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Headphones at concerts

 No more need for loud speakers
 
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It's a big rock event. From where you're at, the headliners are ants. No big problem, they got the big screen up.

However, the sound is terribly distorted. Too far back you might not be able to hear it. Too close and you lose your eardrums.

At this concert, there are no loudspeakers, everyone is given a set of headphones. When the band plays, instead of cables to amps to loudspeakers, it's to temporary radio transmitters. Now you can hear them more clearly.

—Great Satan, Jun 13 2003

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       I like it. I'd like to be able to have my own mix as well. It's fun to imagine no amplification in a big stadium - all the instruments just go into a mixer, so if you took off your headphones all you'd hear is unamplified drums and singing.
—snarfyguy, Jun 13 2003
   

       Great idea. The concept of a rock concert has always bugged me. They are fun, but you certainly don't go for music quality - with all of the screaming, people (poorly) singing along, and imperfect acoustics. This would keep the fun atmosphere, allow everyone to adjust their own volume, and improve the quality of music that you paid to hear. The only problem I can see is hanging on to them in the mosh pit.
—Worldgineer, Jun 13 2003
   

       Worldgineer,   

       Thanks for your kind comments. As for your concern, Keith Moon solved that problem by securing his headphones with duck tape.
—Great Satan, Jun 13 2003
   

       Other problems:
amplifiers (are supposed to) sound good - no amps here
expense
other people's ear wax
not really very rock 'n' roll.
—snarfyguy, Jun 13 2003
   

       Hi snarfyguy,   

       Considering the price of tickets, they are relatively cheap. You get to keep the headphones. In time, one might bring in one's own special headphones. You want rock in roll, you go to a bar, not an Eagles, Rod Stewart, or Sting concert.
—Great Satan, Jun 13 2003
   

       Okay, but you said "rock" in the idea.
—snarfyguy, Jun 13 2003
   

       Point taken, though Elvis Costello would disagree.
—Great Satan, Jun 13 2003
   

       -What [Snarfyguy] said.
I couldn't imagine wanting to use these at e.g. a Metallica concert. I want to feel my trouser legs vibrate with the bass and the treble to stab me in the solar plexus.
How do you propose to get that 'movement of air' feeling that *makes* the gig (IMHO) without transmitting sound (apart from through the headphones)?
—gnomethang, Jun 14 2003
   

       //Keith Moon solved that problem by securing his headphones with duck tape.//

Remarkable stuff. Recently there was a local guy who was shot in the stomach during a drug buy (he tried to run off without paying). He went home and patched it up with duct tape. The fix might have worked, except that he was shot and killed during another drug buy a few days later…
—ldischler, Jun 14 2003
   

       It's an idea I've often considered since going to a festival as a teenager. The main problem was not the mix or the level, but the fact that there were 'booster' towers with speakers some way to either side (and forward of) the stage. If you were dead central, the sound was fine. Stand off to one side and the sound delay between the nearest and furthest speakers gives a terrible "echo".
—Chippy, Jun 14 2003
   

       And why not bring a video camera to watch the concert on the screen, instead of withstanding those harsh spotlights..? In fact, why not stay at home and watch it on TV?
—git, Jun 14 2003
   

       Hey folks, didja see that thing on Kiss's Live album? It wasn't quite live--seemed they were more a visual band than a "playing-their-instruments-well-on-stage" band.   

       Well this idea would have made making the live album even better. Just record the screeming cheering fans without all that music interfering; then introduce instruments in the studio--you wouldn't even need the band members.
—Great Satan, Dec 30 2003
   

       //Just record the screeming cheering fans without all that music interfering; then introduce instruments in the studio--you wouldn't even need the band members.//   

       My understanding is that plenty of live albums are basically already done this way. One knowledgeable source told me that virtually the only thing live on Little Feat's "Waiting for Columbus" set is the audience.
—snarfyguy, Dec 31 2003
   

       //I have to put an ear plug in one ear, otherwise I get a lot of static. (Don't know why this is.)//   

       [sloopjohnb37 ] This is because your ears are fecked. Too many loud gigs. I SAID TOO MANY LOUD GIGS, DEAR!. I have the same problem. (The Cult, Circa 1997)
—gnomethang, Dec 31 2003
   
      
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