I think it's a corporate logo/ legal thing since 2001. They call themselves MoFi in their emails to me and their email address is @mofi.com. Note, they also refer to themselves on their website as 'MoFi'. Generally, I have noticed that collectors use MFSL and MoFi to distinguish between the two eras. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab Inc.| Audiophile Vinyl, CD, SACD »
Off the top of my head, here are some MoFi vinyl titles that, in my experience, are preferable to any other pressing, vintage or otherwise: Santana - Abraxas Ultradisc Sinatra - Where Are You? (recent mono) Sinatra - Sings For Only The Lonely (recent mono) Sinatra - No One Cares (recent reissue) Sinatra - Swingin' Session (recent reissue) Sinatra - Point of No Return (recent reissue) Sinatra - The Concert Sinatra Sinatra's Sinatra Sinatra at the Sands Sinatra - A Jolly Christmas (from the silver box) Spinners - Spinners Bobby Darin - Love Swings Dean Martin - This Time I'm Swinging Notice how it's mostly Sinatra, and not much rock other than the Ultradisc Santana. Honorable Mention: Here are some other excellent and recommendable MoFi's. However, I have managed to find other pressings which I think sound at least a bit better than these. The Beatles - Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (Jack Hunt cut, not the others) Genesis - A Trick of the Tail Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon Marvin Gaye - What's Going On YES - Close To The Edge Miles Davis - Kind of Blue I would even disagree with some of the other suggestions in this thread, as the MoFi vinyl might sound quite enjoyable, but is significantly bettered by one or more other pressings. Some artists, like the Band and Elvis Costello are well served by the Mofi pressings, but top originals are my preference, etc.
I think you can pretty much say that newer is better. I can think of only a handful of the original, pressed in Japan, titles that were any good. Nice quiet vinyl though. The 200g Anadisc series were better but still a bit hit or miss. The newest stuff is really excellent and I wouldn't hesitate to buy a newly released title if I liked the music. They have made tremendous strides in their mastering chain and mastering engineers for that matter.
Maybe.... While most all sound nice, I usually prefer an early original easily over their offerings. Having said that, the ones mastered by Wunderlich I find very nice and can purt compete with what was. The first gen Supervinyl was absolutely the finest vinyl compound ever produced....shame it can no longer be made. And again, resale value!!!!!! Hard to loose money on a MoFi purchase!!!!
Not familiar with Sinatra on MoFi, but would debate the Santana.....the KC's are purt good....then lawd-have-mercy there on the one step!!!!
Not to nitpick too much, but Sinatra Jolly Christmas was a single record release. Either that or I got robbed in my Silver Sinatra Box.
Do you have an original KC of Abraxas that sounds better than the Ultradisc one step? I'd be impressed, if so.
Thanks, you're totally right, it's a stand alone release from 1983. I got confused because there's an extra slot in the silver box, and that's where I store Jolly Christmas.
Hits CSNY deja vu Eat Peach both versions Goodbye Yellow Brick Road Heart Beat City Trick of the Tail Brothers and Sisters/New version Close to the Edge By the Light of the Moon Kiko filmore East/New version Brothers in Arms 45rpm Candy-O
I recently sold a Close To The Edge...so......guess it's subject to what one has been exposed to...so...
As much as I hate to say it....big miss on Grateful Dead Live/Dead. IMO weird mix, soundstage is so different than the original, just sounds wrong. On the other hand they killed it on Wake of the Flood & 45 RPM versions of American Beauty and Workingman's Dead. Not quite as good as the green label WB but clean and more than acceptable if you can't find an original.
Agreed on Live/Dead, the MoFi pales compared to the W7 copy I replaced it with. Ditto on "Skull & Roses," the MoFi sounds mushy compared to a green label original. Wake of the Flood is quite good.
I've complained about MoFi's modern reissues before: beautifully pressed and packaged but frequently missing that last bit of transparency. Their house sound if you will tends to have the highs just a bit rolled off. I do like their early Elvis Costellos, but the U.K. originals have much more punch; the MoFis sound polite by comparison. The 2xLP Get Happy! is a thing of beauty, I'll admit. The Hits then for me are Get Happy!, Dylan's New Morning, and Chicago II. Misses are This Year's Model, Armed Forces, Eat A Peach and Idlewild South by the Allman Brothers, and Live/Dead and Skull & Roses by the Grateful Dead, all were surpassed by early originals.
...and Linda Ronstadt Prisoner In Disguise is awful...a very rare misstep. I own a ton of MFSL on vinyl, both from the 80's and current, and I agree with you. That is the only miss I have heard, and your's would make two. Pretty impressive run for sure! And I don't ever remember a defective pressing issue. I treasure my collection of their product. As others have mentioned, Supertramp Crime of the Century is a must, and so is Elton John's Yellow Brick Road....if he has one for sale. I have all the Hall and Oates and all of them are great. I don't know if it has been mentioned, but Al Stewart's Year of the Cat is spectacular. I think you can generally say that if the standard issue sounded good, especially an audiophile oriented album like Year of the Cat, you can almost count on the MFSL to be a real treat! They have done wonders on some borderline titles as well, like the Raspberries Greatest Hits, songs that sound notoriously bad but somehow MFSL managed to make that album sound much better.
