This audience recording is the definitive version of this show. It makes the out-of-balance soundboard and incomplete FM recording both redundant.

This audience source is excellent, complete, and features everything in balance. The soundboard and the FM version both have problems with the mix of the vocals and the instruments, which makes those sources difficult to listen to.

Big thanks to the taper for taping and sharing.

UPDATE DECEMBER 2011: With the release of the Siamese Dream Deluxe Reissue, the complete proshot video with professional multitrack sound is now available via the accompanying "Live at the Metro 1993" DVD.

As for how the DVD soundtrack compares to the other sources, believe it or not I still prefer the audience recording. Yes, the soundtrack to the video is crystal clear, and has all the visuals to boot, but there is significant compression on the soundtrack which mutes the dynamics of many of the songs. For instance, in the quiet breakdown in the middle of "Geek USA", on the audience source the difference between soft/loud is well preserved, so that when the band come crashing back in, you can hear the bombast of it. Whereas on the DVD soundtrack everything is kept at nearly the same level, so the effect of these types of moments is lost. This goes for all songs where that sort of dynamic interplay is present. The quiet moments never get as quiet as they should be, and the loud moments never get as loud as they should be. Of course, that's what you get for a video soundtrack, where the focus is more on the visuals and keeping everything a comfortable listen.

Another thing about the DVD soundtrack which isn't ideal is that even though the soundtrack is in good balance, with Corgan's vocals and the rest of the instrumentation even with each other, there is now a problem regarding Corgan's guitar in the mix. First off, it's been mixed to the right channel, as opposed to the center or left channel as heard on other broadcasts and soundtracks, and now Iha's guitar is in the left. This might seem like no big deal, but the problem is that Corgan's guitar is quieter on this mix throughout the entire show. What we end up with is James loud and clear in the left channel, and Corgan's guitar and soloing lost in the mix and quieter in the right channel. Check Billy's solos in Starla and Cherub Rock, for instance. This is annoying because we don't get to hear these solos as good as we should be able to, and it's also annoying because this type of mix doesn't match with the visuals of the DVD. As in, James is located on the right of the screen, yet we hear him in the left channel of the audio. Check out the Manchester 9/15/93 broadcast for the mix orientation that should've been used here.

Also, one final annoyance with the DVD soundtrack is that they mixed it to have the crowd noise artificially amped up at different parts in the show. On the whole, this isn't a big deal (none of these points are, really), but during parts like the solo section just before the ending of "Rocket", its a little jarring to hear the audience get mixed up loud at that moment. That kind of effect is similar to what KISS did on "Alive!" or what Rage Against the Machine did on their "Live at the Olympic" album. The audience noise gets mixed up to compensate for the "dryness" of the multitrack recording, and to make it seem like the crowd were really really into the show at a particular part. Then, when the music resumes, the sound of the audience disappears. This is a standard trick used on a lot of commercially released live music videos and DVDs. Again, not a big deal, but it's just another sign of how these things get played with before they get released.

In all, the DVD and soundtrack are excellent, but if we're talking about a perfect presentation, I think that they could've spent a little more time on balancing the mix of the audio, and eased up on the compression. In any case, I prefer the audience source still, as it contains the complete introduction (omitted from the DVD), and best preserves the mix, dynamics, and audience interaction at the show. I'm also a sucker for a good audience source, which isn't for everybody, so my guess is that most people (as in 99.9%) will stick with the DVD soundtrack.