Spotlighting two Dire Straits albums and what I feel are the best pressings in each instance. Channel Merch right here! Help support the Channel! shop.theuniver...
Stellar video Tim! I own S/T, Making Movies and LOG all UK 1st press in NM condition. While the sound on all three is wonderful, LOG is jaw-droppingly good! It is another shining example of OG perfection, alongside other OG pressings such as Steely Dan- Aja, Gaucho; Rolling Stones Tattoo You; Police-Ghost in the Machine and Synchronicity. Of course there are numerous others, but you simply cannot best a well recorded, mastered, and pressed OG on a clean slab of vinyl. Finding one on Quiex II is icing on the cake!
Thanks Tim. I have the UK Masterdisk A3 RL // B3 RL of Love Over Gold. This is the only variant with RL on both sides. I have also the US Masterdisk BK (Bill Kipper) QUIEX II, The MOFI 2 x 45 RPM, Canadian pressing and the 2010 Warner Brothers mastered by Bernie Grundman, cut by Chris Bellman and pressed at Pallas. All in NM condition. My favorite is the UK Robert Ludwig followed by the QUIEX II US Warner Brothers and very close by the Grundman / Bellman edition.
Nice video Tim. Your knowledge and enthusiasm always shines through. Dire Straits is a guilty pleasure when it comes to my listening tastes. I always enjoy 'audiophile' type videos, another guilty pleasure of sorts as I am a committed CD listener and have had to make do with so-called 'super bit mapping' digital copies of both these albums. They sound ok but I have a feeling the analogue pressing is what really ups the enjoyment for music like this.
Great Video as always Tim! Nice shirt BTW❤. So I’ve been hip to the UK Vertigo’s of the Dire Straits catalogs since the OBC did a show on them. I haven’t found one in the wild yet but I every Dire Straits I see:). To me, so far I’ve liked the MOFIs over the American pressings, digital step be damned. But I hope to find some vertigo’s eventually. And yes the Quiex badge is cool to find. I’ve recently found an “unbadged” Quiex of the Police, Synchronicity and it sounded great. Looking forward to the originals video.
Hi Tim. Living in Switzerland I always appreciate your deep knowledge of records. I'm also a fan of Dire Straits and have a couple of Mofi's in my collection. As a collector of test pressings I can recommend Brothers In Arms (2008, RTI Not On Label), Communique (1979, Vertigo Australia) and Love Over Gold (1982, Warner Bros Rec.). Look forward to your next video. Brgds. Norbert
I have that same Love Over Gold Quiex II promo album myself. And I have Neil Young Trans Quiex II promo, too. I have few other non-promo Quiex II pressings
Saw Dire Straits live before Love Over Gold was released but they played Private Investigations and Telegraph Road - songs that we in the audience had never heard before. It was a huge Wow moment - these songs were huge and you knew at that point this band was going to be huge!
Tim, I've got a OG from the Netherlands on that Dire Straits self-titled. I swear I thought for a long time that was the best sounding album in my library. I bought the MoFi edition and while it sounds great, it doesn't beat that OG.
Thanks for the vid Tim nice gets👍🏻I think folks should see a pattern with reissues for the most part. SHF is a neverending circle of “This has never sounded better!” to “Yeah, the original/older reissue is better” a year later. Detail/separation of instruments vs musicality/tonality. I know which characteristics I want predominantly.
I have a very high end system (>£250k) and always thought the MOFI pressings of most things sound lack lustre when compared to minty OG's. The only new records I now buy tend to be Blue Note jazz as OG's tend to be unobtanium in the UK
You may be right about Dire Straits S/T, the forums on LOG seem to lean towards the MOFI version which I have and love. Telegraph Road gives me goosebumps on my system. On the s/t, I bought the MOFI and WOW! On disk one they all ruin my OG! I think I am good! Quiex be damned
I still have a copy of Love Over Gold I got when I was five years old. As one might imagine, it is no longer exactly pristine... Thankfully, I scored a clean copy from a neighbor when I was like 15, and that remains clean. The clean one has Masterdisk BK on both sides. The beater copy has it on Side 2 only. I got a copy of the S/T from a friend's dad when I was eight, but that remains like VG+. (Three years is a lot when you are a kid, and everything I got at that age forward remains in the shape in which I received it.) That just has an M with a horizontal line through it in each runout. I admit I do not know that one. I cleaned and played each recently, and they sounded great. I prefer the sound of the S/T, to be honest. Love Over Gold always sounded to me like it had a digital element to me. Like maybe some kind of digital reverb unit. Still enjoyed my copy a lot, though. Telegraph Road is a great track.
I have a Vertigo swirl copy from 1978, I think its from the APAC region, sounds fantastic, I've had the UK on my list, but I refuse to pay the shipping on discogs to get it here from the UK. I hope to find it in the wild as its on my hit list. Although after your video I might just have to pull the trigger. Thanks again for the awesome content!
I enjoy my MOFI Dire Straits, and have owned a OG Vertigo and a U.S. pressing.....I guess I see your point, without gaslighting a particular pressing as being the "best".
Agree on the UK vs MofI pressing. I bought all the Mofi's at the time but sold them all except Communiqué which in my view was worth keeping (vs original UK or US 'Winchester' pressings). Haven't listened to it for a while but I also kept the S/T Because Sound Matters - 1-47769 (K1). Never heard the Quiex versions.
Tim and all Tim’s viewers. Forget about hoffman threads as most of the posts bow down to hoffman and heavy vinyl audiophile lps without much merit. I bow down at the altar of Tom Port and what he is preaching. Why? My ears said so.
nice I have the same UK press of day view album with original price tag of 4.65 pounds lol not that I have any others to compare it with but sounds amazing
I don't have any UK 1st pressing but I have an LA pressing original that sounds pretty good to my ears. Fun facts, this record made me change turntables.. I had a Technics with linear tracking at the time and it would cut before the end of the record as it is a little longer than usual so had to get a manual turntable to be able to hear the last song in its entirety. I now have a auto lift up Kenwood TT and I have no issues with this one. In retrospect, maybe the Technics had a way to adjust the auto pick up location but I was new to this at the time. For the MoFi, I own all the SACDs (so pure DSD) and I must say the Love Over Gold doesn't sound that good to me, I find it overtly bright. I will do a comparison between the S/T SACD and my LP see if I notice the lackluster bass. For Brothers in Arms, I own both the 20th anniversary SACD and the MoFi and it's hard to pick one, I find the 20th a tad brighter but also more airy, instruments have room to breathe...The MoFi seems fuller on details.. Both of them are good in the end. The main bonus for the 20th is the 5.1 layer... though I don't have a system to fully use it, it's nice to have. And yes, those Quiex are sure to be elusive... good luck on your quest. Hopefully in the forums someone has already compiled a list of all the releases available.
I guess I’ll never understand buying the same records over and over again to go down the rabbit hole of trying to find the best sounding recording of the album. Suddenly you’re shelving is filled with 6 copies of the same record that probably have very minimal differences in the sound quality! Crazy
I love the sound of vinyl and frankly I cannot tell the difference of any of these. My ears are fine and I have listened to vinyl for 50 years. I think this is probably a fun hobby for many but I don’t hear it.
I had a U. K. First Press on Vertigo and sold it without listening to it first because I too have the MOFI / MFSL. Damn....... B. T. W. Tim, What cart or cartridges are you using?
