I happened to go through my boots, and stopped at one of our all-time favourites, the Den Haag Trojan Horse show. I remember that even as a teenager, I was blown away not only from the show, but also the great sound quality, and I am still amazed now... (I originally got this on CD from x REKORDS, but are now listening to a Sabotage remaster).

Does anyone know how the sound files got smuggled out? Doing a Google search, I could not find much, only read somewhere on the internet that the clubs sound engineer made a copy, and that Prince enquired and actually had him fired. Don't know if this is true... But why is the sound so great, did they have special equipment? Or was the engineer a genius?

If anyone knows and would like to share - highly appreciated

You know it's recorded from the soundboard right?

Anyway, your X Records version is probably all you'll ever need.

No need for the Sab slightly louder-cd repress-we-don't-have-anymore-unreleased-or-improved-free-releases-to-press-on-useless-cd's-so-we-will-remaster-previous-stuff-to-rape-you-for-your-dollar-bullshit.

mb71 said:

You know it's recorded from the soundboard right?

Anyway, your X Records version is probably all you'll ever need.

No need for the Sab slightly louder-cd repress-we-don't-have-anymore-unreleased-or-improved-free-releases-to-press-on-useless-cd's-so-we-will-remaster-previous-stuff-to-rape-you-for-your-dollar-bullshit.

Yess, I know it is recorded from soundboard. But still, I have many other sound-board boots, and this somehow sounds much better.

And don't worry - I did not buy the Sabotage release

For as many bootlegs are out there (and in surprisingly great quality), this one is among the best!

Soundboard recording is amazing, and Prince was in top form at that aftershown.

Soundboard recordings are basically stereo recordings, so with whatever mix that was going to the house. There are many mixes going on at the same time of course, as most performers have monitors to hear themselves and some of what's going on.

.

Now as to it sounding good, it's basically luck of the draw. The house mix has to compensate for the sound of the room, which is why the sound can vary wildly.

.

If you look at the one nite alone live cds, they also came from a variety of a direct-to-stereo mix, according to, I think it was Femi who did them?

.

Best case scenario, you have multitrack audio, which is why they could have such an improved sound on the Syracuse 85 re-issue.

.

So, why does the Paard van Troje show sound so good? They may have played at a slightly lower volume (makes it easier to hear what's going on), the room might have an even sound, so it wasn't necessary to emphasise/de-emphasize certain frequencies. Maybe they didn't have to compensate for the amps of certain instruments (sometimes the stage amps are so loud you don't need that guitar or bass in the house mix anymore).

.

tl;dr

Basically, it's luck.

[Edited 6/22/22 15:41pm]

mediumdry said:

Soundboard recordings are basically stereo recordings, so with whatever mix that was going to the house. There are many mixes going on at the same time of course, as most performers have monitors to hear themselves and some of what's going on.

.

Now as to it sounding good, it's basically luck of the draw. The house mix has to compensate for the sound of the room, which is why the sound can vary wildly.

.

If you look at the one nite alone live cds, they also came from a variety of a direct-to-stereo mix, according to, I think it was Femi who did them?

.

Best case scenario, you have multitrack audio, which is why they could have such an improved sound on the Syracuse 85 re-issue.

.

So, why does the Paard van Troje show sound so good? They may have played at a slightly lower volume (makes it easier to hear what's going on), the room might have an even sound, so it wasn't necessary to emphasise/de-emphasize certain frequencies. Maybe they didn't have to compensate for the amps of certain instruments (sometimes the stage amps are so loud you don't need that guitar or bass in the house mix anymore).

.

tl;dr

Basically, it's luck.

[Edited 6/22/22 15:41pm]

Thanks for the info. How do the recordings of the mix get smuggled out? I suppose you put a DAT recorder at that time to the mixing board - but wouldn't that be the first thing to look for if security wants to prevent boots to happen? Well I guess at 4.00 am nobody cares too much any more... to our benefit ;=)

timmonshenry said:

Could it be because prince himself intended to release this and was thwarted by wb?

he would never release this.

he had many chances really, to release aftershows, live shows, and all manner of things, when he was a free agent, but he declined.

Here's the story

https://youtu.be/AtrbMJXWUmg?t=911

TUFKATweety said:

Here's the story

https://youtu.be/AtrbMJXWUmg?t=911

Thank you! That was highly interesting.

Krid said: