sound really improved since Showco's hey-day?

Maybe it's a matter of your hearing getting worse over the years?

[thepowergoats.com]