Bootleg Audio Theory/Logic

fANNER1971

So I purchased the 2010 shows I attended on CD (Boston and Hartford). Here are my impressions:

1. Love the non-sound board "feel" of the boots. That is to say, what's the point of getting a boot that is a straight dump from a sound board? These boots are definitely from "live" mic feeds placed within the venue.
2. Disappointed in the mix: To my ears, the drums, bass and Ed's vox are front and center and the guitars are way, way to low... Almost like I'm listening to a 5.1 mix through only the center channel and sub-woofer speakers.

Following the logic of the above two statements, I surmise that the live mix is "center heavy"; it's as if Ed, Jeff and Matt are being accompanied by Mike and Stone.

And I think I know why: re-verb. The live shows at amphitheaters sound phenomenal to ticket holders under the shed because the sound guys can crank the guitars without fear of ax re-verb muddying it all to shit. In doors, wailing guitars swamp the sound for 75% of the venue. The worst PJ sound I ever experienced was in 2003 at MSG. I had seats dead-center, in the loge 10 rows above the sound board. It was a nightmare of guitar echo. I still had fun and danced and drank, but at one point I actually tried to climb down into the sound board and hi-jack that shit...

imissyoualready

I agree with a lot of what you're saying but I also think that the mastering process got short-cutted big time on these. If you go listen with headphones, you can tell that it was maybe mastered either mostly with headphones or at least with the idea in mind that it should sound good in ear buds. It's much better with headphones than in a car or on a stereo and that's different than what we've been used to over the last few rounds of boots. Also, the overall sound tends a little too much toward the high-end. The EQ isnt where I would want it. But, again, on phones its far less noticeable because there's no low end anyway. All in all, these boots werent terrible but I dont think they nailed it by any means. Still beats the shit out of the stuff we used to buy for $60 at the used record store 15 years ago. And you know thats right!