IEM recordings

[Glco8284]

Any Possibility to have IEM recordings from David’s tour this year ? Like 2016???

[NuffM]

Any Possibility to have IEM recordings from David’s tour this year ? Like 2016???

They exist, but those that tape them absolutely refuse to share them in any full capacity. Only select songs or segments. Sadly this is still a thing after 50 years.

Same thing happened with Roger's most recent tour.

[Glco8284]

I remember with Gilmour’s last tour there were a few with audience source mixed . From Hollywood bowl

[MrFender]

The IEM tapers are a different breed for sure. I tried years ago to check it out and just got stonewalled at every turn when asking basic questions.

[JerryIsBored]

While I haven't gotten to try it yet, I know from some of my friends that it's easy to record IEM feeds using software-defined radios (they do it a lot at local acts). Most of them are little USB dongles that you can plug into a phone. Use an app to find the correct frequency, and boom: a fair-quality IEM (most SDR applications can record lossless audio as well).

An entry level kit complete with antennae costs around $40 USD on Amazon right now. This is the one I bought recently: https://a.co/d/bPJaqRa

If you use the small antenna (which is all you need for the higher FM frequencies like IEM feeds), you can pretty easily sneak the thing in if you know what you're doing (I would assume they don't fare well with metal detectors, though).

[DaveTheRave]

An entry level kit complete with antennae costs around $40 USD on Amazon right now. This is the one I bought recently: https://a.co/d/bPJaqRa

If you use the small antenna (which is all you need for the higher FM frequencies like IEM feeds), you can pretty easily sneak the thing in if you know what you're doing (I would assume they don't fare well with metal detectors, though).

If a woman had that in her purse she could say she just got off work and the USB and other stuff is related to that.

[jimfisheye]

These wireless IEM systems are FM transmitters as noted. The transmitters used are intentionally weak and under-powered. They make the product that way to avoid needing a broadcast license to use them! That leads to the need to setup repeater transmitters across a stage and work out reception issues in soundcheck. That means it will be a challenge to find a spot close enough to a transmitter or repeater and get good reception. Also, the obvious bit... Only works with a musician using the untethered radios! Wired IEM are the more common thing because most musicians are plugged into something anyway and especially if it's a more music oriented concert vs a dance entertainment Taylor Swift kind of affair. (And those are using pre-recorded sound anyway so any reception issues are a moot point.)

If successful, you'll have that monitor mix. Which might be idiosyncratic to that musician. There might be entire mix elements missing - maybe they can hear the drums loud enough on stage, for just one example, so their monitor mix doesn't have any of the drums. So you'll need to reconstruct the intended mix also using audience sources. Or, you know, just listen to the weird unintentional thing you got. As we do around here with all these troubled incomplete recordings!

This is some gatekeeping clique?! That seems absurd. Probably the usual hi-fi forum dwellers that like to talk but haven't actually ever done any of this. Just talking about the monitor mixes and how these could be incomplete (vs the intentional full front of house mix) is often met with confusion. In their head, they think it's simply a copy of the full mix and can't even imagine. If you have ever run live sound, this is matter of fact experience. Very much not intuitive otherwise! Also whatever facsimile bootleg version Amazon is selling for a radio receiver probably doesn't have much range or work very well. But DIY solutions would abound.

[JerryIsBored]

These wireless IEM systems are FM transmitters as noted. The transmitters used are intentionally weak and under-powered. They make the product that way to avoid needing a broadcast license to use them! That leads to the need to setup repeater transmitters across a stage and work out reception issues in soundcheck. That means it will be a challenge to find a spot close enough to a transmitter or repeater and get good reception. Also, the obvious bit... Only works with a musician using the untethered radios! Wired IEM are the more common thing because most musicians are plugged into something anyway and especially if it's a more music oriented concert vs a dance entertainment Taylor Swift kind of affair. (And those are using pre-recorded sound anyway so any reception issues are a moot point.)

If successful, you'll have that monitor mix. Which might be idiosyncratic to that musician. There might be entire mix elements missing - maybe they can hear the drums loud enough on stage, for just one example, so their monitor mix doesn't have any of the drums. So you'll need to reconstruct the intended mix also using audience sources. Or, you know, just listen to the weird unintentional thing you got. As we do around here with all these troubled incomplete recordings!

This is some gatekeeping clique?! That seems absurd. Probably the usual hi-fi forum dwellers that like to talk but haven't actually ever done any of this. Just talking about the monitor mixes and how these could be incomplete (vs the intentional full front of house mix) is often met with confusion. In their head, they think it's simply a copy of the full mix and can't even imagine. If you have ever run live sound, this is matter of fact experience. Very much not intuitive otherwise! Also whatever facsimile bootleg version Amazon is selling for a radio receiver probably doesn't have much range or work very well. But DIY solutions would abound.

As a comment on the range/quality of these "bootleg" receivers, the one linked actually receives very well with good-quality audio. I've been able to receive all sorts of things besides AM and FM, for example NOAA weather radio, air band, marine band, and even shortwave stations from across the globe.

In my experience the quality (or "bootleg" status) of a receiver really has nothing to do with how well it receives, rather it is based on what you power it with. For example, I can receive distant channels much better when the dongle is plugged into my computer rather than when it is plugged into my phone.

Most SDR receivers are built off of the same basic framework and chipset (most new car radios are actually SDRs, as they're cheaper than actual radio receivers). Now of course, you can buy higher quality ones with extra chipsets in them for filtering, transmission, etc. (they get extremely fancy and extremely expensive). Many ameteur radio operators like to keep one of these around. But my main point is that the quality of the dongle itself has little to do with the quality of recieved audio, rather it has more to do with the know-how of the operator (what to power it with, what type of antenna to use, etc.).

Now I did neglect to mention the incompleteness of IEM mixes. I guess as someone who has been on both sides of an IEM mix for a number of years, I figured everybody knew that they were often incomplete. It is an important note that you'll have to "fill out" the missing parts with audience sources. I can also attest to the low-powered transmission of wireless IEMs. At a local venue, I've seen many a vocalist using both a wireless microphone and wireless IEMs, and if they put the mic's transmitter too close to the IEM pack's reception antenna, then goodbye to the monitor mix. The mic's transmission overpowers the weak IEM signal almost every time.

So, like jim said, if you were to try this, don't expect much.

[jimfisheye]

I wish I was more of an expert with all things radio! I know that the quality of the transmitter is more the key player. The antenna shape and it's projection pattern are a big deal too. If you have a very weak signal - or the other direction, if you have an over-modulated signal ricocheting around - either way, good luck receiving that! Between the intentionally low powered IEM radio equipment and possible other interference and noise, receiving could be a real challenge.

Haha yeah, all the potential Spinal Tap moments! That movie was so over the top funny because they were all from real stories!

Amazon in particular has become synonymous with bootlegs. Just a generic comment on anything sold by or through them. Something needing performance and doing radio transmission/receive? Just the kind of product to avoid form the likes of them! Chip set conflicts are a thing. Device works with product A but not with product B. When old Apple was making computers they had control of everything and everything just worked. Go 3rd party everything and you find some "standards" have a bigger tolerance than they should. Software spoofing is big right now too! It's cost effective to blacklist other companies' devices and write error messages that are just lies. So you have to wade through that crap often enough.

But even once you work your way through all of that stuff, capturing an IEM transmission can still be a genuine challenge.

[LeifH]

Capturing IEMs is very hit and miss, takes a lot of time, money, practice and risk. The best advice I ever got was, "don't bother".
Its a deep and expensive rabbit hole to do it right. Using a dongle attached to a cellphone is not going to yield the same quality as the proper brand name gear that the band is using, though it can still be decent-ish. If you're curious, yeah try that, dip your toes in the water.

As far as the gatekeeping comments go.
1 - nobody owes you anything. go out and tape something yourself. maybe someone will be interested in a trade?
2 - preparing iem recordings can takes many, many precious hours of labour depending on several factors. mixing, mastering, click track removal, cleanup, etc etc
3 - anytime something gets released to the (m)asses - it inevitably ends up for sale by some scumbag bootleg sellers who did ZERO work and are now churning a profit from clicking their mouse on the internet a few times. I have experienced this countless times, having my stuff pressed on vinyl, cd, etc (and poorly remASStered). while I am against selling, it makes sense for a label like XAVEL to supply their own product and beat anyone else to the punch.