Definitive Audiophile pressings

Well should I?

I did!
 
Sevastopol! That’s it! I knew it sounded Russian! MoFi are a bunch commies! You heard it here first!

BTW: Naming a town after an epic Drunken fight is what I’m here for!
It's a super cute town in wine country with great restaurants, bars, and of course wineries!

They also have a distillery that I haven't been to yet but am hoping to get to soon.

 
Eh, MoFi is still making very strong sounding records even if it is digitally enhanced. There was a comparison to AP before and AP's 45 RPM records have the same pricing scale as MoFi does, and while MoFi largely presses dad/boomer rock...AP isn't exactly any more contemporary except they also do Grand-Dad Jazz (I think Norah Jones has the most recently released album they've done...and second most, and third most, etc.), and they'll gouge their limited stock copies to boot via Acoustic Sounds.

Until an audiophile label comes in and really starts to aggressively acquire a wide range of titles or directly threatens the classic rock sphere that MoFi is inhabiting, I don't think they are in any real danger of becoming irrelevant if most of their releases are the best sounding versions of what is getting put out. At this point you have something like VMP which is rife with QA issues and not much else willing to press a wide variety of titles or dip too much into the rock sphere they are in. Speakers Corner maybe? I could see their very high end business (the three figure one-steps) suffering a bit given the self selected population willing to drop that kind of money on the title but overall? Well...other places need to step up their game first.
 
So, are there any definitive audiophile versions of Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine? Or at least a good sounding pressing?

I own zero NIN on vinyl and want to start with my favorite.
I think you wanna grab the Craft reissue as opposed to the Bicycle reissue. I think the Bicycle reissue has a shiny metallic cover whereas the Craft reissue has the standard album artwork.
 
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I guess this might be the wrong place to say that I play CDs, I still buy CDs, and I really love some of my CDs. It's probably why I have become too cheap to be an audiophile -- it's hard for me to pay $100+ for a vinyl knowing that there are CDs out there for 15% of the cost and 90% of the enjoyment. I spent too much on my vinyl rigs to admit it might be 100% of the enjoyment sometimes.

And, yeah, I do like my MoFi 24K gold CDs more than the regular aluminum versions. But I ain't paying $100+ for them, either. With MoFi, probably ain't even 24 karat gold. 😒
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Well should I?

It's your money. I have a $10 original that is excellent sounding
 
So, are there any definitive audiophile versions of Nine Inch Nails' Pretty Hate Machine? Or at least a good sounding pressing?

I own zero NIN on vinyl and want to start with my favorite.

I think you wanna grab the Craft reissue as opposed to the Bicycle reissue. I think the Bicycle reissue has a shiny metallic cover we’re the Craft reissue has the standard album artwork.
I'm too lazy to look it up, but I think the shiny cover is the anniversary edition with an extra disc and I've heard bad things despite being tempted by the extras. I have the one with the original art and it's decent.
 
I think you wanna grab the Craft reissue as opposed to the Bicycle reissue. I think the Bicycle reissue has a shiny metallic cover we’re the Craft reissue has the standard album artwork.
And if you find a place that sells this version let me know because i cannot find it. It shares the same barcode with the other versions so you gotta see the back of the jacket to confirm.
 
That's the weird thing to me about most of the MOFIs. In a lot of instances, the originals sound just fine, if not better. Or other reissues, for that matter. I have the What's Going On one-step, and frankly, I prefer the recent 50th anniversary over that.

And maybe I'm remembering wrong but didn't you mind up mostly preferring other pressings of Beatles albums over the MOFIs, @Joe Mac ?

So that’s not a straightforward answer. Yes and no. The MoFis are the stereo mix. I’m not a fan of Beatles stereo mixes prior to the white album. So I prefer the mono mixes to them. But, there is no denying the Beatles MoFis are the best I’ve ever heard the stereo mixes sound. Their stereo pressing of the white album is hands down the best I’ve ever heard that album sound in any mix.

I’m actually in the camp where I really like the majority of my MoFi records and there are a few that I think are very special altogether.
 
And if you find a place that sells this version let me know because i cannot find it. It shares the same barcode with the other versions so you gotta see the back of the jacket to confirm.
Looks like it's still available from Craft? Is this the correct one @TenderLovingKiller® @Hemotep ??

 
Looks like it's still available from Craft? Is this the correct one @TenderLovingKiller® @Hemotep ??

Looks right to me!
 
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