Music on Vinyl (MOV) vs Mobile Fidelity (MOFI)

Discussion in 'Marketplace Discussions' started by FloydVivino, Oct 2, 2019.

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  1. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    What is the difference (if any) between these two companies in terms of:

    1. their "business model": how each of them goes about producing and distributing their releases
    2. the quality of their releases (pressing, sound, packaging, etc)

    Lastly, are there any other no-artist-signing labels in the same division as these two, releases of which you seriously recommend?

    Many thanks!
    Floyd
     
  2. Dougthesnail

    Dougthesnail The Big Gabagool

    Location:
    Winnipeg
    MOV is a European label (based in Netherlands I think) so most of their releases see a wider release in Europe than North America. They're mostly if not all cut from high resolution digital. Mobile Fidelity is an American company, owned by Music Direct out of Chicago. They specialize in records cut from Master Tape. Original Master Recording being their trademark. They are pressed exclusively at RTI. MOV is probably pressed at a host of European plants.
     
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  3. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Very thoughtful answer, thanks. MOV's based in The Netherlands, yes, that's it.

    My reckoning is they both follow the same business model, which could I guess be called an "artist-free record label", by purchasing copyrights from the "traditional" labels, who in turn thus avoid production and distribution risk, cutting content from either hi-res digital or master-tapes into vinyl records using one or a selected set of pressing plants, under strict production and quality control guidelines. MOV's fans say they too cut from master tape, at least to a good extent, "where possible", which should mean cutting from high-res source is not out of question (not sure about MoFi). And that is why not all releases of all artists of certain are available, they will say. David Bowie's (pictured left ;) ) studio albums are all but absent from MOV and MoFi.

    MoFi's product seems to be of higher quality and you seem to confirm that. MOVs I've heard mostly good things about it.

    Are there any others in this sort of model with attention to quality? Or is this a world dominated by these two?
     
    Last edited: Oct 3, 2019
  4. Dougthesnail

    Dougthesnail The Big Gabagool

    Location:
    Winnipeg
    Reference Recordings Original Recordings Group, Analogue Productions, select Warner Bros/Rhino, Music Matters Jazz, Analog Spark, Blue Note Tone Poet. Are ones that come to mind.
     
  5. BTBaboon

    BTBaboon Active Member

    Location:
    Knoxville, TN
    I honestly wouldn't even put MOV in the same tier as Mobile Fidelity. For me, it's Mobile Fidelity and Analogue Productions in the top tier, and most others are below. MOV is probably most comparable to Rhino, though MOV probably is doing a slightly better job at being consistent. Rhino has some titles that definitely beat MOV's peak, but also has many that are frankly just not good. I'd put Analog Spark, ORG, and Music Matters in a halfway tier between MOV and MoFi/AP.

    There's also a few now-defunct ones like the old Classic Records (purchase by Analogue Production's parent Acoustic Sounds) and Audio Fidelity. Both put out some quality all-analog releases in their prime. Classic's Clarity Series box sets are highly sought after and have incredible sound - compare them to modern One-Step releases from MFSL.
     
  6. FloydVivino

    FloydVivino Forum Resident Thread Starter

    Location:
    Portugal
    Thanks guys!

    "Debatable Ranking":

    Tier 1. MoFi & Analogue Productions,
    Tier 2. Analog Spark , ORG, Music Matters
    Tier 3. MoV & Rhino
     
  7. gguy

    gguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wildomar, CA
    MOV tends to release more of the music I am interested in, but so far i'm about 70/30 good to bad releases in terms of SQ. The quality of the record and sleeve are always excellent. The best MOV pressing I have is Blind Melon's "Soup." But their Jefferson Airplane "Surrealistic Pillow" is downright awful.
     
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  8. BTBaboon

    BTBaboon Active Member

    Location:
    Knoxville, TN
    Their pressing of Blind Melon's self-titled is also phenomenal.

    For "Soup", I actually prefer the Analog Spark release better - I believe it is all analog, whereas the MOV pressing of "Soup" was digitally mastered. Both sound good, but AS is a tad above the MOV
     
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  9. gguy

    gguy Forum Resident

    Location:
    Wildomar, CA
    Thanks for the heads up, I’ll have to check that one out!
     
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