Definitive Audiophile pressings

AnthonyI said:
My day started off pretty shitty. I was putting some stuff away for my wife in the garage and some loose decorations poked me in the eye, scratching it. So after a few hours of pain, salve and an eye patch, I was able to move around with one eye open without causing the other to just buckle me.

...............so what better to do when your forced to keep your eyes closed than to do a little critical listening, lol.

View attachment 150517

I want to thank @TenderLovingKiller® again for hooking me up with this pressing, it's been a back burner grail only because I've never found an "acceptable" copy at a good price, and just as unfortunate, a Discogs seller that seemed accurate in his grading.

This copy, outside of the most minor jacket issue is pristine, so thanks again :)

I've always considered this album a bit "thick", like a blanket of sound, a lot of the sound is in the same register and tends to come across a bit muddy at times, some pressings/masters, pushing Bowies vocals up to the front and brining out the higher register a bit to "force" some separation. Putting the current MoFi hub-bub aside, what this pressing and mastering does amazingly is keep that lush thick blanket intact, but with natural separation and clarity. All of the layers of that "blanket" are on full display to the listener.

In my opinion, by far the best I've heard this album sound, the "unveiling" of all those layers kind of gave the album a completely different mood, and not in a bad way. Recommended if you can get a nice copy at a good price.

Time to close my eyes again, typing with only one is more challenging than you would think ;)
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Completely agree, I think it's an astonishing pressing. I'm not sure if I have an album in my collection that absolutely floored me on first listen the way this one did. I know what to expect from Bowie in terms of the mastering quality of most of his albums, and I was not expecting to hear what I heard when I dropped the needle. If there's a better pressing of this album on the planet I'd be kinda shocked.
 
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AnthonyI said:
My day started off pretty shitty. I was putting some stuff away for my wife in the garage and some loose decorations poked me in the eye, scratching it. So after a few hours of pain, salve and an eye patch, I was able to move around with one eye open without causing the other to just buckle me.

...............so what better to do when your forced to keep your eyes closed than to do a little critical listening, lol.

View attachment 150517

I want to thank @TenderLovingKiller® again for hooking me up with this pressing, it's been a back burner grail only because I've never found an "acceptable" copy at a good price, and just as unfortunate, a Discogs seller that seemed accurate in his grading.

This copy, outside of the most minor jacket issue is pristine, so thanks again :)

I've always considered this album a bit "thick", like a blanket of sound, a lot of the sound is in the same register and tends to come across a bit muddy at times, some pressings/masters, pushing Bowies vocals up to the front and brining out the higher register a bit to "force" some separation. Putting the current MoFi hub-bub aside, what this pressing and mastering does amazingly is keep that lush thick blanket intact, but with natural separation and clarity. All of the layers of that "blanket" are on full display to the listener.

In my opinion, by far the best I've heard this album sound, the "unveiling" of all those layers kind of gave the album a completely different mood, and not in a bad way. Recommended if you can get a nice copy at a good price.

Time to close my eyes again, typing with only one is more challenging than you would think ;)
Click to expand...
So it was you! 🤣. Excellent grab. I agree with @Mather —it has to be the best pressing of it. The separation and overall sound is so fantastic and the JVC vinyl is dead quiet. I think some people didn’t like it because it just doesn’t sound quite like all the other Bowie pressings that can get kind of muddy. The price has gotten pretty crazy on it and like you said, hard to get a clean copy of it. The sleeve on mine isn’t perfect but the record is clean. Found it on instagram of all places from some random record shop in the Midwest for a great price. I really like most of the 70s/80s MoFis I have despite people complaining about the “smiley face EQ”. The Bowie was the album that made me realize that the smiley face EQ was just kind of a myth perpetuated on hoffman for some reason.

Hope your eye feels better!
 
jamieanderson1968 said:
Reading up lately on best cd versions, some MoFi 90s cds get called out for bad mastering. Wonder if that prejudice got moved over to vinyl over the years.?
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From what I can tell, some of it started because Hoffman (who hates MoFi) started talking about smiley face EQ and his acolytes kept parroting it. Maybe they licensed a title he wanted or wouldn’t hire him haha. He also lied about the source on an album he cut and I think Rob Loverde called him out on it on SHF. Hoffman then got him banned from the site lol.

Some of the older MoFis just sound different to OGs. I happen to like my pressing of Sticky Fingers that MoFi did. But others complain that they want the grittier sound and think the MoFi tames that a bit. With that title (and maybe Ziggy a little) I can see why people were initially taken back by it when it came out.
 
MikeH said:
From what I can tell, some of it started because Hoffman (who hates MoFi) started talking about smiley face EQ and his acolytes kept parroting it. Maybe they licensed a title he wanted or wouldn’t hire him haha. He also lied about the source on an album he cut and I think Rob Loverde called him out on it on SHF. Hoffman then got him banned from the site lol.

Some of the older MoFis just sound different to OGs. I happen to like my pressing of Sticky Fingers that MoFi did. But others complain that they want the grittier sound and think the MoFi tames that a bit. With that title (and maybe Ziggy a little) I can see why people were initially taken back by it when it came out.
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All I can say is that any, and I mean any, "conclusions" gathered at the Hoffman forums tells me I have to find out for myself. So far Hoffman's hasn't scored one "you're right". I know not all their members are like this, but boy, do they have a lot of lemmings over there just following the piper.
 
AnthonyI said:
All I can say is that any, and I mean any, "conclusions" gathered at the Hoffman forums tells me I have to find out for myself. So far Hoffman's hasn't scored one "you're right". I know not all their members are like this, but boy, do they have a lot of lemmings over there just following the piper.
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The funny thing with the Hoff forums is it seems like they are arguing from the same side but still screaming at each other.

Hoff-ite 1 - MoFi sucks
Hoff-ite 2 - No, MoFi really sucks
Hoff-ite 3 - No, you are both imbeciles! MOFI SUCKS!!
 
MikeH said:
From what I can tell, some of it started because Hoffman (who hates MoFi) started talking about smiley face EQ and his acolytes kept parroting it. Maybe they licensed a title he wanted or wouldn’t hire him haha. He also lied about the source on an album he cut and I think Rob Loverde called him out on it on SHF. Hoffman then got him banned from the site lol.

Some of the older MoFis just sound different to OGs. I happen to like my pressing of Sticky Fingers that MoFi did. But others complain that they want the grittier sound and think the MoFi tames that a bit. With that title (and maybe Ziggy a little) I can see why people were initially taken back by it when it came out.
Click to expand...

My MoFi Rubber Soul is very obviously EQ'd to a bit of an Extreme, same with the Let It Be actually. But then I hear the White Album MoFi is amazing?? I think they're just all over the place no matter what decade of MoFi 😂
 
AnthonyI said:
My day started off pretty shitty. I was putting some stuff away for my wife in the garage and some loose decorations poked me in the eye, scratching it. So after a few hours of pain, salve and an eye patch, I was able to move around with one eye open without causing the other to just buckle me.

...............so what better to do when you're forced to keep your eyes closed than to do a little critical listening, lol.

View attachment 150517

I want to thank @TenderLovingKiller® again for hooking me up with this pressing, it's been a back burner grail only because I've never found an "acceptable" copy at a good price, and just as unfortunate, a Discogs seller that seemed accurate in his grading.

This copy, outside of the most minor jacket issue is pristine, so thanks again :)

I've always considered this album a bit "thick", like a blanket of sound, a lot of the sound is in the same register and tends to come across a bit muddy at times, some pressings/masters, pushing Bowies vocals up to the front and brining out the higher register a bit to "force" some separation. Putting the current MoFi hub-bub aside, what this pressing and mastering does amazingly is keep that lush thick blanket intact, but with natural separation and clarity. All of the layers of that "blanket" are on full display to the listener.

In my opinion, by far the best I've heard this album sound, the "unveiling" of all those layers kind of gave the album a completely different mood, and not in a bad way. Recommended if you can get a nice copy at a good price.

Time to close my eyes again, typing with only one is more challenging than you would think ;)
Click to expand...

Mather said:
Completely agree, I think it's an astonishing pressing. I'm not sure if I have an album in my collection that absolutely floored me on first listen the way this one did. I know what to expect from Bowie in terms of the mastering quality of most of his albums, and I was not expecting to hear what I heard when I dropped the needle. If there's a better pressing of this album on the planet I'd be kinda shocked.
Click to expand...
This might interest you Bowie nerds fans. I work on the street where the photo for that cover was taken (I look across at the location of where the "K.West" sign was. A few years ago there was a big celebration on the street and the practice designed and built a replica sign and fixed it in the original location.

Il take a photo of the sign tomorrow.
 
DeadwaxDude said:
My MoFi Rubber Soul is very obviously EQ'd to a bit of an Extreme, same with the Let It Be actually. But then I hear the White Album MoFi is amazing?? I think they're just all over the place no matter what decade of MoFi 😂
Click to expand...
They work with what they have, in the Beatles case, the master tapes. Stereo master for Rubber Soul is not very good, and the mix is problematic. White Album is a better stereo mix overall. They do what they need to given what they have.
 
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