This is me holding my not one, not even two, but THREE copies of the new Nine Inch Nails single (The CD, the DVD, and the vinyl). As you can tell, I'm pretty happy about it.
Okay, look: I can recognize the fact that I am not exactly the world's most objective observer when it comes to Les Nails. In fact: I think that's one of the great things about art- you're allowed to be unobjective. There is no criteria for judging art that's free from subjectivity, so you may as well just admit it and dive right into the arms of your own prejudices.
That said: I recognise that this isn't NIN's greatest song yet. Metro gave it four stars and I'd say that's about right. In the pantheon of all NIN songs I'd say it'd be about three stars- somewhere in the middle. It's still a fantastic rock song with some awesome synth, and better than pretty much everything else that's been released this year (although it's probably pipped to the post by that Gorillaz song and the new Foos single, which kicks ass).
I was a bit disappointed by the remixes. You'd think something remixed by a guy named 'Photek' would be, like, a major departure from the original song, but really it's just an extended mix, not much changed at all. I'll have to grab those ProTools files and make my own mix.
The DVD is pretty sparse- the video (which you can view on the NIN website without much loss of quality) has an intentionally lo-fi asthetic -it just looks like a bunch of webcams watching a live rehearsal, and the feed begins to 'break up' as they start to rock out- as if there's too much ROCK for your computer to handle! However the 5.1 mix sounds fantastic, there's noise all over the place.
I haven't actually listened to the vinyl yet because...I don't own a record player!
But why did you buy a record if you can't play it?
Sort of an experiment, actually. My friend Chris maintains that if you rip an analog recording to mp3, it still retains some of the signal depth and sounds better than a digital recording. I'm a bit skeptical, but I figure it's worth experimenting with, especially as with the album coming up I'll have to decide whether to get that in vinyl, as well.
Speaking of which, I'm very excited about the album. Everything I've heard about it has been great, and this single has only got me more excited, which I guess is the point. I've heard numerous reviewers, and Trent himself, say that this is the 'safest' of the tracks on the album, the one that sounds most like NIN's earlier works (and indeed you can definitely hear similarities to March of the Pigs, No You Don't, We're In This Together Now), which is understandable for the first single in five years. But from what I've heard of the other tracks, there's a lot of variety on the album, and a lot of departures from what might be considered the NIN 'norm', as wide as that already is.
So what's with the paisley dressing gown?
Don't ask.
Now a little treat for you! Last night, Zane Lowe's BBC1 rock show had NIN in the studio and they performed The Hand That Feeds LIVE! Now you could always go to the BBC website and start their extremely clever archive feed and rip the entire show and then extract the live single yourself ... except I've already done it for you! So just download them here. The quality is pretty shocking, and it's in mono, but THTF is pretty lo-fi as it is, so it's decent enough to listen to for a live track. Also live is the previously-unaired 'With Teeth' (which has a gorgeous piano/synth breakdown in the middle, check it out), and a pretty bitta-shweet rendition of 'Hurt', done in the same style that 'Something I Can Never Have' on 'Still'.
The Hand That Feeds (live)
With Teeth (live)
Hurt (live)
[UPDATE! The fan-made remixes for THTF are just flowing in. They can be found here. The Ruiner crossover is great.]
This is a 
You cannot afford the kind of equipment needed to get a signal off a record and have it sound better than a CD never mind an MP3. And that's only withstanding if you actually believe a record sounds better than a CD, which I don't. Maybe sometimes in some cases with the right kind of amp. I don't have that kind of money to spend, for that little value even if it does exist at some decernable point.
Taking a digital signal (CD) and encoding it differently is one thing. Taking an analogue signal and trying to do the same, means you introduce noise. The only warmth you'll get is the extra noise you have introduced into the system.
That said I have bought records before, and have never owned a record player. Because they look cool.
As I said, I'm pretty skeptical about the thing myself, but Chris maintains this to be so, and he's just ripping from his record player to his PC.
In theory, the consequent compression would destroy the depth that only analog records have, but as we've discussed ad naseum in a different thread, theories are just theories: I need to actually try the experiment myself to confirm or deny if it makes any difference. Until that time, talk is cheap.
naw, i don't think the quality is better. in fact, given that i don't really know what i'm doing it may well sound worse. i just like vinyl and also kinda get some reassuring enjoyment out of a little cracklin at the start of my mp3s. vinyl straight through the stereo though... anyway, try ripping the single and see how the different versions sound.
I'm sure I code code a MP3 encoder that introduces vinyl crackle into the rip :-)
Chris, I'm coming round to YOUR place to rip that NIN single. So you may want to step outside for a bit while it's on, unless you want to hear the awesome synth riff at the end.
We will also do some CD/vinyl side-by-side analysis to see which rules more, and if analog goodness is nary but a myth.
somewhat strangely the vinyl recording programs i've tried often have tools to remove the crackling. you'd think if it upset you that much you'd just buy cds.
it's funny what poor quality you can put up with though. the first recordings i did are terrible but you tune it out really quickly on headphones. although i've only ever had a tape walkman and never a portable cd player.
well, it should only take me about a year to transfer everything onto the comp..
ok, i like a good experiment.
Are you going to let us know the results of your experimentations? If I dive into the arms of my prejudices, will I catch intolerances? And what's with the paisley dressing gown?
Wouldn't mp3 encoding strip out a lot of what you want to preserve? You would need a lossless encoding to at least have a stab at being better than an audio cd, surely?
Early-level Analog/CD experiments were performed in the early-morning hours of Sunday while quite incredibly cut. By playing the CD and the vinyl of the Soundtrack to Bullit simultaneously and switching between them, we were sadly unable to differentiate in quality. However we did notice that the two recordings slowly fell out of synch with each other, causing a highly amusing maniacal expression to develop on Chris' face as he switched between the two recordings.
I told you not to ask about the Paisley Dressing Gown!!!!!
Paisley Dressing Gown?