Mercedes Benz Stadium Horrible SQ

[XEagleDriver]

If you read this forum you care enough about SQ to absolutely, never ever, attend any concert event at Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium. My experience and diagnosis follows.
My sweet, adult aged, daughter found a concert combination of Chris Stapleton (my fav) and George Strait (my wife/everyone's fav) and gave us tickets for Christmas 2018.
We attended yesterday, 30 March 2019, and the bass was so overwhelming, so muddy, and had so many horrible resonances it made the artists voices and high frequency instruments intelligible.
Different bass notes would make the seats rattle and my jeans buzz (never seen that before).
We sat in the end zone mezzanine about 200 feet from the stage, but also walked the entire arena, except the main floor and experienced the same SQ issues.
After the fact, an online search revealed many other concerts at MB stadium have been SQ fails.
My working theory is the combination of entirely concrete/metal interior surfaces with the exterior's translucent "ETFE" window walls make this venue a giant drum. Sadly, concert goers are sitting inside the drum. The defects are so bad, they exceed the audio engineer's ability to mitigate. MB states they have adjusted speaker positions and levels, when what is really needed are bass traps on an unimaginable scale.
A HT analogy would be trying to use Audyssey tweaks to fix the audio in a room constructed entirely of sliding glass doors. Good luck with that.
Mercedes Benz Stadium is beyond hope, I highly advise avoiding it for audio centric events no matter how tempting the line up.
Sadly disappointed,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

 

[TheWarrior]

If you read this forum you care enough about SQ to absolutely, never ever, attend any concert event at Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium. My experience and diagnosis follows.
My sweet, adult aged, daughter found a concert combination of Chris Stapleton (my fav) and George Strait (my wife/everyone's fav) and gave us tickets for Christmas 2018.
We attended yesterday, 30 March 2019, and the bass was so overwhelming, so muddy, and had so many horrible resonances it made the artists voices and high frequency instruments intelligible.
Different bass notes would make the seats rattle and my jeans buzz (never seen that before).
We sat in the end zone mezzanine about 200 feet from the stage, but also walked the entire arena, except the main floor and experienced the same SQ issues.
After the fact, an online search revealed many other concerts at MB stadium have been SQ fails.
My working theory is the combination of entirely concrete/metal interior surfaces with the exterior's translucent "ETFE" window walls make this venue a giant drum. Sadly, concert goers are sitting inside the drum. The defects are so bad, they exceed the audio engineer's ability to mitigate. MB states they have adjusted speaker positions and levels, when what is really needed are bass traps on an unimaginable scale.
A HT analogy would be trying to use Audyssey tweaks to fix the audio in a room constructed entirely of sliding glass doors. Good luck with that.
Mercedes Benz Stadium is beyond hope, I highly advise avoiding it for audio centric events no matter how tempting the line up.
Sadly disappointed,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

Do yourself a favor and avoid the Fox Theatre for anything musical!

 

[KEW]

Do yourself a favor and avoid the Fox Theatre for anything musical!

I have not had any serious problems with The Fox Theater. Maybe it is susceptible to problems from seating locations? But based on my personal experience (4 concerts) I would be happy to go to additional performances there.
Cobb Energy Center was also good.

Phipp's Plaza was a venue I attended in Atlanta that most sucked - I did not walk around to check acoustics throughout the arena, but like MB, it is all concrete, metal, and glass!

Smaller venues of The Tabernacle, Eddie's Attic and The Velvet Note are all pretty good IMHO! ... but be prepared for $20 parking fee at the Tabernacle! I saw Citizen Cope there which made it worth the fee!

 

[Swerd]

Sorry you had such a disappointing experience.

Most recently built stadiums or arenas were intentionally designed to reinforce crowd noise for football, basketball, or hockey games. If you want to hear music, those places are terrible venues.

 

[CB22]

If you read this forum you care enough about SQ to absolutely, never ever, attend any concert event at Atlanta's Mercedes Benz Stadium. My experience and diagnosis follows.
My sweet, adult aged, daughter found a concert combination of Chris Stapleton (my fav) and George Strait (my wife/everyone's fav) and gave us tickets for Christmas 2018.
We attended yesterday, 30 March 2019, and the bass was so overwhelming, so muddy, and had so many horrible resonances it made the artists voices and high frequency instruments intelligible.
Different bass notes would make the seats rattle and my jeans buzz (never seen that before).
We sat in the end zone mezzanine about 200 feet from the stage, but also walked the entire arena, except the main floor and experienced the same SQ issues.
After the fact, an online search revealed many other concerts at MB stadium have been SQ fails.
My working theory is the combination of entirely concrete/metal interior surfaces with the exterior's translucent "ETFE" window walls make this venue a giant drum. Sadly, concert goers are sitting inside the drum. The defects are so bad, they exceed the audio engineer's ability to mitigate. MB states they have adjusted speaker positions and levels, when what is really needed are bass traps on an unimaginable scale.
A HT analogy would be trying to use Audyssey tweaks to fix the audio in a room constructed entirely of sliding glass doors. Good luck with that.
Mercedes Benz Stadium is beyond hope, I highly advise avoiding it for audio centric events no matter how tempting the line up.
Sadly disappointed,
XEagleDriver

Sent from my LG-LS993 using Tapatalk

I saw Metallica at the Super Dome a long time ago and I remember having a similar experience. I thought the album sounded wayyy on better on speakers/ headphones than the live show. The acoustics were terrible and the guitars overpowered everything else in the mix and the bass semmed very sloppy. The polar opposite would be when I saw Jane Monheit at the Catalina Jazz Club and the LA Philharmonic in Disney concert hall. The Disney concert hall was a surreal experience. The acoustics in that place were fricken' amazing. I will always remember these concerts sounding better in person than any CD that I've heard on speakers or headphones.

 

[TheWarrior]

I have not had any serious problems with The Fox Theater. Maybe it is susceptible to problems from seating locations? But based on my personal experience (4 concerts) I would be happy to go to additional performances there.
Cobb Energy Center was also good.

Phipp's Plaza was a venue I attended in Atlanta that most sucked - I did not walk around to check acoustics throughout the arena, but like MB, it is all concrete, metal, and glass!

Smaller venues of The Tabernacle, Eddie's Attic and The Velvet Note are all pretty good IMHO! ... but be prepared for $20 parking fee at the Tabernacle! I saw Citizen Cope there which made it worth the fee!

If you can ignore all horrendous reflections coming off the glass ceiling, sure!

I even had free tickets to see Patty Lupone one time. Talk about 'Popping' P's and 'Bursting' B's, the sound was so bad I didn't stay.

The Tabernacle is an awesome venue, tho! I would suggest taking Marta in the future, due to park!

 

[Midwesthonky]

I have found most stadium or arena concerts to have poor sound quality.

Lately, I've been going to smaller venues in Milwaukee like the Riverside, Pabst, and others and have had very enjoyable experiences. Mellencamp at the Riverside was a great show. But that is a dedicated venue vs a sports arena. Very different plans for sound.

Maybe I'm just getting ornery in my old(er) age, but I really like the smaller venues due to their better sound quality. I've been tempted by some acts going to the local arena, but then I think do I want to spend that kind of money for typically bad sound? I can sit at home with better sound quality. I know I'm missing the stage show... but I wanna hear the music!

 

[KEW]

If you can ignore all horrendous reflections coming off the glass ceiling, sure!

Glass ceiling? Where did you get that from?
I'm not arguing, I don't know what it is made of, but I don't remember the ceiling being paneled and it is not like they could make one continuous glass panel that big.

Here is a photo of the interior for those not familiar with this landmark grandiose theater:

 

[TheWarrior]

Glass ceiling? Where did you get that from?
I'm not arguing, I don't know what it is made of, but I don't remember the ceiling being paneled and it is not like they could make one continuous glass panel that big.

Here is a photo of the interior for those not familiar with this landmark grandiose theater:

Whatever it is made from, you can localize the resonances coming off that ceiling!

 

[KEW]

Whatever it is made from, you can localize the resonances coming off that ceiling!

I suspect it is plaster which would allow for reflections of mid & high frequencies.

Maybe try seating under the balcony next time a good show comes through?

I was on the front row of the balcony when I saw Genesis live in 1977 (the tour of their "Seconds Out" album). It was the first time (and one of very few) where I experienced the live performance sounded better than the studio recorded album! Obviously, that can't happen unless the band puts on a good acoustic show (and Genesis did), but the acoustics of the venue have to be on the mark as well.
Also saw John Klemmer there (maybe 1978?). It didn't "shock" me with how good it sounded like the Genesis concert did, but I didn't notice any bad effects.
The next time I see a show down there, I'll give specific attention to ceiling bounce, but I would think that the first row of the balcony would be the worst place for that! If you are sitting down at floor level, it seems like the attenuation from the inverse square of the distance would minimize the SPL of ceiling reflections. Any chance that you were seated close enough to get a reflection from the ceiling over the stage?

I have heard comments that the Fox is not acoustically the best theater for plays, but it has a pretty good reputation for concerts. The best venues should be able to do both well.
I guess a lot of Patti LuPone's work leans toward musical/opera, so maybe that relates to our opposing experiences. She may have brought out the acoustic problems that people have experienced with plays.

 

[TheWarrior]

I suspect it is plaster which would allow for reflections of mid & high frequencies.

Maybe try seating under the balcony next time a good show comes through?

I was on the front row of the balcony when I saw Genesis live in 1977 (the tour of their "Seconds Out" album). It was the first time (and one of very few) where I experienced the live performance sounded better than the studio recorded album! Obviously, that can't happen unless the band puts on a good acoustic show (and Genesis did), but the acoustics of the venue have to be on the mark as well.
Also saw John Klemmer there (maybe 1978?). It didn't "shock" me with how good it sounded like the Genesis concert did, but I didn't notice any bad effects.
The next time I see a show down there, I'll give specific attention to ceiling bounce, but I would think that the first row of the balcony would be the worst place for that! If you are sitting down at floor level, it seems like the attenuation from the inverse square of the distance would minimize the SPL of ceiling reflections. Any chance that you were seated close enough to get a reflection from the ceiling over the stage?

I have heard comments that the Fox is not acoustically the best theater for plays, but it has a pretty good reputation for concerts. The best venues should be able to do both well.
I guess a lot of Patti LuPone's work leans toward musical/opera, so maybe that relates to our opposing experiences. She may have brought out the acoustic problems that people have experienced with plays.

I've been in the back for Patti and upfront for the Nashville TV show performers, and had equally painful experiences. I avoid the Fox at all costs.

Cobb Energy, Woodruff, and even the Tabernacle are all far better local venues.