Show was wonderful, but the eches incredible. We were in A3 and never had such a bad whawha than on any other show this time.
To bad we missed one song. But it's a truncated Euro Tour with truncated shows sometimes. Still the Stones have much more to offer than any other band anyway.

Great show but horrible sound from where we were standing. My brother & I were in D4, close to the b-stage & the sound was a blurred, tinny, echoey mush throughout. Hopefully it will be better on Tuesday.

Lower East Stand, was a vast improvement from 2003

had bad sound in 03 and was very worried but looks like they had sorted it where i was all.. clear and crisp in East Stand Tier 2 and what a performance from the stones too

I also found the sound "muddly" but I'd blamed it on where I was sitting. Really annoying when everyone here is raving about how good the guitars were and I was having trouble sorting them out of the mix (although I could see and hear how hard Woody was working). Never mind. Still wouldn't have missed it for anything.

Roll on Tuesday when I am sitting lower down on the opposite side of the stadium and things may be different.

By the way, many thanks to whoever on these boards suggested bringing binoculars! Most of us aren't that near the stage and you get to concentrate on what you really want to look at.

SOUND WAS AWFUL FROM WHERE WE WERE IN THE WEST STAND - TONS OF ECHO, ALL INSTRUMENTS WERE MASHED UP IN A BIG MESS. A REAL DISAPPOINTMENT.

I'M A GENUINE FAN, SEEN THEM ON SEVERAL OCCASIONS AND HAVE ALWAYS BEEN WARY OF PEOPLE CRITISING THE SOUND ON THIS IORR BOARD, THINKING THEM TO BEING A BIT PICKY. IT'S SOO FRUSTRATING WITH THIS STADIUM AS IT SEEMS TO BE POT LUCK AS TO WHETHER YOU GET A DECENT SOUND OR NOT.

We were in C3. Sound was perfect, cristal clear. Keith guitar was top. Sound was even better than in Paris. San Siro was muddy and horrible.

as you correctly say, it is very hit and miss, ( the stands, in particular), as to the quality of sound you experience.
I had appaling sound at both shows in 2003 -
(but much improved, last night)

So far complaints have come from West Stand (where I was) and compliments from East Stand. People who haven't got a ticket yet, take note.

only 19 songs. lol.

phd wrote : "We were in C3. Sound was perfect, cristal clear. Keith guitar was top. Sound was even better than in Paris. San Siro was muddy and horrible."

Phd, it depends on where everyone is, in every case (stadium). For example, in San Siro from where i was sound was very good...

Multiple fragment post - sorry!



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 2006-08-21 19:32 by sjs12.

I was in A2 and the sound was very echoey. I'm an acoustic engineer and I've been thinking about what's going on. I think the echo may have been made worse by the columns of speakers at the back of the stadium bouncing off the rear walls and ceiling and then going back down to the front. Many people in the stands claim that the sound was crystal good though some thought it was poor.

I've tried to explain this below for those who are interested. If you hate science skip this bit now because it will be boring.

As an example, take my seat in A2. I must have been about 20 m from the front column of speakers. Since speed travels at 340 m/s then it takes about 60 ms for the sound to reach me. I reckon that the stadium is about 200m long so I get an echo about 1 second later from the main speaker column. In addition, I get an echo from the rear speaker column (although no direct sound). In addition to that, there are some speaker columns directed towards the east and west wings which will have a relatively short delay time to get to my seat (maybe 100 - 150 ms - i.e. a tenth of a second or so). Obviously the real situation is much more complicated with multiple reflections coming from all angles, but hopefully you can see why it is can be so bad. The roofs on the stands (which kept those in that area dry) probably make the sound worse because they prevent much of the reflected sound going up into the sky which, believe me, is the best place for it.

If you were halfway up the stadium you would see an echo some half a second after the original signal hit you. However, if you are lucky and in the direct signal path of the speakers, the direct sound will be muck louder than the echos and reverberation. In that case, you will perceive the sound to be crystal clear.

Hope this goes some way to explaining why it is like fighting a losing battle to get good sound in a stadium. Some stadiums are fitted with absorption to reduce reflections and reverberation. The new Wembley is due to have a variable absorption system fitted in the roof where you can make it more reverberant for football matches but reduce reflections and reverb for gigs.

thanks sjs, thanks for your knowledge- interesting stuff

SJS 12, do you reckon the awful tinniness (extremely trebly with little audible bottom end) was related to the echo problems?

I doubt it. It may have been to do with the response of the space meaning that they had to take out alot of low frequency sound to stop it from booming or feeding back.

More likely it is to do with the way the speaker columns distribute sound. Their directivity characteristics will vary depending on the frequency. Hence, you may have been at a "lobe" of high frequency responce. Lower frequencies are less directive and, hence, will be more evenly distributed throughout the stadium. Hence, it would be quite impossible to give everyone in the stadium the same mix.

Perhaps the best place to hear the gig is to go to the mixing desk! (That said, I expect he uses headphones mostly)

Well I was A1 Row 6 and it was simply the finest Stones/rock gig ever. No complaints at all. Far better than the Who in Bristol and thats saying something!