Nine Inch Nails THE DOWNWARD SPIRAL [SACD/DualDisc:DVD-A]

[JonUrban]

Here is a "modern" release, available from Universal (our hero) on the Interscope label, being made available in ALL MODERN FORMATS!!!!

The CD/SACD package, and the DualDisc/DVD-A package.

Let's hope this thing sells well, to let the labels know that there is a market out there for good product. If you don't care for NIN, or you have never heard them, don't disparage this release (i.e. please do not vote a "1" because you have no interest in this artist). In order for surround and HiRez to survive, there must be a wide range of titles out there, and this one certainly will get some notice.

Once y'all get yours, let us know what you think. Keep the differences between the SACD and the DVD-A in your post, and use the poll to rate the surround presentation.

THANKS

:-jon

[Bob Romano]

Love the album!!! Hard to believe it's 10 years old already.

The mix (rated an 8 on first listen) is effective using the rears to fill with some of the swirls and effects that seem to be buried in the mix. The whole thing just opens up. I do wish that there was a little more in the rear and that it was mixed a little louder. Kind of soft for my taste but I guess I can always raise the rears a little. Great bass! Especially on the SACD. I bought both the DualDisc and SACD today and after a quick comparison of "Closer" and "Hurt" it seems that the SACD has a little more balls to it but neither is bad and I was not disappointed at all by either.

Each has it's own bonuses:
The DD has 48/24 surround and stereo mixes (hi-rez) as well as DD5.1 and 2.0 mixes. It also includes the videos for Closer in 5.1 and stereo as well as March Of The Pigs (5.1) and a live version of Hurt (also 5.1). No bonus tracks are included.

The SACD has 5.1 and stereo tracks on disc 1 (the full original album) with disc 2 containing bonus B-sides and unreleased tracks. Both discs are hybrids though disc 2 is stereo only.

SACD was on sale for $19.99 and DualDisc was $13.99 at Best Buy today. Both were located in the cd section under NIN and not in the SACD or DVD-A sections.

[JonUrban]

My Best Buy had NEITHER!!!

[keenan]

SACD was on sale for $19.99 and DualDisc was $13.99 at Best Buy today. Both were located in the cd section under NIN and not in the SACD or DVD-A sections.

Neither one at my local Best Buy, Borders only had the Dual Disc version. Tough to support these formats when the damn things aren't available to purchase...

I'll vote on this one when I get the SACD version..

[Cai Campbell]

I just picked up the DualDisc from Tower. They didn't have the SACD. I haven't listened to it yet but am looking forward to it!

[Ed Bishop]

I won't rate the sonics of this one until I go back to the original '94 import vinyl AND the SACD edition, since all they had in this town was the DualDisc edition, and my bro got only that one in....this is one of those wild, dark, crazy albums where I just have to compare both editions to be sure of what I'm hearing...

I will say this much: my Pioneer player didn't have any problem playing the redbook layer which, while no concern to most of us here, but to more casual fans. The DVD-A 5.1 is a very clever mix, which puts the basics in front and accents parts in back, often very, very forcefully(and in unison, it seemed upon the one listen I've had).

Back later on this one!

ED

[keenan]

The DVD-A 5.1 is a very clever mix, which puts the basics in front and accents parts in back, often very, very forcefully(and in unison, it seemed upon the one listen I've had).

Back later on this one!
ED

I agree, very nicely done, because of the style of music some of those accents are un-nerving but in a good sort of way, but I will reserve voting until I get the SACD version.

[Bob Romano]

You might want to ask them to check their back rooms at Best Buy. The guy I talked to there said they got so much stuff in they didn't have time to put everything out. I had to ask them to find a copy of the Shawn Colvin for example. My BB had 4 or 5 copies of each version. They also had the Michael Mcdonald Motown 2 (with the SACD's).

[keenan]

My local Best Buy finally had them out today, 10-12 of them, now I need to sit down and listen to it...

[JonUrban]

I spent some time listening to this one, by myself and with my nephew.

First off, this is my first NIN disc. I had not heard any of this stuff before, with the exception of Hurt, which I had heard only in passing.

I must admit that it is rather LOUD at times (the music, not the mastering), and given that, I found that I started liking it, a lot. The surround mix is done very well, at times the rears are silent, then they slam you with something that grabs your attention.

For the Quad fans, there is even a spot where a guitar moves around the soundfield!

Although this is not my primary type of music, I have to rate this one highly. It's done well, the slide show is great (DualDisc), and the audio is full and clear. When it settles down to some quiet spots, it is quite detailed. When it gets cranking, it's a wall of sound, heavy sound.

Not for everyone, not for me all of the time, but I can appreciate its power, and the great mix. I have to give it a 9 overall, with the caveat that it is not something that everyone will like.

[Cai Campbell]

I really dig this surround mix! I've always liked NIN, but I never felt they were able to top "Pretty Hate Machine". I always thought that "The Downward Spiral" was okay, but nothing to write home about. The surround mix has allowed me to revisit this album in a new light, and I like it much better than I did before. This one gets a 9!

[bobou2]

Got the DD at BB yesterday. They also had the SACD but I wanted the videos and not being a total NiN fan I did not need the demos and remixes on the SACD. I was a little nervous on buying the DD due to the fact I've always wind up with the "bad side of Hi-Rez" problems like the cracking creast SACD's(4 of them). Well I had no problems(NP) with the disc in any player I used it in. My 563a both sides NP my Sony DVD player NP and my Sony walkman NP. I found the sound on the 5:1 mix very good.
For those with the DD version a question....The videos of March and Hurt do you find the 5:1 mix abit "wonky"? I think the 2ch mix is better.

[DrMabuse2001]

Bought both the SACD and DVD as I wanted bonus features from both discs. Bit disappointed that Disc #2 in the SACD package (remixes, b-sides, rarities) is not MC but minor quibble.
I think the SACD is a slight bit better in overall sound quality but the DVD-A version is nothing to scoff at either.
This is a very dense project with a lot of stuff going on everywhere and the MC mic helps greatly in separating out the layers.
This is probably the definitive NIN project and has certainly been a defining moment to Goth-Industrial as it has had tons of replicators since it's release.
If you are a NIN fan - either version is very kewl, if you are not a NIN fan...consider youself warned!
If you are considering buying the DVD-A just to get the video content, Reznor is apparently working on a 5.1 mix of his entire "Closer" package which should be released in early '05. It has been OOP on VHS for a long time and it will be interesting to see if it comes out un-edited. LOT of controversial content.
/\/\

[Marcsten]

OK - here's my story - I bought the redbook of this album years ago. I always felt that Pretty HAte MAchine was much better and never really cared for this disc. Then my wife left me and this sort of became the standard in the car CD player. Now I LOVE THIS DISC. So now its available in surround?! I ordered it from Tower.com
Can't wait until it arrives and I can A/B it with the redbook. I'll let you know.
Marc

[john e. bogus]

First, a comment on a comment:

"This is probably the definitive NIN project and has certainly been a defining moment to Goth-Industrial as it has had tons of replicators since it's release."

While I personally am not a fan of this band, my wife and many of my friends are, so I was already well familiar with the disc....the above quote nails it right on the head, this is one of those genre-defining discs, and is worth owning for that reason alone if nothing else! If someone wanted to know what techno / industrial music is, this is one of the first discs that you would hand them.

Our Pioneer '578 arrived, this was the first disc we bought for it (having this release available in surround went a long way towards convincing the wife to replace her broken el cheepo DVD player with something worthwhile), and the wife had it ready and waiting.....popped it in, and WOW! What a revelation! Being familiar with NIN and the excellent recording quality and mixing of their releases, I had already assumed that the surround mix would be excellent, but this one goes far beyond expectations! As other comments indicate, the surround mix does a great job of allowing the layers and layers of tracks to be separated, many things are plainly audible in the surround mix which are half-buried in stereo. A very discrete sounding mix, with very little of what's going on positioned between speakers. I think it'll take quite a lot for future purchases to measure up to this one.....excellent recording, excellent surround mix, excellent songs.....even if you're like me and prefer music with guitar solos and human drummers, this disc is a must-have and an absolute classic, and the extra disc and excellent surround mix make it even more so. I'll give this one a very solid "9".....the only thing that keeps it from being a full "10" is that the bonus disc is only in stereo.....very exciting, this has me entering 'record stores' again for the first time in over 10 years.... I'm sure glad that I held out all these years and never bought a CD player, as this is what we should have been given back in 1982 or so, and even just this one disc alone has made the waiting worthwhile.....can't wait to get some more discs and compare hi-res to something that I already have a good vinyl copy of.....now my wife is even thinking about selling off her CD collection so we can buy more hi-res surround discs, even she noticed a major difference between hi-res and redbook! We have the SACD, purchased off the racks at Record And Tape Traders....

Yours Truly,
john e. bogus

[Kazaam]

I really like some of the surround mixes. "Closer" kicks butt!!! However, I'm a little disappointed in the sonics of the recording.

[daved64]

I really like some of the surround mixes. "Closer" kicks butt!!! However, I'm a little disappointed in the sonics of the recording.

It was never a warm recording. Very digital sounding......but it suits the music.

[Angrom]

Hi All (1st Message here)

I love this record, and think the 5.1 mix just give justice to the oppressivity of the music of Nine Inch Nails. It really rules. A good 8, for me.

I had some problems playing the SACD on my player, sometimes (mainly after the middle of the CD) the 5.1 layer is "jumping" ... It gets worse and worse through the reading of the CD. My DVD - SACD player is a Marantz DV6400.
Did someone have this kind of problem with this SACD ?

Bertrand

[analogdemon]

I was ecstatic to see this come out on DualDisc w/ DVD-A. The mix is fantastic for the music. This is one of the classic albums of the 90s. This is required listening for any fan of surround sound music. Highly recommended. A 10, hands down.

[qtheking]

reznor has an ability very few musicians have... i have both mixes (sacd/dvd-a) dont know which is better but the remaster is excellent -- an all new experience on this great album... 10

[grimace]

Anyone happen to have pictures of the package? Or is able to take some to display here?

Wondering what it looks like and if the clear plastic cover has any writing etc on it.

Thanks.

[grimace]

Wow. This SACD gets a 10.

This is a revelation on an already classic album, excellent sonics, excellent mix. The bass is earth shattering, and I love it.

Closer is worth the price of admission alone, add to that Reptile and Hurt... and you've got yourself an easy 10/10 just based on those tracks alone.

As someone said above... REQUIRED listening for any MCH music fan.

Ordered 'With Teeth' because of this.

[hwkn]

This album in 5.1's a killer......it'll test your system for sure.

[sev]

You'll all have to forgive me for rehashing an age old thread here, but I just rediscovered dvd-a/sacd after about a 8-9 year hiatus (never got into my Metallica/LA Woman albums back then because I was outputting my audio via optical... ), after finding out about the Love dvd-a album...

For those that have both versions of this: after this long, which one stands out as the better mix?

[Almen]

You'll all have to forgive me for rehashing an age old thread here...

Hehe, that's mostly what this forum's all about.

Anyway, I have the SACD, but you inspired me to purchase the DVD-A. So, hopefully in a few weeks I'll come up with a comparison. Since the DualDisc has some videos and stuff, and hopefully the sound is less grainy than the SACD, I would start with that one.