Symphony X Butchered!

[nightwish58]

My God, but the sound during Symphony X was just awful. I have seen them many times (over 10), including at PP two years ago, and never did they sound so terrible. It was so bad (loud) and distorted that i had to leave. Again, I am not referring to their performance (since it is always great), but seriously, why the hell was the sound so damn high. That sound guy did a horrible job and pretty much ruined their set.

Aside from that, what an amazing weekend. Vanden Plas blew me away and Nightwish were absolutely amazing!!! Evergrey tore the place up also! Man did it go by quickly!

 

[DrBell]

wow. i thought sym x's sound was ok but that evergrey's sound was not too good.

 

[alexofbodom]

I also did not feel that Symphony X's sound was that bad. It could have definitely been better. Evergrey sound was worse IMO. Best sounds of festival were Vanden Plas, Pagans Mind, Nightwish and Rage.

 

[Creeps]

I thought Symphony X & Vanden Plas were too loud.. X all too loud, Plas mostly too much bass drowning out other aspects.

 

[The Metal Chick]

Hmmm I thought that it sounded fine except that I couldn't hear the keyboard solos or the bass. It certainly wasn't so much that I would leave because of it.

 

[General Zod]

My 5th time seeing SX, and I thought they sounded great. Where in the venue were you?

GZ

 

[nightwish58]

My 5th time seeing SX, and I thought they sounded great. Where in the venue were you?

GZ

I was next to the camera guy on the left side. There was alot of feedback, and it was just extremely loud, and I have seen Manowar many times!!!!

 

[General Zod]

I was down by the stage, and it sounded good.

Love the Manowar comment.

GZ

 

[nightwish58]

I was down by the stage, and it sounded good.

Love the Manowar comment.

GZ

That's what I should have done. Oh well, they were great anyway!

 

[BABS]

Hmmm I thought that it sounded fine except that I couldn't hear the keyboard solos or the bass.

That's what drove me nuts, was that I couldn't hear the keys at all! I absolutely love the keys on Communion and The Oracle and it just killed me not being able to hear it because of it being drowned out.

 

[sloppy]

My God, but the sound during Symphony X was just awful.

Me too. I was happy with all the bands' clear sound until Symphony X. What a shame to ruin such a performance. Too loud!

 

[Wishmaster]

I noticed that their set was rather loud, too. You don't usually hear each instrument clearly from the wings backstage.

--Mike

 

[SinDizzy]

I agree that they were too loud, but it wasn't all that bad, IMO. They were my favorite band of the festival.

 

[ThXinc]

I agreee that something was VERY wrong with the sound. The Keys were definitely out of place. WAY too loud. It became muddled at times and then sometimes leads, keys or Rus were just overpowering everything else. At one time, there was an underlying distortion that brought about the same look on my face as that of a dog near a fire hydrant during a fire!:hotjump:

 

[AMBR]

Wow, it must really depend on where you were. First three songs I was in front of the barricade, dead center and yea, it was a little loud, I was so close, but sounded balanced to me. For the rest of the set I was in the balcony on the side of the stage and the sound was great. Too bad it was not the same for everyone. The Odyssey was awesome!!!!

 

[X man]

i was in the stadium seats. Vanden Plas sounded like an album so there is NO EXCUSE for the horrible sound of Symphony X. Most of the other bands sounded good to great where I was sitting. Before X played, I could see the LEDs on the mixing board an some channels would peg in the red on occasion. While X played, almost every channel constantly stayed in the red. Since I played professionally for a number of years and was heavily involved in the sound aspect of my band, I will tell all of you that this was no fluke. I had to yell at the top of my lungs to communicate with my friend sitting next to me. I did not have to do this with any other band. I believe that Symphony X is the best at what they do anywhere currently and their sound engineer should be replaced for the terrible job he is doing. They are a group that needs a reasonable sound level to hear the parts. When Romeo started into Inferno, there were so many overtones that the parts were not clear. There was constant feedback ringing in the system as well. The bass was very loud but pure mush-no distinction. The keyboards could only be heard in the range of higher notes. Sir Russel's vocals were there but were feedbacking constantly. Jason Rullo just was recognized in Modern Drummer magazine for his work on The Odyssey and I was really looking forward to hear him on this tune since they did not perform it on the Blind Guardian tour. All I could hear was a little snare drum. Kick drum was very muffled with no punch like the other drummers usually had in the mix. He could do work on the rack and floor toms that simply could not be heard. WHAT A DISAPPOINTMENT this all was for me , especially since I had driven a long way to see my favorite band!I could tell that the band could not understand why the crowd was not in to their performance. I felt sorry for Russel since his family was there and I could tell that he was perplexed by the crowd's response. I have only once heard a concert this loud with such poor sound and that was many years ago. Bands at this level do not make that much money from album sales-they make it from live performances. I fear that if they do not replace the sound engineer, they will really be hurt on this tour-especially since they are starting to rise rapidly. This sound guy is an idiot that should be sent to the Inferno!!!!!! I tried to make my way to him after the show to let him know that he ruined their performace but he cut out of there like a cat with turpentine on its ass!

 

[Aethyr]

I agree that Symphony X was way too loud. It was distorted and at times it hurt my ears.

 

[jaimek]

You know what's funny - when I was in Germany, Symphony X sounded fine, and it was Stratovarius' sound engineer that needed a kick in the pants because the mix was so horrible.

This time was definitely too damn loud. When you get blasted back five feet just when you open the door into the stage area, it's too loud.