Live show vs recorded show playback - observations

Hi-Fi Corner
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So I had the extreme good fortune to see Bryan Adams in Abu Dhabi a few days ago (on the way back from work) and having seen extensively his Blu-ray recordings of the live shows at Royal Albert Hall (2022 and 2024) I was in for a treat… How would all this sound live? It’s been over 15 years since I last saw Bryan Adams live at Wembley. I did see him in Dubai though a few years ago. Difference kind of venue (outdoors)

Blimey - as good as the recording, DAC, amplifier, speakers are, Live sound is just something else.

And the reason is that it is just so plain loud, with no limiters and completely unrestrained dynamics.

At home, playing at these volumes is simply impossible. The neighbors will call the cops, ears will be damaged/destroyed, and it is simply not right for domestic size of rooms compared to a concert hall space. Or a stadium !

Anyway - after all the excitement of the live show has worn off, it has been more than a week now. Watching the recording (Royal Albert Hall blu ray) at home now, and to be honest it sounds different, but I think… just as enjoyable (musically) but at a fraction of the live sound volume…

I do miss the live show experience a lot, he is such a good performer at the age of 66, his voice the same as back in the eighties !

I am grateful he is still the same, healthy and strong, and his songs have kept me company through some very tough times in my life.

The live show recording sounds still amazing on my Chord 2qute/202/200Dr… The guitar sounds of Keith Scott are not exactly the same as I remember live, but it sounds still so extremely good ! I got my trusty old 14 year blu ray player out of retirement for this treat. I would say the drums and guitar sounds a bit more raw live, and more polished on the recording, not show why. Both sound good to me, not sure why they are different though, it is the exactly same instruments we are talking about. It isn’t the Chord DAC, the same thing happens on an audio quest dragonfly red DAC also.

In my humble opinion I think it is because of unrestrained dynamics vs the various limiters/eq that might have been used to produce an audio recording.

Just making an observation that Live and recorded will not quite ever sound the same, but they are not meant to either.

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Can we agree on “it depends”?

The organ in the Albert Hall is ultra-hard to replicate.

Solo piano or a string quartet are easier to get close, but still a pretty stern test to get exactly right.

Most folk music works better outdoors, though whether that is eyes fooling ears I don’t know.

I remember how much more involving Bowie was at Milton Keynes, and how loud, but I can’t say the actual SQ was as good as I get at home. Ditto Zeppelin at Knebworth or the fairly recent Stones at Twickenham.

That was imho always true of many big live shows by legends, and many live shows are vigorous and arresting while the actual SQ was terrible - Siouxsie, the Stranglers, most rock bands at RAH, Burning Spear in about 1990 at Brixton Academy, any Manchester band at any sweaty indoor venue in late 80s/early 90s.

Given what my hifi was like then (no attempt at the ‘hi’ bit), the fact that I noticed how bad the live sound was is pretty damning.

Stadium stuff can sound good if you are standing in just the right place and lots of care is taken - Tull and Paul Weller and Gabriel just about anywhere, lots of jazz and so on.

Sometimes, it helps if all are in the right frame of mind (insert your own examples). However, for SQ, comfort and the ability to concentrate, my house wins. For an immersive experience, even with rubbish sound and perhaps a headache later, gigs win.

Am I alone in this?

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Agree most life sound is poor, some simply atrocious.
Eels at roundhouse we’re good.
Max Richter at RFH very poor, but that’s the RFH……
Best I’ve ever had was Cowboy Junkies at the Union Chapel…. About 12 years ago.

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Great pick! They were brilliant at the Shepherds Bush Empire, but that was a long time ago (so I don’t wholly trust my memory) and I am sure that ideal seating was still a huge help.

Also RFH - true.

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Respectfully disagree with NickofWimbledon. I have a decent system, but in the next room we have a Steinway Concert Grand piano. Even with my purest source (Prob Radio 3 FM) via a brand new 500DR into flagship B&W 800s, stereo hifi sound isn’t remotely close to a real piano.

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Fair enough. Wouod you say that a piano is harder to get exactly right than a big organ like that at RAH?

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What matters is the sound level at your ears, and ears will be equally damaged/destroyed at the live gig. If that loud it is best to wear ear defenders (the clever insertable filter attenuator type you can get these days just for this purpose - I wish they’d been available 30-50+ years ago!). And neighbours / house companions aside, other than for thd sakd of your ears there is no correct if incorrect maximum volume.

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At a live show the sound quality you hear will be directly related to your listening position in the venue and the venue acoustics.
If your listening position is far left or right from the stage you wont get good stereo imaging, if your too far back, sound will reflect of the back wall and if your too far forward you might be in line with the speakers so not optimal for the sound either. Possibly being near where the sound engineers desk is might probably give you the best sound for that venue.
Where-as if the concert is being recorded the sound is probably coming directly from the instruments and microphones into the recording equipmsnt, then it will be further optimised for playback on DVD or Blu-ray disc and most likely if your Blu-ray player is connected to your HiFi System at home the sound you will hear will be further optimised for home listening.
So the likelihood is the concert sound quality that you hear will be much better at home being replayed. However, you cant replicate the live music full experience in your armchair at home, but it will probably sound much better.
I collect music concert and video DVDs and Blu-rays and have about 2500 of them, I have many of concerts that I went to see live, but the discs sound so good and you can keep replaying them, thats a further plus over just seeing the concert live.

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Whether one finds joy in the thrill of a concert or solace in the familiarity of a favourite album, the beauty of music lies in its ability to connect us both to the artists who create it and to one another. Ultimately, the choice between live and recorded music may not be a matter of preference but rather a celebration of the diverse ways music enriches our lives.

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A lot of the time, this is a choice of what music you want, isn’t it?

I have seen older legends like Zeppelin and Bowie and the Stones and even more great folkies like Jansch and Renbourn and I have played their music at home on the last day or two.

There are still great live performers of course (e.g. Jon Gomm and Sons of Kemet in the last year or two) and it is little trouble to hear great classical music live for the 8+ months a year I spend on London. However, most of my favourite musical performers are dead and those that are not actually dead don’t sound as good or don’t play much or both.

Am I different in this from most here?

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With the general trend over the last few years of people moving away from buying physical media, record companies and artists are not releasing many music concerts and music videos on DVDs and Bluray discs, to the point that the biggest Home Entertainment retailer in Australia, JB HiFi has pretty much stopped buying in what little is still being released, so over the last couple of years Im having to buy more Online to get the new release discs.
Shame as you normally get LPCM tracks at 16/48 which is pretty much CD sound quality and some have been Hi-Res at 24/48 and 24/96 , so very good sound quality wise and recently some concerts are now coming out on 4k Bluray with ATMOS tracks as well as LPCM stereo.
Unfortunately, music DVDs and Blurays are not very well supported now with only the odd few new ones being released. The medium is not well supported by members on this forum either as Ive had a thread running in the Home Theatre Section on these with very little contributions from other forum members which Ive found quite surprising considering the passion on the forum for all things music related.
The good thing is that there are still plenty of choices to listen to music, which is the most important point.

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For a variety of reasons, a hi-fi system will never replicate the live experience IMHO.

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Yes I agree, I had to buy the RAH Bryam Adams box sets online. There were some after the live show at the merchandise stands but the price was double than Bryan Adams own website.

Seems it is sometimes easier to find vinyl than CD’s these days. Which is a good thing, but they are quite expensive. Maybe they are supposed to be? or maybe increased demand will lead to price efficiencies. The funny thing is that it seems all modern vinyl comes from a digital master. But maybe a hi-res one.

I also found it interesting that I had the choice to buy the Boxsets in either Vinyl or CD format, but chose CD instead of Vinyl. I didn’t really hesitate to get the CD versions.

I guess the Vinyl comes from a digital master anyway which is present on the blu-ray LPCM tracks and I can’t listen to the Vinyl anywhere but my music room.

Having said that I do like the recordings so much just maybe I will also buy the Vinyl sets… or maybe not.

I need to get myself a good turntable, but I don’t see the point of spending so much money on this, I would rather buy a lot of blu-ray concerts…

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The best live shows I could have seen were in little jazz clubs.
In big stadiums or concerts areas, the music of the musicians is amplified.

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When I listen at home I don’t have to pay a million pounds for a burger and a beer or have to deal with the general public! Lost interest in these “mega concerts” with their crazy pricing, dynamic pricing of ticket master, silly bag searches meaning I become a captive audience if I want refreshments…. I could go on!

Joking aside live music in the right environment is a thing of beauty that can’t be replicated. We have a lovely little venue in Norwich (the art centre) sure the big guys won’t come and play there but the acoustics and the ambience when the right artist nails it is a wonderful thing. Pretty sure most Towns and Cities around the UK will have similar venues.

My main system gets me close to some of that ambience and the emotion is conveyed in the comfort of my own home but still different to a real live performance.

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I know the Norwich Arts Centre very well, as I used to live in Anchor Quay for many years before I moved to Perth, Western Australia.
Venues come in all shapes and sizes from small 40-50 people jazz clubs to football stadiums, so sound quality is hugely variable based on venue acoustics and the quality of the equipment being used and of course the quality of the musicians.
But recording the concerts and professionally mixing and mastering the sound for music replay is a good sound quality leveller, that you can repeatedly enjoy at home.

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Small world, I lived at 11 Anchor Quay back in the 90’s!

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Shame that the Wine Bar has now been long gone!

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Indeed, a lovely little wine bar!

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Agreed. I recall attending a performance of Vaughan Williams’ Sea Symphony in Manchester’s Bridgewater Hall with a very large orchestra and even larger chorus. It starts with a huge fortissimo which was overwhelming in the hall. The performance was recorded and later issued as a CD. A very good CD too, but no way could it reproduce the effect of what I heard in the concert hall. Another recital I remember was on the organ of Notre Dame in Paris. Some of the low notes felt like they were shaking the foundations of the building and again I’ve not heard a system that could fully reproduce that effect in a domestic setting.

On the other hand, listening at home lets me focus on details that are perhaps less obvious in the concert hall or cathedral and that brings pleasure too. So I think of listening to live music and to recordings as different, though obviously related, activities, but both pleasurable in their own ways.

Roger

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