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

I must say you are correct in your assessment of these titles. The original pressings are far superior. What happened here? The only reason I keep my MFSL S/T is because Lou Gramm signed it.

 

I just picked up Blues for Allah on LP. Rhino 'Roktober' version. Was £20 in a local record shop.
It sounds better than the Mofi.

 

Uff da

 

I haven't been able to get through this whole thread to see if this has been supposed, so apologies if this is repetitive.

It's possible that Mike from The "In" Groove got his info from label folks he has as customers
Mofi throwing 40,000 copies of a "One Step" of "Thriller" on to the market might have triggered a "I call B.S. on this" from somebody or bodies.

 

...except the asking price of $100...I agree, had they come out with a new proposal to produce digitally cut records and claim them to be the best in the industry and add in all the MoFi magic wording that they do and put them out at say $50, then it would have been ok. That $50 gets them a premium for the "MoFi label and history". As well they could have said the UD1S all analog will remain at $100-$125 and they will release those when they can secure the original master tapes, if they can't get the OMT then they will issue as a digitally cut record from DSD or whatever digital file.

TBH, I doubt I would buy many of the $50 records though.....many many labels putting out great sounding digitally cut records for $25-$40.

 

Agreed, no more clarification and further information from MoFi, no more purchases from me.

Yes, I have been saying this since day one of this thread. I think MoFi found themselves in a pickle with the 40K Thriller release and the Fremer Tweet, so they came up with a plan to address it and used Mike In groove to help them. When I pointed out this thread was started by an in groove employee and the “Pre Scheduled” youtube videos to address this. How do you have a prescheduled video to address an issue that nobody knew was an issue. The thread starter did come on here to post that he has been a member of SHF prior to an employee at In Groove but no updates since from anyone in 2 weeks. I don’t think Mike In Groove makes the original video without Mofis knowledge and blessing. I don’t think they anticipated the backlash unless it is just limited to here as the majority of others have given them a pass.

 

I wonder if the Impex reissues of Sony and Columbia titles are all analog, ESP (2014), Earth, Wind and Fire (2013), Red Headed Stranger (2011), Legrande Jazz (2017) and Monk's Dream (2012) come to mind. They seem to be advertised and assumed as such. I have a few of these and have no complaints.

Just curious about when Sony got real strict about letting the master tapes out. None of these were cut by RKS at Sterling either, with whom they had a close relationship with letting the tapes out until they moved to Nashville.

 

Wow, I hadn’t joined the thread that early. Did not realize an In Groove employee started the thread.

That information certainly makes it more plausible. I was merely spitballing!

 

I'm sure they are. It's not like there are NO recent Sony/Columbia reissues that are AAA. Vinyl Me Please put out a few cut by Ryan K Smith recently (Dolly Parton, Willie Nelson, Herbie Hancock, Dave Brubeck, plus the upcoming Miles Davis Star People reissue)

 

If they had lowered their new UD1S, many MoFi customers would have thought that it was a less qualitative product compared to the ones of the original brand. From a business perspective, the price had to stay the same or be even higher. I think they took the right pricing decision.

 

I think they are too but it's been stated quite a few times that Sony will not do that but maybe those sources aren't exactly correct.

 

What Fremer tweet ?

 

Yes, I under stand there may be artifacts or differences in the perceived nature of the sound when converting it to another medium. For example less transient speed, or bass slam etc. I think DSD has a softer perceived sound than PCM in general. However to my ears DSD is excellent at preserving and retaining the quality of analog tape.

The devil is in the details compare DSD transfers from different companies and by different mastering engineers and they are distinguishable. However if the goal it to preserve and duplicate the master tape I think DSD can deliver. Especially in the hands of someone like Kevin Grey or out host.

 

One of the downsides of this whole thing is the loss of trust- not only with respect to MoFi, but now questions arise about how truthful other labels have been. This is not good for the industry.

I would presume that any new vinyl is taken from a digital file unless the label is reputable and states that they cut from analog, often identifying a "known" mastering engineer. At that point, I think I'm entitled to rely on the label's representations. MoFi ran roughshod over our trust by making such representations, so now we have no basis to assess what's true.

As to whether this was a staged leak, I have no idea. If MoFi knew the cat was going to come out of the bag, perhaps InGroove Mike was the best guy to reveal the truth. But, my impression (and that's all it is) was that Mike was not in on this plan, if there was one.

This becomes yet another casualty of MoFi's conduct- conspiracies everywhere.
I have no idea what the truth is (in my experience, everybody has different "truths" and sometimes those are reconciled by a court--not suggesting litigation is good here--I discouraged it hundreds of pages ago--but even a judicial "truth" is just one more "take" on what happened).
Will we ever know the whole story? I doubt it.

I think part of the questioning is also the result of MoFi providing some, but not all information. The company will do this at their own speed, not necessarily because some of the market is demanding more complete answers. I'm not being cynical, I think it is just the nature of business in the strange world we are in.

 

I

They're missing because they are out of print and has been for a while.

 

Wouldn’t it be something if Mofi, who is accused of deceiving its customers, were actually their own whistleblower?

 

No more than you.

 

Thanks! Does that mean that all releases before then were AAA?

 

With the exception of those situations where something generally regarded as scandalous is actually beneficial to a reputation, how is being discovered doing something regarded as dishonest or disreputable preferable to first revealing it yourself, where you are able to frame the issue from the very beginning in a way that's favorable to yourself?

 

I agree. As a consumer we should ask questions but too many questions becomes exhausting for everyone. In saying that, I'm going to trust certain labels (AP, Impex, TP/BN, etc.). Even when they just say "Mastered from..." they are typically all analog from these labels. There are deceptive descriptions out there though. It would be simple if they all just said "all analog mastering cut from the master tape."

It's takes way more energy to distrust and be cynical and is way less enjoyable. I prefer to enjoy the music, sound and the overall experience. As person, I like to be informed regardless of subject matter but I don't want it to get in the way of experience.

 

It was there before and most likely true.

It explains how they can license so many titles they've done before.

 

The notorious tweet that Fremer made about Thriller being digital based off the press release (that was either deleted or changed) that is what started all of this. @vinyl>cd can probably provide the history of all that since he was following it more closely at the time.

I think the information in the press release was correct and then removed and that is what started all of this. I think the wording was unintentional, a mistake or an oversight but that is what go the ball rolling. People thought Fremer was lying to boost his new website or that he was senile and or crazy. Just like some people thought Mike In Groove was just trying to pump up his YouTube views and sales but in the end it was all true. I still think 80/20 that some if not most of it was orchestrated.

ETA: I think the Fremer tweet occurred during German high end audio show and he said he would clarify when he got back but 2 weeks later never gave a clarification then on a YouTube live with Michael 45 he explained his side which sounded very believable.

 

No, it's going to be case by case. I've determined that most are likely DSD until they state otherwise. They've been using the DSD method since at least 2008.

 

That's their market isn't it? Not many 20-something (myself included) have the money for expensive Hi-Fi.

Their targeting empty nesters, retirees, and people that have had successful careers with disposable income.

 

People are called Influencers for a reason.