Dire Straits : what is your favorite pressing?


I would like the best pressing of Dire Straits debut album.  I am considering 3 options: original UK pressing, the first Japanese pressing, or the soon to be available MoFi 45rpm version.  Can anyone advise?
marktomaras

Showing 1 response by dhite71

I cannot comment on any pressings other than original US vs the MoFi Gain 2 45s.  I had really nice copies of all the original pressings so resisted getting Brothers in Arms for a few years.  When they recently released the 5 albums on Gain 2 45rpm I thought I should try.  I mean you get 10% off and free shipping, it really isn't that bad.  I started with Brothers in Arms, Communique and Making Movies as those were in stock.  The debut and Love Over Gold were awaiting repress.  I was immediately blown away!!  The dynamics of these Gain 2 albums is just phenomenal.  They are nearly as quiet as the UD1S albums and just sound so lifelike.  I immediately ordered the 2 awaiting repress and somehow they had a copy of each and I got them 2 days later.  Now I have the full set of 5 and it was worth ever penny.  

I did have a very unusual finding with Love Over Gold.  Track 1 had very loud whooshing static for 32 seconds and then a loud pop and all was quiet.  I played several other records, cleaned the stylus and record but every time on this track....the same 32 seconds.  Then on the final track the Gain 2 album sounded muted.  The dynamics were notably less than the original pressing just for track 5.  Seems that there is a physical defect in my track 1 and possibly a transfer defect in track 5.  They are great so will be sending me another copy once available and hopefully my copy was just an outlier on both issues.