Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has been cutting vinyl from digital since a long, long time ago...

Discussion in 'Music Corner' started by Ben Adams, Jul 14, 2022.

  1. ThirtyThree1/3

    ThirtyThree1/3 Forum Resident

    Location:
    South Jersey
    Not trying to throw any one person under the bus.

    I do not expect any big youtube personality to fully go against MoFi. I think most will say the easiest thing to get away with in music, it's up to you and your ears. They're not wrong, so it's fine. It's also unfortunately the easiest way to not take a stand on something. I hope I'm wrong and they all say no.
     
    teag likes this.
  2. Merrick

    Merrick The return of the Thin White Duke

    Location:
    Portland
    Having spent many many years in the film world, what I find funny is that aside from a few diehard holdouts like Tarantino and Nolan, virtually everyone has agreed that digital affords more options to filmmakers without sacrificing image quality, and if there is a movement to revive analog video formats like VHS, Beta, or Laserdisc, they haven't gained even as much traction as the resurgence of the audio cassette.

    Sight is the most astute sense humans as a species possess, and yet virtually everyone has agreed that digital cinema can and often does look great, and there is very little movement to argue that digital cinema causes fatigue or degrades the moviegoing experience. Yet with audio, we claim that digital audio has inherent qualities that make it inferior as a playback medium than analog. I can't explain it, I also prefer the presentation of vinyl over even very good to excellent digital presentations. Perhaps I would feel differently if I took some blind tests.
     
  3. max_and_amelia

    max_and_amelia Forum Resident

    Location:
    Miami
    Does anyone remember if Mike had any Mofi titles on his list of his Top 100 Analog Records on theingroove.com?

    Because there aren’t any anymore.

    Ice. Cold.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  4. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    Mike @The 'In' Groove did a fantastic job with this. The questions got answered, and he showed enough respect to MoFi to not rub their face in it.

    I said it previously, but this did not require professional journalism skills. His assignment was to get an answer and he got it.

    MoFi has had years to prepare the inevitable response to this, and their reasons for their approach, but they still appeared to be deer in the headlights. Very weak showing by them.
     
  5. Dr. Funk

    Dr. Funk Vintage Dust

    Location:
    Fort Worth TX
    I'm sitting here listening to my MOFI Sgt. Peppers vinyl with the OMR banner.

    I'm not really sure why?
     
  6. teag

    teag Forum Resident

    Location:
    Colorado
    I feel the same on the issue of future releases.

    I have many 1 Steps on preorder and will be cancelling them all tomorrow. I will be looking for originals in some cases, if I don't already have one. For titles I really want to hear I may buy the 1 Step if reviews are good.

    If I miss out, so be it. I miss out on a 2 Step, not a 1 Step. My FOMO has gone down considerably in the past 12 hours.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2022
  7. 4-2-7

    4-2-7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Peninsula
    Just some bullet points on my take for all involved in this video.

    The mastering engineers came off as arrogant and they know better than their customers as to what sounds good.

    Mike was terrible at this interview and probably shouldn't have been the one to do it. Case in point he didn't have any comeback questions.

    One question that should have been presented and no wiggle room without getting some kind of answer. When they said digital sounded better he should have asked, "many people disagree with that and where always under the impression all analog records are better, why would you not trust what they hear and like"

    Another question he did not ask and should have been his second ? If you think digital mastering sounds better, why were you not honest with how your mastering records to your customers?

    And after all the hoopla about how great they master and there is almost no way they can do it from analog tape Mike should have asked. How come other mastering engineers can put out excellent mastering jobs that are all analog?

    Mike looked and acted intimidated so they were not on the ropes about anything they have done for many many years basically lying about their products.
     
    Last edited: Jul 20, 2022
  8. Otto Konrad

    Otto Konrad Forum Resident

    Location:
    Richmond, Virginia
    Whoa.
     
    highqualityrecords likes this.
  9. Espen R

    Espen R Senior Member

    Location:
    Norway
    Some of the most obvious questions from the interview was not asked, like…
    «Why do you press digital high rez files on vinyl, when the most transparent and logical is to distribute that 4xDSD files to the customers in it’s purest form?»
     
    rofffe, ArneW, folkfreak and 2 others like this.
  10. pmckeeaalaska

    pmckeeaalaska Forum Resident

    Location:
    Anchorage, Alaska
    Yes, I know he at least had all of the Mofi Dire Straits albums (except for BIA) on there and yes, there are no longer included.
     
    highqualityrecords likes this.
  11. Merrick

    Merrick The return of the Thin White Duke

    Location:
    Portland
    I suspect we're coming at the idea of "easy" from different angles. I took away that one of their arguments for using DSD was that digital gave them essentially a perfect copy of the master tape to work from, and being digital, has the advantage of all the tools one can use to manipulate and adjust digital files, which AFAIK goes beyond the scope of tools available to manipulate and adjust physical tape. Because they have more tools, and those tools can be more fine grain than with analog, they have a massive amount of options they can use to tailor the end product, which is where I'm coming from. We know they're not doing flat transfers, so they are making active choices about how to manipulate the DSD files for mastering.

    By their argument, the amount of time it would take to properly calibrate and run all analog equipment means more time spent on ensuring the equipment is working within tight tolerances than time spent on the actual mastering. In that regard, it is easier to use digital as they only have to calibrate and run the tape equipment correctly once to capture the tape to digital. But once it's in digital the amount of options they have is massive, and generally the more tools and options one has, the more time you end up spending as you apply different options and test them. Mike E mentioned their space was filled with an incredible amount of test pressings. This is likely the result of that.
     
    jewelsnbinoculars likes this.
  12. dasacco

    dasacco Senior Member

    Location:
    Massachussetts
    I am genuinley asking this question because I don't know the answer, but can a 4xDSD file be played by any regular streaming device?
     
  13. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    Fremer stated in the response interview that In Groove Mike should have sent a list (prior to trip to MoFi) of each release and ask MoFi to fill out what was all analog or digital.

    Let's hope Fremer is emailing a list like that, as we speak, to the MoFi people so he can provide the info that In Groove Mike failed to cover.
     
    Swordsandchains likes this.
  14. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    I have a gut feeling there is some processing going on. Maybe noise floor, tape hiss and dynamic range.
    Why not? It's pretty simple in the digital domain.
     
    Juan Matus likes this.
  15. motionoftheocean

    motionoftheocean Senior Member

    Location:
    Circus Maximus
    he did, and he addressed in an interview with Mazzy last week that he took them off the list.
     
    Swordsandchains and gonz like this.
  16. Tommyboy

    Tommyboy Senior Member

    Location:
    New York
    He’s a record store owner, not Carl Bernstein or dare I say Michael Fremer. You’re right though, the interview wasn’t the greatest, but at least he got an audience with them and elicited some sort of truthful response. I’m not going to knock the guy for that.

    Maybe they didn’t want to do anything with Fremer.
     
    Curiosity, OldSoul, Boots71 and 2 others like this.
  17. Espen R

    Espen R Senior Member

    Location:
    Norway
    Yes, lots of streamers on sale now.

    Maybe MoFi would not get permission to do it by the owners of these recordings, but the question could be directed to MoFi.
     
    dasacco likes this.
  18. Joe Stark

    Joe Stark "Sad wanker" - Michael Fremer

    Location:
    Salt Lake City
    At a bar? Nope. Doubles of any kind are illegal per Utah code.

    At the home bar? You bet.
     
  19. dkmonroe

    dkmonroe A completely self-taught idiot

    Location:
    Atlanta
    I think that the VA's point is that if the product is truly superior, then MoFi should not be hesitant to be completely transparent about the process that creates it. I watched about half the interview and I thought they were rather cagey about the whole thing, which is disappointing. They should have sold it as "trust your ears" from the beginning - "Hey, we've used DSD transfers to create THE BEST LP'S YOU'VE EVER HEARD!" And then there would be no controversy, there would just be people who bought the product and enjoyed it and people who refused to buy it on principle. But ultimately it seems to be a wasted opportunity to argue for the superiority of their approach.

    P.S. - ever since I watched that one video, my YouTube is just blowing up with videos about MoFi! :laugh:
     
    indyalden and highqualityrecords like this.
  20. 2xUeL

    2xUeL Forum Philosopher

    Location:
    Albany, NY
    Because the tactile experience is still absent with all-digital...that's my take.
     
    lazydawg58 and YouCantWin like this.
  21. Zomvid

    Zomvid Delicate Genius

    Location:
    Bay Area, CA
    They're a reissue label, how do you expect them to license that? Physical media is different because it's based on the amount printed, how do you control digital downloads and piracy? There's no money to be made from that, just look at the pono store fiasco
     
    ETSEQ likes this.
  22. It's the best sounding version of that title. I don't mind paying a premium for the best.
     
  23. slop101

    slop101 Guitar Geek

    Location:
    So. Cal.
    Yeah, I know what they've been doing and why. I just couldn't get solid info if it was for every title, and if it's for some, which ones?
     
  24. 4-2-7

    4-2-7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Peninsula
    What truth? I presented questions about them not being truthful that he failed to ask. It was like "ok you master digitally", now let's talk shop, how great you all are and war stories.

    Now if you'll excuse me I have over 50 pages to skim through to get to the end which will be another 20 by the time I get to this page.
     
    Paully likes this.
  25. ETSEQ

    ETSEQ Forum Resident

    Location:
    Frederick, MD
    Let's spend the next 50-75 pages thinking of questions Mike E. should have asked. That should be fun.
     
    grx8, MonkeyTennis, Ste_S and 13 others like this.

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