NIN fires a shot against the loudness wars.

kuntasensei

http://www.theverge.com/2013/8/28/4667966/nin-audiophile-mastered-version-hesitation-marks

I'm not huge on NIN, but honestly... I'm gonna throw down $12 to get the audiophile version of this in FLAC. Should be interesting to compare the two mixes. I wish more artists would do this!

Jhayman

Sounds like a plan I do like NIN...

Face

For a free preview: http://youtu.be/5f8CAC88bU8

RamZet

from their web page,
"Hesitation Marks was mastered in two different ways - the standard, “loud” mastering (which is what you’ll find on the CD, on iTunes, and everywhere else), and also an alternate “audiophile” mastering, which we’re offering as a free download option for anyone who purchases the album through nin.com. For the majority of people, the standard version will be preferable and differences will be difficult to detect. Audiophiles with high-end equipment and an understanding of the mastering process might prefer the alternate version. Alan Moulder, who mixed the album, offers a more detailed explanation: When we were mixing Hesitation Marks we decided to treat the mastering process in a slightly different way to the usual. Since we had tried to treat every other aspect of making this record differently to how we were used to, it seemed to make sense. We were mixing as we went along with the production of each song rather than at the end, so we thought that once we had a song pretty close we would send it off to Tom Baker, our long time serving mastering engineer, to give it some mastering treatment. Normally you wait until the record is finished being recorded and mixed, then take all the mixes to mastering. But we thought doing it again, as we went along, might make us push the process further and spend more time on mastering rather than rush through it at the end. Whilst doing this we became aware of how much low bass information there was on the record. Since that can define how loud of a level the mastering can be, we were faced with a dilemma: do we keep the bass and and have a significantly lower level record, or do we sacrifice the bass for a more competitive level of volume? The biggest issue in mastering these days tends to be how loud can you make your record. It is a fact that when listening back-to-back, loud records will come across more impressively, although in the long run what you sacrifice for that level can be quality and fidelity. So after much discussion we decided to go with two versions. On the main release Tom did exceptional work to maintain the integrity of our mixes and reproduce the low end as much as possible and still get a decent level, although it’s still nowhere as loud as a lot of modern records. The Audiophile Mastered Version is more true to how the mixes sounded to us in the studio when we were working on the songs. Have a listen, turn up the volume and enjoy the experience!
Mastering Engineer Tom Baker adds:
I believe it was Trent’s idea to master the album two different ways, and to my knowledge it has never been done before.
The standard version is “loud” and more aggressive and has more of a bite or edge to the sound with a tighter low end.
The Audiophile Mastered Version highlights the mixes as they are without compromising the dynamics and low end, and not being concerned about how “loud” the album would be. The goal was to simply allow the mixes to retain the spatial relationship between instruments and the robust, grandiose sound.

NOTE: The standard mastered version is in no way inferior to the Audiophile Version - we wouldn’t release something inferior as the default. And vinyl purists rest assured, the vinyl edition was mastered to sound the very best for that format. The Audiophile Version is merely an alternate take on the mastering, which some people will appreciate. It’s meant to give a slightly different experience, not denigrate the standard version. Listen to each and come to your own conclusions.
If you ordered any format of Hesitation Marks from nin.com, you’ll be able to download one or both mastering versions, in whichever formats you prefer (MP3, FLAC, Apple Lossless, and WAV), beginning September 3"

Msabot1

I got into Pretty Little Hate Machine and Downward Spiral....that's how I remember NIN!

AsSiMiLaTeD

Pretty Hate Machine is still one of my favorite albums to this day, I think it's a very underrated album.

drummer86

The Fragile was played on every set of speakers I demoed during my shopping. Love me some NIN. Trent Reznor is unbelievable. I hope this catched on with other artists. Nothing ruins a good album like a crappy mastering job.

Face

AsSiMiLaTeD wrote: »

Pretty Hate Machine is still one of my favorite albums to this day, I think it's a very underrated album.

It's still a lot of fun to listen to.

I'd have to say my favorite is Broken.

Face

FYI, sound quality and bass line is superb on the new album. Downloaded the .WAV version at 1am tonight.

kuntasensei

Just downloaded both versions in FLAC. Looking forward to checking it out after work.

11tsteve

i am in a total NIN jag, and at this moment agree with drummer88. pretty hard to beat the Fragile... with Pretty Hate Machine right at its heels.
We got the Hesitation Marks cd today and listening right now, and this may become a new go-to for a while. As always very spatial, but this low end seems even more anchored and tight. I can't wait to get the special mix just for comparison... and my wife and I have tickets to see NIN in St Paul in October a few days before we head out to Santa Monica for a podcast festival.
October is shaping up....

kuntasensei

I played a few tracks from the audiophile version last night on my main rig. Sounds incredible. Gonna spin the regular version tonight to compare, but the audiophile mix is worth the price.

unc2701

Fail:
http://www.dr.loudness-war.info/index.php?search_artist=&search_album=hesitation+marks

Buy the vinyl, guys. They upped the DR a little on the audiophile version, but if you want it done right, the vinyl edition is where you need to be. I absolutely agree that it's good someone is bringing this to light, but the "audiophile" cut should have been as good or better than the vinyl version (on DR, anyway). This slight improvement isn't going to be enough to really convert people on the problem.