Stones HBO Sound quality

I found the sound from the Stones HBO broadcast to be very low volume. I had trouble, even at the 3:00 position, getting good volume levels. Anything about the way it was broadcast that would impact this? I found an audio set-up screen the next day on my digital cable menu and my setup was "no compression", although there were settings for light and heavy. I tried heavy and it was much louder but not high quality.

Mike

 

Hmm..sound quality was at a lower level from the digital signal then the analog's out of the same cable box here in san diego. That said the digital signal was only a 2.0DD, as such i used the analog outputs as it sounded a little fuller to me and did have a stronger signal. Your mileage of course may have varied depending where you were. Of course its verrrrrry annoying the broadcast wasn't in HD or 5.1, but that's another issue. So to answer your question, yes in my area, with my set up the digital signal was at a lower level then the analog signal.

 

I have the same settings on my digital cable for compression. For watching The Sopranos, I had to bump it up a notch. The Sopranos are notorious for having very low sound. At least this past season did. Maybe because it is a "premium" show, just like The Stones concert, HBO "messed" with it a bit so you wouldn't want to bootleg it etc.

 

Sounds like the reason to me also.

 

I had to crank the volume a little, but I thought the sat audio signal was okay. Problem with so many of these type of broadcasts is that the mix is never that hot to begin with, as if they're assuming most viewers have stereo in their TV sets but not a decent audio system for serious playback, which most of us here have. I managed to get some Pro Logic II spaciousness, but even then pretty pedestrian overall, I thought. Some good songs and highlights; when they put this out on DVD--as they surely will--we should get that 5.1 mix. Compression was likely a factor, too.

ED

 

The sound was disappointing. It should have been in Dolby Digital but it wasn't. All I could get with Digital Cable was Pro-Logic surround.

Guess they want us to buy the eventual dvd.

 

The volume wasn't the problem with this show--it was the mix. Whoever mixed this show should be slapped with a moist fish. Ron wasn't audible and, at times, Keith was so far forward in the mix, each little mistake was magnified louder than Charlie's entire kit. I seriously doubt that this show will be issued on DVD. The band has been filming and recording every show (including lots of fan interviews and backstage stuff) for a DVD due sometime this year. The HBO show was OK but I preferred the show I saw recently in Montreal. It was the first one back from a holiday break and they were like tigers who had just escaped from a zoo. It was amazing.

 

Well, I do not have broadcast digital capability, but I have no complaints over the volume level - it seemed just fine over standard cable.

On the other hand, I also thought this was one of the best mixed live broadcasts of a rock show that they ever did. The mix was easily far better than the original live feeds of either Steel Wheels or Voodoo Lounge concerts. If you wanted to hear a lousy live mix, listen to original broadcast tapes of either of those concerts. The audio on the respective DVD releases was re-mixed prior to release.

 

I got plenty of volume over my stereo for the concert. I thought the mix didn't have enough low end, but there was plenty of detail. I thought the mix during the small stage section was pretty good.

Considering the stuff we had on tv in the seventies, this broadcast was quite a treat.

 

when has that ever stopped bootleggers. Of course if they do want to release it on dvd a sound upgrade would help sell it.

 

No - miked - you were not hallucinating.

I was never really said the mix was GOOD (or i didn't mean too...), I merely stated that for live arena rock n' roll - not some television studio controlled concert like Fleetwood Macs "The Dance", or The Eagles " Hell Freezes Over", the mix was one of the best live feeds I've heard. Remember that this is being mixed "on the fly". If Keith forgets to kill a power booster after a solo, if a drum mike moves 2" closer to the skin - all kinds of hell break loose. Yeah - Ronnie was a little low for most of the show - who knows, maybe there was some low level hum on that channel which could be "fixed" later, but nothing could be done then. The mix seemed quite a bit better than the "hall sound" usually is in the house, and it had a good rock n' roll feel. It also seemed a quite a bit better than other cable and radio broadcasts of live rock concerts I've heard.

Basically I just turned it up and didn't obsess over it. Listen - The Springsteen DVD of the HBO Madison Square Garden shows sounds pretty good - but as I was at both of those shows I can tell you the mix in the Garden those nights had an excessive "boomy bottom", and almost no high level detail at all. You wouldn't know that listening to the DVD.