Which one of these sounds better?

Can't tell the difference, I'm on my MBP but if I have to go into the studio just to find out the subtle nuance between these two it probably didn't matter in the first place..

Sounds good to me either way John..

I actually mentioned in the first line they might not be level matched.

A, I assume, is the more dynamic master? The downside of that is that the snare is a bit loud and isolated compared to B in spots (nitpicky level)...the good side is that there's actually a little "downshift" (as there should be IMO) on the last line of the vocal down back to the drum loop.

I mean, honestly...kind of 6 of one-half dozen of the other. I prefer A...but, it's not like I think B is bad. It's just a little more limited--which makes the snare smaller and pushed back some...and makes the transition back to the drum machine a tad less emotional.

I feel like the ideal would be A...but, go back to the mix itself and turn the snare down say 2db...or maybe clip it a little--something that retains the bottom but pushes it back into the kit some.

First impression. Grain of salt.

B sounds more like a finished mix/master - "radio ready" if you like.

'B' by miles. They both sound great, but 'B' sounds finished. More polished, tighter. The snare comes forward and everything feels more cohesive and 3-dimensional. Pretty much every synonym for "better" you could throw at it.

My take echos most others here - I prefer 'B' for its warmer balance, with a more closer/intimate vocal sound and beefier kick/snare. 'A' has a more delicate balance, and the cymbals also sound thinner and splashier.

Either will work but if we are going to split hairs I’m torn I want something in between the 2 simply because I could make either work and you asked!

Just out of curiosity what do you use on your plugin mastering chain?

I preferred A.

B fooled me for a few seconds, vocal more forward, but with A, you can hear all the sparkling guitar parts better, low level detail is better, soundstage is wider and has a better balance. B reminded me of my Apollo, good, but not great.

I didn’t get to post my thoughts earlier. All I was gonna say, B is a great mix, A is a great song. The weird thing about A, as soon as I heard it I heard superstar, the kind of song people watch football and drink beer to. However the engineer in me wanted better balance. B was much better in terms of balance, I preferred it right away except the song itself didn’t hit me the same. Kind of a bottle of wine, really fancy dinner date-night vibe. The kind of song you might fall in love to. This last step is where I always screw up, it’s so hard to balance what makes me happy, the artist, and the listener. Should probably take other’s advice. Great mix and song. Thanks for posting

I listened just now....I swear... LOL..before the reveal.

B

Cheers

Wiz

Interesting.

I didn't pull the files in just played them and while I could hear an immediate difference, I wouldn't call anything night & day and had to listen a few times to really pinpoint what those differences were. 

If anything it might confirm (?) personal belief I've had for years that if I'm mixing ITB then going out to tag one or two pieces of hardware on the stereo? Not a difference maker & often more hassle then its worth. 

Without listening again I felt like the cymbals in particular had more separation... wider in B... and the vocal to guitar relationship was certainly a smidge different in each. But A, I guess the hardware had thicker lows & low mids? Possibly due to transformers? And also overall a little tighter dynamically... that "compact" thing? 

Either way its intriguing to see how wildly different people's interpretations of these are. Nice!