DCC Archive Who's Next - Ultradisc II

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ben, Nov 4, 2001.

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  1. Ben

    Ben New Member Thread Starter

    Location:
    Phoenix, Arizona
    Anyone know why in the world MOFI would have released this classic title as an "Original Master Recording" knowing full well that they had, at the very least, a second-generation copy of the "master tape?"

    Hmmmm...why would dey do dat?

    Then again, "The Who" will sell any of their songs to anyone who wants to peddle crap to the masses (right Nissan)...

    I had that Gold Disc....thought it sucked...bought it for $25.00 a couple of years ago and then unloaded it on eBay for $125...

    Best to the Board,

    Ben


    :cool: :cool: :cool:
     
  2. ED in NY

    ED in NY New Member

    Geez, I'm not really sure, maybe Luke can help out here, though I doubt it since we've all kind of gotten the impression from him that he really doesn't care for Who's Next and The Who in general. :D -ED
     
  3. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    It's not uncommon for them. Off the top of my head, "Magical Mystery Tour" LP, Sinatra - Songs for Swinging Lovers are other examples. I'm sure they are numerous others where they didn't use "the" master tapes.
     
  4. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well, copy tapes *and* remixes...

    Damn, I sure wish we had a 24-kt Who best of. Finding all the original masters could be a problem, though. Keeping it at a single CD would suck, as well.

    Ahh, Magic Bus, properly mastered in stereo...
     
  5. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    But Gentlemen, were these not the Original Master Tapes that were shipped to the USA for their EQ'ing pleasure? Or perhaps these were the Original Master Tapes used for producing the first vinyl manufacturing run?

    Just a thought.

    By the way, MFSL was a USA company, was it not? How did they actually work - it sounds like they went "Mobile" - travelling in their recording truck to various Record Company Vaults, duping a copy and then they went back to their mastering studios. I have no idea ... is this true?

    I'm speculating here....if they worked like DCC does - having the tapes sent to their facilities - they must have been on a tight production schedule. They could not afford to return incorrect tapes... or decline a remastering "just because" the correct tape could not be located - or could not be located in time!

    Anyone know for sure? I remember once Steve commented that he told someone in MOFI exactly where the correct tapes were (for what album? I forget.) but they went and got the wrong tapes anyway. :rolleyes:

    [ November 04, 2001: Message edited by: Gary ]
     
  6. Evan

    Evan Senior Member

    I think Steve said it was the master tape for "Otis Blue/Redding Sings Soul".
     
  7. Holy Zoo

    Holy Zoo Gort (Retired) :-)

    Location:
    Santa Cruz
    I always thought the "Mobile" in in MoFi was historical - didn't they originally make novelty records of steam locomotives (trains)?
     
  8. pigmode

    pigmode Active Member

    Location:
    HNL

    Yeah, Magical Mystery Tour is really hosed, almost unlistenable. :( Supposedly, some of their stuff was not even mastered by them.
     
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  9. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Well, none of those are the "Original Master Tapes", which would be the ones printed at the mixing session (1st gen). Or, in the case of something with crossfades, the ones done at the crossfade session (2nd gen).

    Nope. They were sent tapes. Not always the master, but they were sent tapes...

    Never did figure out where that "mobile" came from.

    Return incorrect tapes? Why couldn't they decline a project because of wrong masters? DCC has done in a number of times. Why would they be on any sort of deadline?
     
  10. Doug Hess Jr.

    Doug Hess Jr. Senior Member

    Location:
    Belpre, Ohio
    And they always gave the impression that they would travel 1000 miles by camel to get only the absolute master tapes and if they tapes were not good enough, they would scrap the whole project. I guess saying and doing are different...
    Dough
     
  11. Todd Fredericks

    Todd Fredericks Senior Member

    Location:
    A New Yorker
    I think we can thank MFSL for getting the concept out that music could be released with better standards then were the norm then or even now. The JVC vinyl was great and also the start of "gold" cd's. It's a shame that they "doctored" a lot of releases to add umph (or splat) to mid-low range systems. I think by the time they released "Who's Next" they were only interested in avoiding going out of business and needed a lot of sales. Maybe they should've used the Hoffman Canadian CD as their source...

    Todd
     
  12. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    Good call! I'd send you a gold star if I could! :p

    With regards to the original question of why they took the easy way out with those final Who releases...I think the consensus is that they were getting desperate with those final releases. I don't know if that's historicaly accurate, but it makes sense. Then again, they released "Bookends" near the end, and it's one of their best. "Who" knows. :D
     
  13. Cousin It

    Cousin It Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Jeez!!
    Didn't realize that MOFI stuff was such a hit and miss proposition.I only own 3
    1)Santana - Abraxas
    2 Rod Stewart - Every Picture Tells A Story
    3)Willie Nelson - Shotgun Willie/Phases & Stages

    I have no complaint with these particularly the Willie disc,it sounds nice and it's a 2fer,both Willie's Atlantic albums.

    Maybe that's why DCC is still around,Steve Hoffman actually gives a **** and takes some pride in his work.
     
  14. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    Don't be too hard on them. They still did a lot of great work, and it's entirely possible that DCC wouldn't exist if MFSL hadn't started the whole ball rolling back in the 70's.

    [Edit: DCC as an audiophile company, that is. Surely that is clear from the tone of my post, but just in case.]

    [ November 05, 2001: Message edited by: Patrick M ]
     
  15. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    Yeah, they seemed to be very hit or miss. Who's Next was little more than a copy of the 1995 CD. The Kinks CD is pretty crummy, IMO - remixes, fake stereo, and other problems. Bluesbreakers w/ EC is pretty good, but I think it could have been better (judging from other CDs). Bookends is very good, though...

    Yeah, when I see MoFi CDs for sale, my initial feeling is "hmm...wonder if that's any good or not. Probably not." Whereas, with DCC it's more "my bet is that's the best available." Of course, there are some DCC CDs I don't care for, but they are more consistant overall.
     
  16. Cousin It

    Cousin It Senior Member

    Location:
    Sydney, Australia
    Yep,I bought a Harry Belafonte CD that DCC did called "Jump Up Calypso" one because it was really cheap and because DCC did it,I figured it would be a good one and it was I couldn't help thinking that if Steve hadn't mastered this one BMG would've have killed this because it has a very shrill horn section sound ala Perez Prado and if they did it they would've melted your eardrums with treble.
     
  17. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    Luke... I've been @Mofi several times, and I have seen their mastering chain... Sony's DSD machine etc.

    Mofi's chief engineer Shawn Britton did a very good job. Examples??? Take Joe Satriani's Surfing With The Alien... and compare Mofi's remastering with George Marino's job (he did the mastering 2 months later!) or take Simon & Garfunkel's Bookends. The latter one is much better than Vic Anesini's latest remastering, and I'm sure he spent more time on this project than Mofi!
    Another perfect job... Mofi's Velvet Underground remaster. Better than the Bob Ludwig remasters!
    Also the BÖC remasters sound better than the Sony stuff... yeah, I keep my CD-R from BÖC's debut... mastered by S. Britton... and it sounds better than the official release by Mofi.

    Check: http://www.positive-feedback.com/mofi1.html there you can find infos about Mofi's mastering chain.
     
  18. Vivaldinization

    Vivaldinization Active Member

    MoFi has pulled enough suspicious crap, though, that my opinion of 'em is forever tarnished. It's gotten to the point that I don't even know whether their GOOD titles are what they claim to be (sure, Bookends sounds great, but maybe it was just very re-EQed...I don't farkin' know).

    A quick list of their deceit:

    a) Magical Mystery Tour.
    b) THe Kinks CD. Again, it IS. A COPY. OF. THE. JAPANESE CD. WITH EQ. Exact same CD! EXACT.
    c) The Who, but Tommy, Leeds, and WN in particular. Dur?

    ...and the list goes on.

    -D
     
  19. Sckott

    Sckott Hand Tighten Only.

    Location:
    South Plymouth, Ma
    MOFI's Simon & Garfunkel's "Bookends" is an audiophile CD! They hit the spot with that title.
     
  20. Unknown

    Unknown Guest

    FWIW, SH said it was a flat transfer from the master tapes.

    Again, let me defend MoFI...sure, they botched some stuff, but they did a ton of great work as well. And there is something to be said for 'showing the way.' Remember Steve's Supertramp anecdote?
     
  21. lukpac

    lukpac Senior Member

    Location:
    Milwaukee, WI
    I'm not saying MoFi never did a good job. However, they did do enough bad jobs to make them look bad, at least in my eyes. Why they would use a version of You Really Got Me with fake stereo processing is way beyond me...
     
  22. Dave

    Dave Esoteric Audio Research Specialist™

    Location:
    B.C.
    Guys,
    Am I the only one that read a thread post on the forum. Somewhere, I don't remember off-hand, in one of the many posting there was an interview link with one of the four original owners of MFSL. He stated that after the management change there that the new head production manager was a total business failure, in his own endeavers, and knew absolutely zero about audiophile recording. That was when the original four were totally gone from MFSL that he, the interviewee, had sold his shares and left because he could start to see the desintrigation of MFSL at the hands of this new Bozo. I believe that this was around 1990 when production came to the US from Japan, hence-forth the UDII fiasco. [​IMG]
     
  23. Matt

    Matt New Member

    Location:
    Illinois
    Another thing I remember from the old forum is some comments people (possibly Steve, as well) made about MFSL's practices. Supposedly, most of their vinyl had some pretty hefty treble boost (particularly the Beatles box set), something they didn't really back away from until Ultradisc or Ultradisc II came along. I can't confirm this myself, and heck, I may be wrong, but I have a distinct memory of it being discussed so I figure I might pass it along.
     
  24. Gary

    Gary Nauga Gort! Staff

    Location:
    Toronto
    Interesting story, Dave. I never saw this link on the previous board (asleep at the wheel, again!).

    This would help explain why on some of my UD2's, which say "Made in USA" I can read in the inner circle "JVC" (Japan, I presume) and some numbers. It's not readable from the front - the black covers it. It's too bad that they were not careful in picking a quality pressing plant in the US. Like Steve does! :)

    Now I have to trade my UD2's for UD1's somehow.
     
  25. pigmode

    pigmode Active Member

    Location:
    HNL
    Gary, what is the significance of the JVC marking?
     
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