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

[fredblue]

So freblue, did you overcome your fears and play it?

not yet.. but lean times call there's not much else to listen to in 5.1 so won't be long I imagine!

 

[inkubuzz]

Holy crap... i couldnt wait to buy a sacd player and bought the dual.disc and it is awsome... its a new album to me... also boght the "with teeth" dual disc... mor thoght on that later

 

[Neil Palfreyman]

This is one seriously feck'd up album and not one for the squeamish! To say Reznor was going through a bit of a downer when he wrote it is a massive understatement and as a result it's full of anger and angst which gushes and drips out of the lyrics, music and production. It's powerful, brooding, dark, angry stuff and this is also translated to the excellent use of the surround format. In fact I don't think I have any other surround release that's similar to this - it's quite unique. Discrete, dynamic, lots of specific placement and movement of the tracks; exhibition quality in many, many places. Fidelity is a hard one to judge since much of NIN's material makes an art form out of dirty sounds, but it's there when he wants it to be. Overall a solid 9. Just make sure you don't play it for the first time when your granny is in the room! [Review based on the multi-channel disc of the SACD version.]

 

[Bill Houston]

Love NIN. Reference album! I wish more modern artists would put this level of care and craftmanship into their work, which really shines on 5.1.


Mix/Sonics.: 10
Music: 9

 

[ji eff]

The Downward Spiral: A Nine Inch Nails totem that needs no introduction to people who were rebellious teens back when it was originally released, would be thought to lend itself pretty good to a surround presentation, due to its layers upon layers of various synths, guitars, sound design fx, and vocals. While it is true, for someone who's been treated with all the Steven Wilson mixes and remixes available in this day and age, there seems to be some depth lacking in the end result.

I think it's an excellent remix, don't get me wrong: everything is more defined, you hear lines of material that were previously buried in the surroundings, there is more bottom end (the original version was, on purpose, more dirty sounding hence the lack of bass), and it makes good use of all speakers. The only thing that bothers me is this: nothing beats a good old multi-mics recording of a drum kit. They say that the drum sound can make or break a track: well, while the drums on the stereo release were top notch, and a signature, I think Trent should have spent more time on them on the surround remix. When you pan a mono or a stereo sound in a surround field, it stays a mono or stereo sound... just coming from a different direction. A drum is something huge, three-dimensional, and while I just LOVE hearing it coming from all around me, it has to have a sense of unity: the natural bleeding that occurs in between the array of microphones around it. This is what I feel is lacking here... This is the drawback of using those "totally cool processed drum samples".

I love listening to this version of the album (though I always had a soft spot for the Further Down The Spiral remixes -both US and Euro versions-), I just have this feeling of being surrounded by "2D playing cards" while it's playing.

Content: 9
Mix: 7

Overall: 8

 

[Frogmort]

This is what I feel is lacking here... This is the drawback of using those "totally cool processed drum samples".

Content: 9
Mix: 7

Overall: 8

I'm an old school analogue drummer from way back, but this is NIN. Those 'totally cool processed drum samples' are a big part of what defines this kind of music.

 

[marpow]

Raining all the time in sunny California. Popped this very heavy SACD, 5.1 disc in the tray and whoa, you have to hold on. Industrial machine coming at you very discrete and all over the place. I voted 9 because of the sheer sonic brilliance of the mix. My musical tastes are just wild enough that I can be OK with this disc, but obviously not for everyone. There are parts and pieces that are just brilliant within this recording.

 

[key_wiz]

Just recently picked up a copy of the dual disc

Wow! Classic album that is just amazing in 5.1. Adventurous and compelling mix. Takes me back to my clubbing days!

Easy "10". This album was made for 5.1 and this does not disappoint. Now I've got to hunt around see what other NiN in surround I can lay my hands on!

 

[Q8]

Late to the show with this disc. I recently got the Dualdisc because I have been working my way through the NIN discography lately. Holy crap this a Gem. This album was made for surround and it got the ar-perfect surround mix it deserves. It deserves a place next to Dark Side of the Moon as one of the greatest 3-dimensional mixes in the history of time. I can't say enough good about this. Hell I ordered a copy of the SACD so I could have both the Dualdisc and the SACD. I must say the image gallery really makes the dualdisc pop, especially when viewed huge with a projector like my setup. And the music videos with surround! Just buy this damn disc if you haven't. If you don't like Nine Inch Nails, someone needs to tie you to a chair and do BDSM things to you while making you listen to this over and over till you like Nine Inch Nails.

 

[dobyblue]

Surprised I've never rated this one, but was excited for it right from the first time I saw an annoucement on the old nin dot com website taking you to tds.nin.com or something like that.

The surround mix is pretty perfect in every way, getting the bonus material in SACD stereo also very cool, love the packaging, love the album immensely and was massively into NIN back in 1994...this one is still one I reach for pretty quickly when trying to show off surround sound and 13 years later it's still easy to rate it a 10.

My fave section is probably tracks 6-8, Ruiner, The Becoming and I Do Not Want This...the surround mix in The Becoming is brilliant as the various lines swirl around you in the breakdown.

 

[Pibroch]

Was actually just blasting this in the car on the way home. Fantastic mix, and obviously classic album.

 

[Scott65]

I was going to give it a 9 but the surround mix is so good so I gave it a 10.

 

[Sashaaa]

I honestly don't understand any of the hype on the mix of this release. The music is fantastic but this is barely even discrete to me. Only occasionally there's stuff going on in the rears, and it's pretty much the front channels. Maybe my version is screwed up? Having a few effects occasionaly in the rears doesn't really do it for me, especially when this album could totally open up in surround sound. Some tracks are pretty killer in 5.1 like closer but this sounds like a extremely safe mix. I'll give the mix a 5/10 and the music a 9/10.

 

[EricKalet]

I honestly don't understand any of the hype on the mix of this release. The music is fantastic but this is barely even discrete to me. Only occasionally there's stuff going on in the rears, and it's pretty much the front channels. Maybe my version is screwed up? Having a few effects occasionaly in the rears doesn't really do it for me, especially when this album could totally open up in surround sound. Some tracks are pretty killer in 5.1 like closer but this sounds like a extremely safe mix. I'll give the mix a 5/10 and the music a 9/10.

Agreed on the 5. Fidelity is excellent, mix not so much. I based my 5 on the non-agressive nature of this mix. I would have thought this would be ideal for a fully immersive 5.1 experience but whomever mixed was very conservative with this.

 

[Sashaaa]

Agreed on the 5. Fidelity is excellent, mix not so much. I based my 5 on the non-agressive nature of this mix. I would have thought this would be ideal for a fully immersive 5.1 experience but whomever mixed was very conservative with this.

Wow, never thought I'd find another person who agrees on this lol. Yeah, was totally suprising. Expected it to be like a flaming lips mix. Music is of course amazing though.

 

[EricKalet]

Wow, never thought I'd find another person who agrees on this lol. Yeah, was totally suprising. Expected it to be like a flaming lips mix. Music is of course amazing though.

Likewise. The music is great for a certain mood for me. But very disappointed in the surround mix, maybe I would listen to it more, had it been more aggressive. I might spin it today to give it another chance.

 

[Infomas]

Wow, never thought I'd find another person who agrees on this lol. Yeah, was totally suprising. Expected it to be like a flaming lips mix. Music is of course amazing though.

I was so underwhelmed by the mix, I don't believe I listened to it a second time. Maybe I'll SpecWeb it and see if it sounds better.

 

[GOS]

I have both Dual Disc and SACD versions. I more easily found my SACD copy. Been a long time. I too think my vote is reflected by the sheer volumn of this. The style makes you think it's louder that it might be. I dunno. I will say this; to my ears, there are many discreet moments throughout this disc. Certainly not all the time. Right when you think the front's and center are loud, something comes screaching into the rears in a very discreet manner.

So, I have no qualms about the surround on this. I think I will break my vote down...

Fidelity - 7 I mean, some songs sound amazing, which is shocking considering how damn loud it can be at times. For example, I think Piggy sounds great. Mr. Self Destruct is just so loud sounding it makes me almost cringe.

Content - 9 Well, you either like it or you don't. I like the industrial sound myself.

Surround - 8 I think it has plenty of activity. I can only imagine this in a bigger listening room...cranked. I bet it opens up a lot.

So, I guess that averages to an 8.

Here are the DR values for the SACD...

foobar2000 1.5.4 / Dynamic Range Meter 1.1.1
log date: 2020-08-30 12:32:18

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Analyzed: Nine Inch Nails / The Downward Spiral (2004 Deluxe Edition - Disc 1)
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

DR Peak RMS Duration Track
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
DR10 -0.17 dB -13.22 dB 4:39 01-Mr. Self Destruct
DR14 -0.27 dB -16.41 dB 4:23 02-Piggy
DR10 -0.22 dB -11.49 dB 3:54 03-Heresy
DR10 -0.44 dB -12.68 dB 2:59 04-March Of The Pigs
DR11 -1.12 dB -13.06 dB 6:13 05-Closer
DR9 -0.33 dB -12.00 dB 5:01 06-Ruiner
DR11 -0.01 dB -13.88 dB 5:30 07-The Becoming
DR10 -0.21 dB -13.12 dB 5:41 08-I Do Not Want This
DR6 -0.14 dB -8.69 dB 1:36 09-Big Man With A Gun
DR10 -0.46 dB -13.33 dB 3:22 10-A Warm Place
DR11 -0.44 dB -12.67 dB 4:43 11-Eraser
DR11 -0.37 dB -13.07 dB 6:52 12-Reptile
DR10 -0.41 dB -13.85 dB 3:47 13-The Downward Spiral
DR13 -0.45 dB -18.77 dB 5:47 14-Hurt
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Number of tracks: 14
Official DR value: DR10

Samplerate: 88200 Hz
Channels: 6
Bits per sample: 24
Bitrate: 6657 kbps
Codec: FLAC
================================================================================

 

[humprof]

I honestly don't understand any of the hype on the mix of this release. The music is fantastic but this is barely even discrete to me. Only occasionally there's stuff going on in the rears, and it's pretty much the front channels.

Likewise. The music is great for a certain mood for me. But very disappointed in the surround mix, maybe I would listen to it more, had it been more aggressive.

[Insert Scooby-Doo "Huh"? meme here...]

Are you guys sure you didn't pop in Disc 2 of the SACD set (which is 2.0 only) by mistake--or that your player isn't defaulting to the stereo layer of Disc 1, rather than the 5.1 layer (as my Sony UBP-X800 initially did)?

I only picked up this title recently, and I'm giving it my first real audition today. Goth Industrial is not my jam, but I like Reznor & Ross's film work, so I'm trying to keep open ears here, although I'm afraid mine are so old and afflicted by tinnitus that more than one listen may make me deef!

I'm liking it, though--the electronica-flavored stuff more than the thrash-metal-flavored stuff. And I think the mix is amazing. There's all kinds of uber-discrete things happening in the rears, not to mention things moving around the room on a regular basis. The whole package is kind of overwhelming!

 

[Strilo]

Yeah Closer in 5.1 is a near-demo level surround mix for me. Stunning. There are sounds that spin around the entire room, through all 5 speakers.