As most know, Music Direct owns Mobile Fidelity - so naturally they always have Mofi product anywhere from a few days to a few weeks before they fill other wholesale orders to other retailers. That is why I always buy Mofi from Music Direct.
Once again - Music Direct, which owns Mofi, ships any order over $49.00 for free via USPS Media Mail, and any order $99 or more for free via FedEx ground. Since Music Direct owns Mofi, bypass the Mofi site and go right to Music Direct.
The same is true for Analog Productions releases, Acoustic Sounds usually has them before anyone else.
Yeah, I was thinking how many orders Music Direct must have to send out. Most likely hundreds. The shipping dept. will stay busy.
SoundStageDirect offered the best pre-order price/deal; 20% off, so $80.00 a set plus free shipping. I ordered three (3) copies, have an order number and I belive they charged my card at the time of the order. I'll call them on Monday to get confirmation that they will indeed receive stock and honor their orders.
I completely agree with that assessment. The German ARS is so fine and great sounding that I cannot possibly imagine how it can be improved. The dynamics, detail and flow are so tremendous on that 33 1/3. This is the one to have on vinyl for "Abraxas." It may be quite rare now, but it is worth it to seek out.
Well, the ARS was mastered from a copy of the original master tape, so it's one additional generation away from the master tape. Add to that the 2 additional reductions in the other direction from the One-Step process and I'd guess that the new MoFi will have far more inner detail and harmonic resolution than the ARS. Inner detail isn't the ARS's strong suit. But it's enormously dynamic and musical. I'm guessing that it was tube mastered. Now the famed UK plum label Led Zep II was also made from a copy once removed from the original master tape, and many think it's the best edition ever put out. It doesn't have the inner detail of an original US or the Classic Records reissue, but it rocks. The ARS reminds me of that. Now for me, MoFi still had an inconsistent record with their recent reissues. Some will agree with me. Others won't. But I don't always agree with their mastering decisions. So I'm waiting until I hear from others, perhaps even a professional review, before I put down some money, particularly since I have the ARS.
Any order over $49 that includes a non media item (an accessory) can't be sent via Media Mail and will get sent by UPS Ground or the like.
I do not believe that MFSL will bust their predetermined and advertised limit, but they are no longer keeping their other titles to 5000 as they did in the 90's. This is a test for the 21st century 'UHQR' market and I believe it will be very successful for them. I expect that we will see further Ultradisc, One-Step box set titles released in the future. I would not be surprised if they strech any future Ultradisc, One-Step titles to larger release numbers. They seem to be feeling out the markets 'over-saturation' point for both price tolerance and acceptable 'collectable' volumes. Don't forget that MFSL released the Gain 2, Ultra Analog, 180g Series of this album in 2008, so the market has been thouroughly saturated with this title. Oh, and lest I forget, the MFSL cd also in 2008 and the MFSL SACD in 2016. That's some serious saturation. This is going to have to be an excellent quality box set to overcome the titles oversaturation and price-point. It was like pulling teeth to get members on this site to purchase the $50 MFSL 45rpm, Love - Forever Changes when they already had the lesser quality Rhino or the MFSL SACD. This is $100-$140.
My copy did not ship as I was told on Friday, even though Music Direct has them in stock. I guess it will ship out Monday. Probably as you alluded to... they couldn't get to them all or aren't actually shipping any out until all orders/pre-orders are ready to go?
Finally! Looking forward to getting this this week. I ended up ordering one from SSD and one from MD. If both come in, I'll give one as a gift, but I suspect the SSD order will be cancelled. We'll see...
I called them yesterday. I was told they were shipping Friday and Monday. I wasn't on the top of the list. I expect mine to ship Monday. Still, this is coming out much sooner than I thought it would. Typically MD ships the same day they charge the CC. I hope they get creative and release another great title with this process, that hasn't been given an audiophile release 20 times already.
I doubt MOFI and Music Direct have sold out of these. So, I believe other vendors will be getting these sooner than later. A few months down the road could be another story.
I own the 2008 MFSL which I think is great too. Maybe I'll leave this one sealed for a collectors item.
