And the winner is: 2013 Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab vinyl release. Weezer has been responsible for some of the most horribly compressed albums in my music collection. Every single one of them going back to the beginning has been a disaster from a dynamics standpoint. Pinkerton is no exception, but it does seem to have a somewhat more open sounding mix with a less heavy handed application of compression compared to the "blue" album which preceded it. I've never owned this one on cassette and therefore can't speak to that version's quality relative to the CD, but a juxtaposition of the CD waveforms with those from the audiophile vinyl version reveals an obvious winner as far as dynamics go, and a listening comparison between the two further cements it - the vinyl version is the clear winner. Frankly, there is no justifiable reason for a vinyl release - any vinyl release, even an audiophile one - to have superior dynamic range and mastering over the equivalent CD. A compact disc has 90 dB of possible range to work with, while an extremely well mastered, mint or near mint condition 180-200 gram LP played with a virgin or near virgin stylus on high end audio equipment can boast a maximum of about 70 dB of dynamic range on its first couple of plays. The idea of vinyl as an "audiophile" format by comparison with a compact disc is patently absurd, yet here we have it. I've not heard any of the "regular" vinyl issues of this album, but they are likely all superior to the CD master as well. So if you can find a copy, the Mobile Fidelity release is the way to go here.