Here you can compare two high-quality pressings of the highly acclaimed “Brothers In Arms” album by Dire Straits, originally released in 1985. One of the contenders is the version released in 2006 by Warner Bros. Records, featuring a half-speed mastering by Stan Ricker. The other one is the limited edition 2015 release of the album by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, half-speed mastered on the label’s Gain 2 Ultra Analog System at 45 RPM. Both versions were pressed at Record Technology Incorporated (RTI) on two 180-gram vinyl records.

The track used for the comparison is “Money For Nothing”. You can click on the following time marks to quickly jump between pressings:

(00:00) Video intro

– (00:42) Ricker 01
– (01:19) Ricker 02
– (01:54) Ricker 03
– (02:18) Ricker 04
– (02:46) Ricker 05
– (03:14) Ricker 06
– (03:32) Ricker 07
– (04:05) Ricker 08
– (04:37) Ricker 09
– (05:05) Ricker 10
– (05:38) Ricker 11
– (06:20) Ricker 12
– (06:49) Ricker 13
– (07:32) Ricker 14
– (08:01) Ricker 15

– (09:16) MFSL 01
– (09:55) MFSL 02
– (10:30) MFSL 03
– (10:53) MFSL 04
– (11:21) MFSL 05
– (11:50) MFSL 06
– (12:08) MFSL 07
– (12:40) MFSL 08
– (13:12) MFSL 09
– (13:41) MFSL 10
– (14:13) MFSL 11
– (14:55) MFSL 12
– (15:24) MFSL 13
– (16:07) MFSL 14
– (16:36) MFSL 15

I’ve been suggested before to put both versions at the same volume in my comparisons and I appreciate the suggestion, but I insist that volume differences are also an important aspect to consider when comparing. It would be a lie to make people think that both pressings sound equally louder when they actually don’t. One of the intentions of doing this comparison the way I did it (for the first time – putting clickable time marks in the description instead of jumping between pressings directly on video) is giving the listener more freedom to use the volume control to match loudnesses. The pressings won’t change automatically but only at the listener’s will. Hope this will make things easier.

Numark TTXUSB turntable – Nagaoka MP-500 phono cartridge – ART DJPRE II phono stage preamp – Vinyl record vinilo LP