Sound Levels...

[batty]

West Holts was seriously loud. I was camped next to it, and the noise level was disrupting other stages. Senior people complained, but it didn't seem to make any difference. l bumped into an old friend and when we mentioned West Holts, the first thing he said was that it was noticeably the loudest place in the festival. He even took his kids away from there because it was hurting his ears, and was worried it was damaging theirs.

[Bisque]

Really? I saw Libs, Blige, Flo, Lionel and Alt J there and thought the sound quality was far better than previous years.

Not sure about the others but Alt J's sound was cracking where I was, much better than in the NME tent at Reading.

[Badlands]

West Holts was seriously loud. I was camped next to it, and the noise level was disrupting other stages. Senior people complained, but it didn't seem to make any difference. l bumped into an old friend and when we mentioned West Holts, the first thing he said was that it was noticeably the loudest place in the festival. He even took his kids away from there because it was hurting his ears, and was worried it was damaging theirs.

Camped near it? Where?

[bigbilly]

The bass for flying lotus was insane. I could feel the hairs on my arms vibrating. Agree on the volume drop after 2 many dj's into altern 8. Thought arcadia was fine on the Friday night though but do agree with the echo between the speakers if your stood in the wrong place. You have to be inside the ring and then placed again almost in front of one of the stacks to get the best sound.

[Mardy]

generally I thought the sound quality, volume and clarity was excellent this year. No problem for anybody I saw

[frostypaw]

Daytime volumes seemed just fine, there was a lot of talking going on but that's down to loud people - away from them it was just fine

But nighttime really is getting into the if you can't play it loud why bother territory. Still it seems to keep a lot of people entertained so what can you do

[Zoo Music Girl]

The Blues on Thursday was really quiet. Hardly seemed worth it. After a while we wandered off to see an amazing Korean band in Pussy Parlure instead.

I found the sound bleed from Stone bridge annoying at Park this year too.

Generally was okay at main stages I thought though.

The loudest band I saw all weekend were The Men Who Will Not Be Blamed For Nothing in he Rocket Lounge. Metal as fuck!

[tweed1981]

Agree that the sound for Alt-J was brilliant, I remember commenting on it at the time. Also there are no lip-sync issues at the Pyramid, it's such a massive field that there is a delay in the speakers further back so you hear them at the same time as the front. The screens are correct but light travels faster than sound!

[ten2doc]

I was at Arcadia for Adam Beyer . you could hear his DJ monitors over the main PA system, absolutely awful.

[Swine_Glasto2014]

I was at Arcadia for Adam Beyer . you could hear his DJ monitors over the main PA system, absolutely awful.

This...really disappointed with that

[Mr November]

I was happy with the sound everywhere except for The Park. It was too loud and distorted and the only times I was there, I stood right in front of the sound desk.

 

Only other problem was up on the hill during Burt Bacharach, started very quiet, but was rectified not long into the set.

[mrfunk]

Had a fantastic festival:

Pyramid - Perfect

Other stage - Just simply Hifi, so clear, and the best its ever been !!

 

Glade, wholly feck that sounded awesome

genosys - when they were allowed to turn it up, stunning rig

 

---------------------------------

Silver Hayes - Gutted that I could here the WOW tent over the top of Leftfield, I walked out. considering this is for headline dance acts, the Line array system in there just doesn't work. Really just doesn't have the Slam and impact that dance music commands..  this is why systems Like Turbosound Flashlight, and now Funktion one have been created. With seperate speakers for Kick and then Sub..

 

i'm not just talking about bass, I'm talking hard hitting in your face dynamic response

 

Did anyone hear the system at London Underground, or Genosys when it wa running proply? then you will understand.

 

Aracdia system doesn't work, massive phasing issues, would be better to use point source, again it really is not complementing the visual element at all.

 

bear in mind though that Funktion one and a lot of other "dance" systems sound awefull with other music, which is probably why they have been dropped, from other venues.

 

 

I really which there was an official route for genuine feedback.

 

Dont get me wrong I really did have a blinding weekend !!

[Swine_Glasto2014]

Arcadia was alot better when it was Fk1 stacks.

[stuartbert two hats]

Talking of Funktion One, they were totally gone last year - was that still the case for 2015?

[paulo999]

Most of the time when you hear a system that's really quiet... It's not the system, it's the noise control people. They attend with DB meters, and if you don't hit the target they can you shut down.

SE corner gets away with a lot more because the local land owners, running luxury camping, pre agree in writing to the council that they won't be making noise complaints. In return they get access to hospitality tickets for their guests.

You could double the system on say Arcadia, and it wouldn't help once the DB man arrives :-/

[Harry3]

Only noticed Funktion One being used outside Wow for the "boat parties".

 

Arcadia used the brand spanking new F1 Vero point source/line array thingies at Boomtown last year and while they were too quiet (as usual) I didnt notice as many phasing issues. But then Im no sound engineer!

 

http://www.audiofunktion.co.uk/page/arcadia-1

 

http://forums.prosoundweb.com/index.php/topic,149026.0.html?PHPSESSID=4a62b41v2d3stbqim1ruep3mj0

Edited July 7, 2015 by Harry3

[Swine_Glasto2014]

I can see Arcadia pulling the plug quite soon. The flames and lazers are good once, accompanied by a absolutely terrible soundservices uo, it isn't going too progress.

Like I say, get it back in the SE area and smash the donkey out of it

[Bisque]

Like I say, get it back in the SE area and smash the donkey out of it

I agree put it might pull too much of a crowd over there.

 

I'd like to see an open air dance stage in Silver Hayes, which I think would transform the area, for big late night DJ acts but that'll never happen due to licence agreements.

[Harry3]

I can see Arcadia pulling the plug quite soon. The flames and lazers are good once, accompanied by a absolutely terrible soundservices uo, it isn't going too progress.

Like I say, get it back in the SE area and smash the donkey out of it

 

SE Corners rammed enough without Arcadia being there.

 

Moving it into its own field was a good choice. It isnt going to be loud no matter where you put it.

 

Their thing in the middle of Bristol should be interesting.... will probably be able to hear a pin drop

[frostypaw]

Why does the festival have to provide late night dance action that can pull massive crowds?

This whole moving arcadia around etc thing was a reaction to try and control the crowding in the SE corner - but the end result has been massive crowds at both, that then combine when arcadia shuts. It's all very Field Of Dreams/building new roads - the more you provide the more people will come for that

Maybe the answer is simply to provide less - there's no way the noise restraints are dropping so when is it time to admit defeat and try a different angle? There's a lot more to entertainment than loud dance music.

At some point I gotta break away from my usual group and investigate Glasto Latino properly - is that more the answer. Rather than trying to be an all night rave capital take a leaf out of the book of the night carnivals/parties in other countries which simmer down in a totally different way

Their thing in the middle of Bristol should be interesting.... will probably be able to hear a pin drop

Gotta worry - but they can start and end earlier as it's dark earlier then and just one weekend so might pull it off.... I hope they do. I'd love to see Arcadia do a UK tour, seems a suitable end result for them

[Harry3]

Surely if you cut down on the late night dance music the few venues that do offer it will be more crowded than ever?

 

Unless the festival stops booking big name acts and sticks with lesser known DJs that people wouldnt care about cramming into a shoebox to see.

 

It seems weird to think about giving people less of what they want though.

[frostypaw]

Aren't they forced to anyway? I think people would love headliners to go later, arcadia to run louder and the dance village banging 'til dawn?

The license places the restrictions, not the festival. If you can't run it in a way that's working how you want then why not change? Of course this may be what they want, but it seems an unbalanced result to me

[Swine_Glasto2014]

SE Corners rammed enough without Arcadia being there.

Moving it into its own field was a good choice. It isnt going to be loud no matter where you put it.

Their thing in the middle of Bristol should be interesting.... will probably be able to hear a pin drop

Then shift it about a bit. The new Arcadia area is piss poor and the worst placed for restrictions.

The Bristol event will either be a absolute success or fail badly. Now inbetween IMO

[Harry3]

Nowhere in SE Corner are you gonna fit the spider. I didnt go to Glastonbury when Arcadia used to be there but they had their smaller setup which wasnt nearly as visually impressive and as big a draw as the spider is.

 

Its gonna be quiet wherever you put it, its position at Glastonbury isnt to blame, UK festival sound restrictions and party pooping residents who cant deal with a bit of bass for 3 nights in a year are.

[Mr November]

I still don't understand how anyone can complain about the position or sound at Arcadia. We went every night this year and not once was it too crowded or too quiet. Brilliant, banging nights every time.