DSOTM on Vinyl

@stickman451 

If you're up to it, go to the "Thumbs up for ultrasonic record cleaning" thread. It is enlightening.

Happy Listening!

If you are shopping, look for the UK A3/B3 deadwax on the UK pressings. It is a warm good sounding record (i haven’t compared every pressing) and is less grainy sounding than the A2 matrices (which were on the original solid blue triangle copies that are huge money as collectors items). Because it is not a first pressing, it is gettable at a decent price (should be well below a hundred dollars, I bought several for less than $40 US 5 or 6 years ago). The Japanese pressings will have quieter surfaces, and the one most prefer seems to be the Pro-Use (4th pressing), which I don’t own- though i have several earlier japanese pressings, and the MoFi among them, that I bought new back in the day.

Thanks @whart 

There in lies the rub. How much time, effort, money one wants to spend for (any differences in SQ).?

An ongoing dilemma?

Would you care to ascribe a SQ rating on a % basis...say on the original MFSL to the current remastered version? (If you've heard it)

@slaw - i’m not even sure what the "current" remaster is. As you I think you know, I’m not a fan of a lot of the old MoFis because the sound quality is all over the place and is often inferior to the standard issue of a given record. Some are killer, though. It’s been years since I compared copies of Dark Side, and all of the copies I own are older. I didn’t have any particular issue with the MoFi Dark Side that I can recall, but I’d have to listen to it and compare it to say that UK pressing I mentioned to remember how it stacks up. I do know that when I was doing the comparisons some years ago, and seeking out copies, the UK A3/B3 was a winner so long as you could find one with quiet surfaces that was unmolested. It would require some fresh comparisons (since I don’t have listening notes on these) to answer your question, and of course, part of it is personal preference. Some people prefer a detailed sound, some a more organic sound. I tend toward the latter. The JVC vinyl compound and pressing quality of the old MoFi is among the best extant- dead quiet surfaces, and of all the ones I owned, bought new, never an issue. 

@whart

Without looking it up, I believe the latest remasters (they are remasters...not reissues/very important distinction), came out in late 2016, early 2017 as Sony/Legacy.

I think all of the issues you noted are relevant in any preliminary discussion, before recommending, what can be a real investment on the listener. It may be better for the OP to directly relate the qualities that are important to him when asking of others, which pressing is better/best?

I concur on your assessment of the JVC vinyl formulation as being perhaps, the best ever.