I'm slowly trying to upgrade many of my oldies that I played to death on crappy equipment in my days of youth, sigh, and the next one in my sights is Dark Side of the Moon. Question is, do you spend the 25 bucks for a near-mint vintage version, or do you spend the 25 bucks on the 30th Anniversary version on 180 gram vinyl? I don't care about the collectibility or if the cover has ring wear, for me I want the best sound I can afford in my budget, which is about the $25 range on the top end. What do ya' say??

Good question, I would to see what the experts have to say here.

I'm far from being an expert :nutz: but to my ears I like my original pressing better than the 30th Anniversary pressing. The original sounds much smoother and quieter to me with no sibilance.

Get the SACD....All of the background stuff you hear it louder and more crisp.
It's a treat to listen to on DTS 5.1 surround sound.

But this takes noting away from the treat to hear it on MFSL vinyl

should be able to pick up a UK second press SHVL 804 for that money, (maybe no posters/stickers if you dont care--I dont), -- I haven't heard UK first press blue triangle (expensive!), nor have I heard 30th anniv, but I do think the UK press sounds better than US or japanese press.

.02

I'm far from being an expert :nutz: but to my ears I like my original pressing better than the 30th Anniversary pressing. The original sounds much smoother and quieter to me with no sibilance.

Same here.

Between an early UK Harvest pressing and the 30th anniversary pressing, the UK Harvest is so much more natural. This is not open for debate. The 30th Anniversary is pretty good, but the Harvest is that much better.

The MFSL LP is tops in my book (I will allow debate on this point), but can be pricey.

If you are going digital, the Toshiba EMI "Black Triangle" Japanese pressings are way less "digital" than the SACD. This opinion is, of course, debatable, but this is one of my favorite CDs. Unless you stumble on this one, it will be expensive.

Ken

I'm still in my youth.

I have three versions, the original US pressing, the UK Harvest pressing, and the SACD version. I prefer the SACD, mainly because the US pressing is so worn out.

I prefer DSOTM, Wish You Were Here, and Animals. I have the entire early Pink Floyd catalog on vinyl.

I have several original copies and the 30th Anniversary. My 30th Anniversary and one of my originals are in nearly perfect condition and to be honest, I find them both a complete joy to listen to. I noticed no sibilance on my 30th Anniversary 180g, and the noise floor was completely black. This is not to say that it's better than the original, I think they are both great pressings and now want to get home to see if the original really does sound a lot more natural as I never noticed that...I love any excuse to listen to DSOTM...(my good original is Harvest). I do, however, think it may be much easier to find a clean copy of the 30th anniversary than a clean original (as in, not just looking clean after running through a RCM but actually having no damage)...as this seems to be a record that most people who owned it actually played a lot and didn't necessarily take the best care of, at least that's my experience with the 5 or 6 copies I own. It took me quite some time to actually find a clean original.

You can't go wrong with the 180 gram vinyl remaster. I've never heard the SACD.

I have an original UK Harvest copy that has been played about 5 times. It sounds just as good as the 180 gram remaster IMHO.

I too, have found that nearly every original vinyl copy of DSOTM I come across has been played to death.

Nice to have a new pressing.

Between an early UK Harvest pressing and the 30th anniversary pressing, the UK Harvest is so much more natural. This is not open for debate. The 30th Anniversary is pretty good, but the Harvest is that much better.



That's good to know. I prefer the anniversary LP to the US original vinyl. I went through a phase of wondering if my tracking force was wrong because of the siblance on the US album.

I've got to track an original UK pressing down now.