I bought a VG+ copy of the DSOTM MOFI vinyl on an international auction site and it arrived today. I was excited to give it a listen an it did not disappoint. It actually exceeded my expectations given the MOFI vinyl bashing that goes on among the various fora. The vinyl is nice, easily a VG++.
The top end is wonderful; cymbals are shiney but sweet. The strings, sax, and vocals have a gritty edge that provides a realism I don't necessarily hear on the digital copies. You can hear the reed in the sax, the throat in the vocals. The lower bass, especially the parts not made by bass guitar is superb. The sub bass in 'On The Run' is powerful and impressive. The knock against this vinyl MOFI for me is the mid bass, which seems a bit overly heavy and has the effect of making the bass guitar seem slow or plodding with respect to the rest of the music.
Like my other copies of DSOTM the soundstage is incredible. I think the MOFI vinyl has a slight edge here with more depth, at times making the cymbals and portions of drumming sound as if they are behind my speakers. The soundstage easily fills the entire width of the room and maybe beyond.
I now have five copies of DSOTM; three digital copies (1983 Harvest, 1992 Capitol remaster, and 2011 remaster), a cassette tape, and the MOFI vinyl. What becomes apparent listening to all these is what a fantastically recorded album this is (much like The Wall). If you want to know my favorite, I like them all for different reasons and each has some positive attributes and very little negative. I suspect I'll listen to the 1992 remaster CD and MOFI vinyl most often.
I would not discourage anyone from buying any of the copies I own. From what I can tell, there is no right or wrong or ultimate version to have. Just listen and enjoy.
