Depeche Mode – Songs Of Faith And Devotion

Again Sounds great, really well produced. Everything nice, great pres

Sounds excellent on my relatively modest system. Dynamics are pretty good, highs, midrange, and low end sound exactly how they should, crisp, clean, and tight. Could be a bit more open and airy, but only a minor quibble. Doesn’t have any compression issues and I’m not hearing sibilance on track A4 as mentioned. If there is any, certainly is something you have to focus on and try to find, otherwise, it’s just how Dave and Martin sound in the way it was mixed and mastered. Not having any IGD issues and overall volume level seems normal as well.

I’ve cleaned and played this many times and still has some very light surface noise in the way of light ticks. Nothing that takes away from turning it up and enjoying the heck out of it.
This is the follow-up to the amazing Violator album and I think they hit it out of the park with this release. I saw them in concert twice during this tour, and they were amazing.

A bit of mixed-bag here. Artwork is superb / heavy duty & glossy. There is a lot going on in the ‘mix’ of this record, and sibilance is going to be an issue for most cartridges, definition / separation is largely lost in the mix, so the rest of the mix is on the muddy side. It’s the best we have at this point, until someone like Steve Wilson can get his hands on the masters, and fix the mixes on all of tDM’s catalogue.

I often agree with honest reviewers. On this occasion I don't. This lusciously glossy packaged and flat heavy pressing looks lovely. But it falls short with it spinning with a cartridge on it. Gain is low so volume cranking is needed, sibilance is very present on track A4 and even some IGD on the last tracks. Personally I think this is where DM fell off the 80's quirky atmospheric synth and became too equipment clever, doomy and industrial, imho. Some folk may disagree with the quality of this pressing however....
Used: Thorens TD-1600 and Hana ML cart, Whest Audio Two.2 phonostage, Yamaha DSP-Z9 in Pure Direct Mode with Black Rhodium, Duelend Coherent and Audioquest cabling with Jean-Marie Reynaud Euterpe Supreme Speakers.

As Daniel Miller writes in his notes to this remaster by Simon Heyworth, this was not only a difficult album to make - - it was a difficult album to mix, master and above all record. Ah, those were the days: Dave had fully activated God-Mode, Alan played drums, Fletch had upped his clapping game to a whole new level, and Martin kept the music fresh. Sound-wise this is good step above the CD version. It reminds me of my end of high school days, dancing around half naked in my living room and pretending that I was Christ.

Not the best press and really disappointed in DM represses. Not only the pressing but also the quality of the covers.
Never the less this is a classic DM album and a must have to any DM fan.

Miles above Rhino’s version in of sound quality; Rhino’s is rather compressed &, for the most part, lifeless in comparison. This release, however, magnifies the essence, dynamics, and urgency behind every note of this album. This is what it was meant to sound like on vinyl...it’s exactly how you imagine it to be.

Nice pressing with no surface noise in my issue. I also think It sounds better than the cd. Really cheap in Amazon these days.

Very nice packaging. Sound is ok and better than the original CD version but still not perfect. I guess this is related to the production itself and not the vinyl. Still to much static during quite parts from my point of view, even after wet cleaning. Check out the Pink Floyd reissues to experience totally quiet vinyl.

There's MOV info in the deadwax from the MOV series of reissues. Shouldn't this be labeled as a Repress?