MFSL 45 rpm I Robot

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really muddiness?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really muddiness?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really muddiness?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really tee?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really tee?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really tee?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really tee?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings. I play music professionally as well, so I hear it from both sides of the stage.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Please. That comes off a bit condescending. We like the warmth but it's really muddiness?

Have you ever been to a live jazz performance in a small club, or been to see the BSO at Symphony Hall? The sound is both clear, rich, and warm. Cymbals have a rich shimmer to them. There's no silvery harshness or stridency to the strings.

Many have a problem with the MoFi KOB mastering. Cymbals sound bright and thin. The sound of other instruments tends to emphasize the metallic over the resonance of the instrument's body. It's somewhat subtle, but it's there. I heard it at an audio shop played on a VPI Prime table with a cartridge that cost half the price of the table! We compared pressings. There are aspects to the MoFi we liked, but overall we felt it was inferior to the Classic.

 

Man, SORRY about the multiple posts, folks!. There was something weird in the system when I posted it. It kept hanging up. Anyway, I hope a moderator will take down all the extra posts.

 

Hear this yesterday at a friend's place, nice warm sound. While not really a like for like comparison as we have different stereo/room setups but I prefer the DVD-A or the MFSL CD tonally as well as having more clarity/detail.

 

Hear this yesterday at a friend's place. While not really a like for like comparison as we have different stereo/room setups but I prefer the DVD-A or the MFSL CD as having more clarity/detail.

Heard this yesterday at a friend's place, nice warm sound. While not really a like for like comparison as we have different stereo/room setups but I prefer the DVD-A or the MFSL CD tonally as well as having more clarity/detail.

 

I apologize as that was not my intent. When reading many threads here about MFSL and even the massive new Pink Floyd thread - a common thread (no pun intended) seems to be the use of the word 'clarity' 'crispness' 'detail' as many people are hearing things in the music that have never been more clear. There is a fine line between 'bright' and 'crisp'. Trying to find that balance seems to be the goal of many remastering engineers today, and as you pointed out with MFSL's KOB - often fails. I have seriously collected records for 34 years and have over 9000 records in my collection. One thing jumps out when listening to these vintage recordings - clarity, crispness and detail were definitely not their goal. I for one welcome and encourage the modern techniques that try to find that in the music - even if it occasionally fails. Because when it works, it is eye opening and glorious.

 

Youre fine.

 

Fine, but you have to be careful when you make generalizations here. The warm= muddy= distorted is the generalized argument some make against tubes vs. solid-state, or analog versus digital, shutting down the validity of the "older" technology.

Opening up a window onto the recording, or apparent clearing away gauze can be revelatory. Some superb mastering, such as many of the Music Matters Blue Notes do just that.

Or if you want to hear how hardware can do it, go onto the Analog Planet website and go into the post on the album, Sunshine Seas. There, Michael Fremer puts on one video file of the VPI Prime table ($4000) he was borrowing for a review, and his own Caliburn (a table that costs 5 times as much as the VPI). The same cut is played back to back using the same Lyra cartridge, but each with the different table/arm and phono stage (one too many variables, really). BUT....listen to the difference in focus and specificity of the two! You have to use your mouse to go back and forth between the same passage, but it's astonishing how good the Caliburn setup is. And you wouldn't call it clinical sounding, either. Make sure your speakers are good or you use good headphones.

 

I think the keys here are 45 RPM and MFSL. It is my experience that albums re-issued in 45 RPM are generally the tops, in most cases and especially when they are from MFSL. With the heavier vinyl used in the modern re-issues, I theorize that they actually absorb and deaden sound, narrowing the frequency ranges compared to the original releases. Classic Records proved this with their 180g and 200g releases of Dusty Springfield's "The Look Of Love", with a 45 RPM version on one side and a 33 RPM version on the other. The 45 RPM versions tend to restore the frequency spectrum. Pressing companies, like RTI, have stopped doing 200g pressings.

For comparison, using records which I have in my collection, I'll use the various re-issues of "Tapestry" by Carole King. In 1999, Classic Records re-issued it on 200g vinyl, pressed by RTI. Although it has a quieter background, to me, it doesn't improve on the actual recording, compared to an original ODE pressing done by Columbia Records, Santa Maria(S 1). In 2012, ORG Records did a 2-disc 45 RPM version, which improved the sound a little, but not worth the expense. Then, in 2013, MFSL released their re-issue on 33 RPM & 180g pressed again by RTI. That version blew every other version away that I've ever owned or heard.

In short, if it's on MFSL, expect to be impressed. If it's an MFSL on 45 RPM, be prepared to be blown away. The only question is, do you want to spend $50. ?

 

Those keywords are kind of what I'm scared of, that the resolution is so great it sucks the soul out of them... I experienced this on the latest Gabriel re-issue of III
As these MFSL and especially The Wall 2016 are pretty pricey I'm waiting for reviews from the ears on this forum I relate with...

 

Have there always been sibilance issues with the hi hats in I wouldn't want to be like you? Every version I've had over the years including this one has a "spitty" sound on the hats during the verses.

 

Curious to play this MoFi 45 and compare to my "old" Classic 33rpm... given all the mixed reviews.

Just looked up my notes, last time I played the Classic was back in January 2014... I keep a "listening log" with a sound quality grade 1-10... the Classic I Robot was noted as 8+.

Can the new MoFi reach 9 or more? Stay tuned...

 

The likely reason for the soul being sucked out the latest Gabriel reissue of Melt was due to the fact that the tape was digitized...

 

If that song is giving you problems, there's likely a tracking issue. What's your cart?
The 45RPM is cut a tad loud, which is better than a tad too soft.

 

Yep, we have a 9 on our hands.... maybe even a 9+

(interestingly the two LP's sound almost at the same level as measured on my DB meter, it was not necessary to make much adjustment, most of the time volume just matched with little variation)

The Classic 33 is really good, actually it's great! But this MFSL 45rpm pushes the boundaries a bit further, and also it does so consistently across the entire album.

On the Classic 33, specially when comparing to the MFSL 45, it's easy to detect the progressive loss of energy spread over the frequency range as the cart tracks further away from the edge of the disc. I could never hear that on the MFSL

I'll keep this simple, the MFSL 45 is better on all accounts, more resolution, larger scale, better separation of all elements, stronger transients and overall there is just more energy and density over what sounds like a wider frequency extension and probably a little more dynamic range.

Is it a huge difference? No, not huge, but it's well enough to make it a mandatory purchase for any fans of this album taking sound seriously. It sounds amazing, I could well be fooled into thinking this was one of those UD1Step releases

 

Spinning this as I type. "Breakdown" is bringing me to tears. There is some surface noise at the beginning of the sides of disc one as discussed, but it's not distracting and may be setup related in my case. The bass guitar is breathtaking. You can actually hear the natural decay as the bassist takes his finger off the string to choke the notes. I'm not hearing the cymbal hash that was mentioned earlier.

I have the Classic 200 gram and this beats it, IMO.

 

I can't afford the Mofi or Classic 200 gram pressings but I can get the original UK which also seems to be highly rated according to those on this thread. By original UK press do you guys mean SPARTY 1012?

 

Same doubt here.

 

Just got a used copy from Soundstage Direct last night. Man, am I digging this 45 RPM MOFI. I've always enjoyed the two copies of the original Arista that I have, but listening to The Voice last night literally gave me goosebumps. For $41.00 including shipping, this was a great purchase.