People have been arguing about the relative merits of analogue and digital recordings for as long as the two have had to coexist. In contemplating the question of superiority, we find that comparing the song Physical (You’re So) as recorded by Adam and the Ants in the 1980s (analogue) with it’s 1990s Nine Inch Nails counterpart (digital), provides fertile ground whereon one can make a more general comparison.
So where to begin? For starters, Nine Inch Nails relies much more heavily on electronically induced sound effects (scratch that—purely electronic sound effects). Adam Ant may have had heavy use of a distorted electric guitar, but the sound is still grounded in performance. NIN has most of the same instruments: guitar, drum kit, bass; but none of the same liveness. Computer-generated sound effects abound, including static that changes from one headphone to another and metallic percussion effects that would not be out of place in an old video game.
Granted, the sound quality in the NIN song is far-and-away superior. All the distortion and noise effects are clearly deliberate, painted against a crystal clear background. The same liveness that informs Adam Ant’s performance darkens it with actual noise. To some this may be desirable, but from a purely technical standpoint it gives a leg-up to the more recent digital recording.
