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" U2 in Montreal 1985 - SBD / AUD matrix "
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U2
1985-03-27
Live at the Forum
Montreal, Canada
Unforgettable Fire Tour
This is a matrixed version of the famous SBD 1985 Montreal bootleg.
Why a matrix ? UF Tour may be the one tour that wasn't spoiled with SBD recordings and that hasn't been granted with any matrix projects. So I convinced myself it could be worth working on that. If you have Noiseless's remaster in your collection and are happy with it, then you may be tempted to stick to it, I don't think this matrix tops it. Your curiosity may lead you to listen to a sample, at least, and hear by yourself...! Well, a remaster and a matrix give different results.
As for the mix, I've chosen to set the AUD source low. My idea is that AUD tracks should be kept quite low in the mix so that it doesn t take precedence over SBD tracks : a succesful SBD/AUD mix is a one that allows to preserve a SBD feeling while AUD brings some space and a little bit of live feeling. Surely, it depends on the quality of the sources. In this case, it led me to keep the SBD recording high in the mix.
A bonus track is offered for free ! It is there to honour the good old tradition when pressed audio bootleggers used to put (luckily... or not) additional songs...!
This bonus track is also a matrix recording (Dortmund 1984) to keep the whole project coherent. But don't expect a full SBD / AUD matrix for that concert (just a simple test, isn't worth going further IMO and AUD recording isn't complete BTW).
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TRACKLIST
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01 Two hearts beat as one
02 MLK
03 The unforgettable fire
04 Wire
05 Sunday bloody Sunday
06 The electric co
07 A sort of homecoming
08 Bad
09 October
10 new year s day
11 Pride
12 Knocking on heaven s door
13 Gloria
14 Forty
Quality : EXCELLENT
Sources :
- Analog SBD recording transfered from cassette and kindly shared by bonoman66 : EX SBD
- AUD recording taped by unknown, approx 3d-4th gen Tape. kindly shared by Dana : G/VG AUD
Mix : SBD (80%) + AUD (20%)
Complete concert : No (first songs missing since SBD recording starts with 2 hearts)
Total running time : 76:32
[ Additional track : SBD / AUD mix Live in Dortmund 1984 ]
Quality : EX SBD (80%) + VG AUD (20%)
Sources : Fradoca's SBD remaster (25th anniversary) + Minimax AUD master
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AUDIO PROCESS (with Audacity 2.3.3)
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FLAC > Audacity in 32-bit float > AUD track speed : +1 semitone > AUD track tempo : synching > subtle remastering/editing* > tracksplitting > Export to 16-bits-FLAC
* Remastering/editing notes :
- SBD : Little noise reduction, normalization, slight compression, little EQ
- AUD : slight EQ and volume adjustments (channels balance)
- SBD + AUD : Slight left / right panning + normalization
- Fades-in/out
Additional notes : AUD recording missing between Electric Co and Homecoming, then between Pride and Knocking, finally between Gloria and 40 ; transitions have been smoothed (fades-in/out).
I hope to find time to work on some other matrix projects, it's damned time-consuming (even more with analog sources!!) so I really can't tell.
Anyway, I'm happy to give some contribution to this nice sharing spirit within the U2 community. Thanks to all who share great material.
Before leaving, here is my ISO list (possible matrix purposes), that is EX AUD sources for :
- Washington 1981
- London 1987
- Adelaide 1989
- Basel 1993 (+ Pro-shot soundtrack in lossless form... if it exists...)
sept 10th 2025
portissol83 (aka billcarter)
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ORIGINAL INFO TXT FILE
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Hi Everyone,
I was given a cassette tape on Febuary 27th 1988 while still at college. I'd heard about the group on the tape but wasn't very familar with their material at that time. The tape turned out to be a very good quality (for the time - nothing digital commonly around then ;-)) analog Soundboard recording of U2 performing live at The Montreal Forum on March 27th 1985. That bootleg was the tape that introduced me to the band & their music. Since those college years, I've gone on to purchase every official album, most of the singles, & been lucky enough to see them live at various places throughout the world etc..Its a nice performance. I'm sharing this here as I've only recently come across the tape again after cleaning out the attic. I've not come across a better group of fans than those consistenly sharing on these forums, & hope people might like this.
I do realise that there was a bootleg recording of this show previously pressed to CD & released in 1999 - I think. My tape is definately from the same source, but I think it might be of a lower generation than the source that the CD was pressed from. I think there's slightly less muffle in my recording . I'm hoping it'll be an upgrade for everyone. I've had a quick listen to the CD called Cinema Screen & while its good, its quite 'muffled' in parts - I've not heard any other recordings so I don't know if better ones exist.
Here's the lineage for my post....
Maxell UDI90 - Sony Micro HiFi - SoundBlaster Live Platnium - PC - WAVfile
WAV file edited to chop off non relevant parts at start & end
Fades added to start & end
Pitch lowered slightly as the tape appeared to be playing slightly too fast resulting in a higher piched than normal Bono ;-)
Volume brought up
Hiss Reduction gently applied - Its still a bit hissy, but I didn't want to apply too much noise reduction as it would have destroyed too much cymbal, vocal, guitar top end etc..
No Eq was applied to the recording, no frequencies were enhanced - just some mild hiss filteing
Wav file split into individual tracks
Wav converted to FLAC (Level6)
U2 Live at Montreal Forum March 27th 1985
Analogue Soundboard Recording
Tracklist -
1. Two Hearts Beat As One
2. MLK
3. The Unforgettable Fire
4. Wire
5. Sunday Bloody Sunday
6. Cry / The Electric Co.
7. A Sort of Homecoming
8. Bad
9. October
10. New Year's Day
11. Pride (In the Name of Love)
12. Knockin' On Heaven's Door
13. Gloria
14. "40"
Hope you all enjoy & with any luck it will be considered an upgrade - even if slight.
Regds,
bonoman66
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90 m 10- 03/27/85 MONTREAL FORUM, MONTREAL, QUEBEC, CANADA
Unknown taper.
aprox 3d-4th gen Tape.
Traded before the internet - lossless.
Transpher: Sony wmd3 line out> pc line in> EAC record an tracking WAV> FLAC
I think this is an EX aud source, but could be a SBD with a higher aud mix.
I compaired it to the SBD download from U2torrents and this is warmer. THE SBD has crisper vocals and less crowd noise but sounds flatter.
Few seconds of Homecoming are missing. Tape Flip.
11
follow
2 hearts
mlk
unfor
wire
sunday
elec
home
bad
oct
nyd
pride
knocking
gloria
40
Dana
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