The quality of any recording is as good as the weakest link in the chain and, in my opinion, the microphones are the key.
If you can bear with me, I'll tell you a little story. Actually, it's quite a long story but it is relevant to this subject. It will take a while to tell. About 20 years ago, Dylan played two standing-only concerts in the smaller hall at Glasgow's SE+CC. For various reasons (which make an interesting story in itself), I had managed to get myself two "freebie" tickets each night - except I didn't get tickets at all. I had to present myself and my guest at a particular booth and was then walked in to the venue by a member of staff. The first night went fine. The person who had arranged this turned up early and walked us in almost as soon as the ticket holders were let in and we were in the middle, almost on the barrier itself - not in the first row but not in the second but sort-of between the two. We both had a perfect view of what was a slightly odd show in some ways. Anyway, the next night, I took my son along. This time, the booth in question was not opened early and the ticket holders piled in. By the time the two of us were walked in, it was impossible to get close to the stage. We decided instead to stand towards the rear of the hall, against the barrier which protected the sound desk, which was itself right at the rear of the venue. Slowly, the place filled up until the only way to get from one side of the hall to the other was a path in front of us. Many people passed by, moving from left to right or vice versa. At one point, people I knew came by and complained that, while their microphones had got through the security check, their tape recorder had not. My son had brought along a small Sony radio cassette machine. It was not even mid-range quality. It cost, probably,
