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

Sneaky sneaky!
I mean yeah the mastering chain is analog. But the source sure ain’t. Yikessssss

 

Did he? The actual machines are all analogue. He just left the "Oh and I forgot to mention, the tapes we use to input into the all analogue chain are dsd copies of the mastertape"

Not really a lie. More an omission. Right?

 

That’s pretty much exactly how a lot of these people have been getting away with these types of answers for a long time.

 

On the first point it definitely goes back further than 2015 as was stated during todays video. Everything is done on a case-by-case basis regarding whether they transfer to DSD and they talked about a release from as far back as 2008 if I’m not mistaken.

 

With 2008 Abraxas (at least that far)

 

Not my fight, but in at least several jurisdictions one can be liable for utterances made with a reckless disregard for their accuracy, as opposed to knowing "without doubt" the claims were false. Even in a criminal matter, the burden of proof is not "beyond doubt" but rather "beyond a reasonable doubt."

 

Oh that’s so spot on.
There’s THE TRUTH
And then THE TRUTH*

 

IM not angry but super disappointed. i preordered 2 copies of thriller 1 step thinking it will be a 100% all analog audiophile pressing. anyway gonna cancel that preorder as well as the hotel california. not really into the idea of paying $100/$125 excluding freight charges for dsd pressed onto a slab of vinyl.

 

Its not merely an omission…….it’s a deliberate act of omission, if that’s what you think happened there.

 

Don't forget The Phone Call on that album has the effects added rather late in the day and was missed on the AF issue so the Mofi folks talking about that album made sense because it's a good example of an album that's made in lots of places and does need a good deal of care when it comes to doing your best with the sources to create your new version to cut from.

 

If not cutting from tape, they don't even need the all analog cutting system.

 

On the plus side, my finger is now hovering over Discogs, waiting to hoover up the tsunami of cheap second hand MOFI vinyl dumped by angry audiophiles.

 

The video gave the impression that it is very difficult to do a great mastering job without the digital step. Well, Analog Productions, Intervention Records, BN Tone Poet etc. seem to be able to release excellent sounding AAA albums without a digital step (as far as we know). For example, do people really think that the One Step DSD-sourced Folk Singer is much better than the AAA Analog Productions version?

 

I wouldn't count on MoFi changing the language in their promo material anytime soon.

It still says "Mastered from" which it is, just converted to files. I can't see them mentioning this, unless they jazz it up with some technical mumbo jumbo.

 

this thread needs more Lionel Hutz

 

"What's behind the mask...sorry I ever asked."

 

To be fair to Fremer, I don't think he said he knew about all of the "digital transfers" but did divulge he knew about the use of a digital transfer in MOFI's cutting of Love Over Gold. Here is the link (the relevant comments are at 14:50):

[]

 

Don't forget they needed to do that to cut that album from the 2014 mono set, Mono Masters, so many of us love. There was no way you could cut from all those sources without an intermediate step. Abbey Road chose to do it with tape. I'd loved to heard a 4x dsd version compared to tape.

 

It should be taken into account there are some moderated posts in that "sade" thread about mofi processes.

At the time, i personally based my opinions and evidence on the "facts" as presented by mofi on an email from customer service
that directly asked about their cutting chain, and got the same info as is posted in the interview video,
assured there was no digital steps or processing in their "Original Master Recordings" titles.
So it turns out they've been lying for years, misrepresenting their processes, their in-print marketing and website,
I think we all agree that's just totally off the charts crazy situation.

 

Well some people did, I bought record titles I like the music that's on the record they produced. Some people might actually learn from this, that reading hype stickers and other info available about a record is more of a placebo to your own beliefs. I listen to records without bias, if it sounds good it's good, at least to me. That said the many many many myths people follow in audio like AAA is the best, they just found out otherwise. As far as prices of records, well that's the price they charge for it and I would pay that regardless and never did so just because it's supposed to be all analog.

Now, maybe the AAA people will stop buying up all the MFSL records, good, no more FOMO.

 

The reason that MOFI gets away with it is because they know that they have a captive customer base that will plop down the money each time that they re-release a title for the hundredth time. They could say that it was “Titanium Pressed” and individually blessed by Bruce Springsteen, and the fanboys would say “how much?”

If consumers were a bit more discriminating, and didn’t get so overjoyed with each ‘new’ release (“I’m on the waiting list......the order has shipped.....watch me unbox it”) then the company might not seem so inclined to cut corners or to outright lie about their methods.

 

I just listened to my DSD sourced copy of Lotus on my bespoke Mofi turntable, and let me tell you: between the overt feelings of betrayal, regret and overwhelming thoughts of Mofi’s mendacity, it was a pretty great listen.

Can’t wait to buy more records. I hope they use their DSD files to press another run of 1Step Abraxas.

 

Cancelled my pre-order of the Hotel California one-step. Lost confidence in what goes into the sausage, so to speak. Even though I had my doubts from the outset that it was going to be as original as possible (however the words "an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape" had my tongue salivating), coming from Australia, inc. postage, it was going to be $187USD. To me, that kind of money is better put towards multiple AAA vinyls posted about elsewhere on these forums, and for now continue on my search for a great sounding Hotel California, perhaps a more original, better sounding version will be something I come across.

 

At this point, and contrary to popular belief, it should be plain that digital has as much merit as analog. I hope the analog snoots will now admit to that, particularly since some of their most avowedly preferred MoFi titles are digitally derived rather than being AAA.

As for the faux, hifalutin audio-Pharisees having "covered" for MoFi in the past, they should be ashamed of themselves for having participated in such disingenuous and reprehensible conduct. Their reputations now are nothing more than dubious, at best.

 

The paper matches. But not the foil stamping