I’ll go out on a limb here and share that my favorite version is the NKJV. The translators went about the translation in a fashion similar to the NASB, but with more conservatism. They honored the work of the KJV translators (while updating the English) and they have corrected a lot of confusion about the various manuscripts available for translation.

For example, they are not as negative towards the textus receptus as Bruce Metzger and other translation teams (re: Nestles-Aland United Bible Society) were for their modern translations. Bruce and colleagues used presumptuous statements for foot notes like, ‘…the older and more reliable mss do not contain the following…’. Note, “NU” is an abbreviation for Nestles-Aland United Bible Society.

The NKJV translators, on the contrary, provide more explanation and a better representation of the truth. Case in point: the “Mark 16:9-20 controversy”. NKJV translators explain the issue as follows:
Quote
Vv. 9-20 are bracketed in NU as not in the original text. They are lacking in Codex Sinaiticus and Codex Vaticanus, although nearly all other mss. of Mark contain them.
I have a very in-depth explanation for the above Codex “omissions” if anyone asks me to share it. I believe the omissions in these uncial manuscripts to be innocent and unfortunate and that verses 9-20 are indeed valid and inspired.

I used to like the NASB because it corrected so many of the liberal licenses of the RSV. They updated the English and their footnotes were very thorough. I seem to recall that they showed the verse or prose separations that appear in OT like the Psalms, etc. This added depth and understanding to the poetry that accompanies some of the OT language. The contrasts of the Proverbs show up more clearly where they showed us “indentations of thought”.

The NIV basically followed suit, however, there were some disturbing departures of liberal translation license. The translators used a method dubbed “dynamic equivalence” and for me this is just too liberal and subject to translator bias, something we definitely do not want in translation of inspired scripture