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. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    It seems you took what I said completely out of context, because the reply doesn't have much to do with what I actually said
     
    the nightfly and mikedifr0923 like this.
  2. Flaming Torch

    Flaming Torch Forum Resident

    Is the current situation a surprise to anyone closely involved in the work that goes into releasing music recorded back in the 60s and 70s onto vinyl or cd/sacd today. I am just a gumby punter and have lots of MFSL vinyl by my favourite acts. eg all those Dylan 45rpm releases along with the One Step "Blood on the Tracks". For me and the other folks I know with the One Step we think it sounds terrific.
    Being an old curmudgeon and a cynic I have always found it hard to believe Sony would let those old Dylan tapes go roving about the country. If I started a label tomorrow and asked to licence say John Wesley Harding as a nice mono I would expect a decent high resolution flac if my request was granted. Would they really send me the analogue master tapes/safety tapes?
     
  3. JCRW

    JCRW Forum Resident

    Well if you take MOFI at their word, then Yes they are claiming to acquire all the original master tapes and sources they need for each and every release they touch. They are stating over and over again that they are a pain in the record labels sides, demanding them to find the source materials they require (some of their examples state it has taken them years to get what they want). And if they don't get those materials via courier directly to their facility, then they are traveling to the required destination with all of their in-house gear to directly handle the original master recordings themselves and perform the A/D conversions to DSD256 themselves. It's one of the reasons why they are putting a price tag premium on the "One Step" vinyl releases.
     
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  4. The original Dylan Desire never sounded good to begin with. And I have and original promo. The Desire Super Vinyl is the best version made. Columbia somehow screwed up the mastering when that record came out which is surprising because Blood on the Tracks sounded so great just two years earlier.
     
  5. TommyTunes

    TommyTunes Senior Member

    I’m a huge Miles Davis fan and have every SACD released, US Sony SACD’s, all the Sony JSACD’s, all the MOFI’s and the Esoteric Miles box.
    If you think once the master tape has been converted to digital it is what it is, and that is all that matters. Then how do you explain that the Esoteric box which contains only five titles that were done by all of the above is significantly better sounding than the rest. Since I firmly believe that they had to work with digital sources provided by Sony then the sound of the set can only be attributed to the digital mastering.
     
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  6. I have an OG. It’s nowhere as good as the MoFi.
     
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  7. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    The next One Steps I was actually considering were the Elvis and Van Halen I. Not now. I also have the Speaker's Corner Elvis and it is FANTASTIC! Better than the first pressing I have. Van Halen...I'll just grab the Hoffman Mastered or the bell Mastered versions.

    As Far as the Eagles are concerned, I purchased the Hi Rez "Eagles Legacy" downloads (mostly 24/96) and it sounds excellent. I purchased the first two Eagles One Steps. I only opened Desperado and compared to the 24/96...the One Step is nothing special and I actually prefer the 24/96 version. One, my copy is not that quiet and two, the 45RPM is a pain. After listening, I never bothered opening the first LP. I'll probably sell them off eventually. I have the SACD of Hotel California and the 24/96 actually beats it just a little on the low end.
     
    Joe Stark likes this.
  8. MonkeyTennis

    MonkeyTennis Billie Eilish style

    Location:
    Manchester
    Sorry - not trying to be difficult - but I don’t understand the question. We didn’t know about the deception two months ago and so the results would’ve been different. Is that what you are asking?
     
    BuyMeVinyl and Big Blue like this.
  9. DaleClark

    DaleClark Forum Resident

    Location:
    Columbus, Ohio
    The major record companies could care less about the access for audiophile labels. Sure Blue Note and Contemporary, etc....those are outliers. The record labels could be providing files transferred 30 years ago when CDs first hit and converted to DSD....who knows.
     
    mark winstanley and JCRW like this.
  10. AppleCorp3

    AppleCorp3 Forum Resident

    Really good assessment (your final sentence). I’ll be a bit more discerning with my purchases going forward and will branch out to other audiophile vinyl sellers.

    If I could get a CSN (45rpm) for less than a one step I’d likely cancel my order. But those are going for white a bit more.

    Might be the last one for a while, though.
     
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  11. Fizzle

    Fizzle Forum Resident

    Location:
    Usa
    Where did you get the 62k from? Is that official from mofi or did you just add up the numbers stated on the releases?
     
  12. Darren McLeod

    Darren McLeod Well-Known Member

    Location:
    United Kingdom
    Fair comment
     
  13. Kassonica

    Kassonica Forum Resident

    Pigs fly as well
     
  14. MonkeyTennis

    MonkeyTennis Billie Eilish style

    Location:
    Manchester
    Thanks for the response. And in terms of the ‘your fella,’ comment - it was a lazy colloquialism on my part. Reading it back it is unnecessarily snarky - please accept my apologies.

    To clarify my position: just because someone disagrees with me (obviously) doesn’t make them a troll. Because someone is more generous towards MoFi than I, doesn’t make them a troll. And just because someone intends to continue to purchase from MoFi does not make them a troll.

    However, there are people, on this very thread, who hold some of the above positions and are trolling - perhaps overtly, perhaps more subtly.

    By way of example, the continued baiting around variations of, ‘Haha, the vinyl enthusiasts were listening to digital all this time and couldn’t tell the difference.’ That is, imo, a species of trolling: particularly given that it should by now be evident that, like it or no, the answer from said vinyl enthusiasts isn’t going to change with repetition. It is particularly disappointing given that said enthusiasts have made it clear that we are tired of being asked the same question and we are not obliged, in any regard, to offer an answer.

    The issue, I trust we all agree, is MoFi’s unethical behaviour: if anyone owes us answers (and by us, I mean customers of MoFi/MD) it is MoFi/MD.
     
  15. JCRW

    JCRW Forum Resident

    [​IMG]
    [​IMG]
     
  16. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    For interest sake, do you know how well the sacd stacks up against it?
    Obviously bearing in mind the different formats
     
  17. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    Only person who has is you. Look it up if you don't believe me. :)
     
  18. 4-2-7

    4-2-7 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF Peninsula
    I tend to just call most records different as most are pretty acceptable in sound quality and I never really need to call one best. Not to mention my opinion is subjective, I might prefer one over another, someone else can chose a different copy. When comparing records side by side you will hear differences. However if you only have the one copy then I would say listen to it, is it engaging, are you pulled into the music? Most records will do this, you don't have to go down a rabbit hole, just enjoy the music.
     
  19. Vibrolux_Reverb

    Vibrolux_Reverb Forum Resident

    Location:
    New Orleans, LA

    Then you have many others who felt differently. What turned me off of one steps was hearing Yes-Fragile and Monks Dream compared to my $5 copy of Fragile and my Impex copy of Monks Dream and thinking that the improvements were insanely marginal for the cost. And I am not opposed to digital. I actually prefer the digital Steve Wilson remixes of the King Crimson discography over the originals for example, although if AP or someone ever did a Bernie Grundman or Kevin Gray AAA Crimson program it would likely be best
     
    Sci-Fi Kid likes this.
  20. Lord Summerisle

    Lord Summerisle Forum Resident

    They can shove Thriller up their ****.
     
  21. uphoria6

    uphoria6 Senior Member

    Location:
    Ont. Canada
    Votes "No" but really it had nothing to do with the "digital revelation." I've never been a fan of Mofi from the beginning. Too expensive. I currently own one - Sinatra's Only The Lonely. I used to have Miles' In a Silent Way but sold it when I found a first pressing. It was a no brainer to part with for over 200 bucks. I have owned some gold CDs over the years but parted with those for a fair dollar too. I do like their inner sleeves though :D
     
    dkmonroe likes this.
  22. nosliw

    nosliw Delivering parcels throughout Teyvat! Meow~!

    Location:
    Ottawa, ON, Canada
    Some here people like to excuse businesses, whether small or large multi-national corporations, for deliberately misleading and lying to consumers.
     
  23. Merrick

    Merrick The return of the Thin White Duke

    Location:
    Portland
    That was a major part of their pitch for the superiority of their records in that interview with Mike E. Now it is possible that they did do their own transfers of the Sony albums and some of them were done at the time when their A/D converter only went to DSD64, and then they reused those transfers for later releases. However since the layers of the onion here continue to reveal more and more “massaging” of the truth, it wouldn’t surprise me if MoFi never had access to some of the Sony tapes and worked directly off Sony’s own archival files, in which case there really is no difference between MoFi and a bog standard Sony digitally sourced release except that the MoFi artwork will be worse and the price will be 3x higher than the Sony.
     
  24. mark winstanley

    mark winstanley Certified dinosaur, who likes physical product

    I'm not sure that's what it is.
    I think some folks genuinely like the albums.
    I think that's why this argument keeps bouncing around the same topics over and over
     
  25. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    For me this comparison draws an interesting line regarding the purpose and value of audiophile reissues. Personally for me to have bought a MoFi LP, 1) I have to absolutely love the album, 2) it has to have played a big part in my fan listening life, and 3) I have to have had serious problems with the sound of the original pressing or difficulty finding a great copy.

    That’s why I have very few MFSL vinyl LPs. With Desire, I’m happy sticking with the OG LP and the Sony SACD because although I like Desire a lot, it’s not a profound love affair. It’s similar to Dark Side of the Moon and Aja, two albums that are the focus of intense Holy Grail quest-for-the-best energies and incessant shoot-outs and competitive upgrading that I view with bemusement. I’ve got a lovely mid-70’s Wally pressing of the former and a clean AB1006 Aja and that’s it, I’m done, and my desire to own the “best” is a faint one.
     
    Last edited: Aug 1, 2022

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