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. playsFastForward

    playsFastForward just as long as he can

    Location:
    USA
    Is the RIAA EQ curve (or euro equivalent) that is required to enable HiFi LPs considered lossy compression similar to the universal pejoratives against all digital?

    On a technical or theoretical level, couldn’t the very EQ curves like RIAA that make beautiful LPs possible be even worse than poorly mastered digital?
     
    Tribute likes this.
  2. mpayan

    mpayan A Tad Rolled Off

    Yeah, I dont know. He might. Someone would need to contact him. Not to be too scrupulous but "over" I think could be interpreted as "finding something better" From what I understand it was a case of just not being able to distinguish the two. At least according to the gentleman that was actually involved in the blind test. Im not surprised Chad couldnt. Or the other two gentleman couldnt. I see it as good news. Some see it as not good news perhaps. To each their own and to decide for themselves.
     
    dh46374 and DIYmusic like this.
  3. TommyTunes

    TommyTunes Senior Member

    There seems to be a large amount of criticism against both MFSL and Analogue Productions. IMO the hate and criticism should be directed against the major labels. They need to step up their game. Sony and Universal like the money that vinyl generates but they don’t want to invest to give a quality product.
    I’ll speculate that in order to get license’s MFSL And AP have to contract that their product has to be sufficiently different so as not compete with either an existing or potential product that the majors might offer.
    Therefore we get an over abundance of 45rpm records pressed on “super vinyl” at an extreme premium price.
    None of us know the current licensing fees that either MFSL or AP are paying. In order to stay in business they may not have a recourse.
    Of the big three record companies IMO only Warners/Rhino is providing a quality product. Sony is probably the worst especially given their rich catalog. Universal while mostly doing better pressings simply don’t care about either the source or mastering.
    The big term now is OG’s, I’ve been collecting 55+ years, while there are many that are wonderful their are also many that were pressed on inferior vinyl with noisy surfaces.
    I’ll take the MFSL Miles Davis reissues over any of the original Columbia’s (an I have first or early stampers in mint condition of all of them).
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
    Dai, dee, Ed Casey and 12 others like this.
  4. Dhreview16

    Dhreview16 Forum Resident

    Location:
    London UK
    I have the OG UK and Europe Hall and Oates 1983 LP, which was pressed in Germany. Also with the calendar inset nicely folded ! It sounds very decent. The vinyl is flat and absolutely silent between tracks. Nice soundstage and separation. Very early 80s production……There’s no information on who mastered it, though the previously unreleased tracks were recorded by Bob Clearmountain. I have various MOFI’s, and am happy with people choosing to buy the MOFI Hall and Oates should they prefer to do so, but I honestly couldn’t imagine wanting to pay for it if I could get an OG in nice condition for a decent price. I assume they are quite readily available. I’d like to hear the MOFI Bill Withers GH though (I have Carnegie Hall) and the (is it out now ?) Still Bill.
     
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  5. ^^^^ this exactly. The labels want the dollars they get from licensing but usually want to retain the 33s and do them cheaply in many cases.
     
    Curiosity likes this.
  6. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    Well, this is pretty much a four decade long problem right? Usually, when the majors purport to put our an “audiophile” product, it’s a second-rate reissue. From the Columbia half speed mastered recordings and the Sony Gold CD’s of yesteryear to the Abbey Road half speed mastered albums of today, they just never get it right.

    I do agree that Warner reissues, especially classic rock albums mastered by Grundman, Bellman, Kevin Gray and Steve Hoffman, have been stellar. But that is the exception not the rule.
     
  7. Sex Lies And Master Tapes

    Sex Lies And Master Tapes Gaulois réfractaire

    Location:
    Nantes, France
    Curious to know what source Pure Pleasure did use for their own release in 2012, two years prior the Mofi...
    I checked out its product's page on discogs and it only says Ron McMaster did the mastering @ Capitol (vinyl pressed at Pallas, Germany).
     
    mpayan likes this.
  8. Stone Turntable

    Stone Turntable Independent Head

    Location:
    New Mexico USA
    Nothing against this guy in particular — I’ve never watched his videos — but this post reminds me of the fact that this entire affair is largely built on a series of YouTube videos, and represents a kind of post-literacy triumph of videos driving discussion and advancing a story.

    And I fricking *hate* being forced to try and get information and arguments out of long-winded album-waving video chunterers.

    It’s just one more way I realize I’ve entered into an irreversible state of curmudgeonhood. (I also hate YouTube and TikTok and their crap visual gimmickry as vehicles for music streaming and discovery.)

    Watching the occasional show-and-tell offerings of intelligent, witty voices like Michael45RPM and Mazzy has its charms, but what a degraded and inefficient and junky and friction-clogged way to consume information. Monkey, meet shiny object.
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
    markmck79, Tullman, nosliw and 12 others like this.
  9. No
     
    Dai likes this.
  10. eddiel

    eddiel Senior Member

    Location:
    Toronto, Canada
    Maybe you have entered a state of curmudgeonhood or maybe you just realised that a lot of these VC videos are an inefficient and junky and friction-clogged way to consume information. Monkey, meet shiny object. :)
     
  11. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    No. It is not, nor should it be.
     
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  12. Revolver

    Revolver Forum Resident

    Location:
    Canada
    I’m with you on this. These prices are outrageous. What makes them so much better now that a double 45rpm that was $50, then $60, should now be $80. I’m in Canada too, so with shipping, there’s no way I’m paying $140ish or whatever it would end up being for one of those. A UHQR will be well over $200. I might buy an album or two that I really want to own, but the days of spending the money on non-essential audiophile releases for me are over. If I’m spending the money, it’ll be on an original.

    In 10-20 years when a lot of the remaining boomers stop buying for whatever reasons, these things are not gonna be worth nearly what they’re charging.
     
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  13. misteranderson

    misteranderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    englewood, nj
    The blanket statement that the Abbey Road 1/2 speed releases "never get it right" isn't strictly true. They're like anything else. There are SHF members who really like some of them, like the recent Tommy release, and some of the Bob Marley albums have gotten a little love as well.

    For what feels like the 1000th time, it's all system dependent, as well as dependent on preconceptions, and how many different versions of a specific album someone already has.
     
    GimiSomeTruth and 4-2-7 like this.
  14. jimhb

    jimhb Forum Resident

    Location:
    Denver, CO, USA
    I would really like to see what was used for the silver Sisters of Mercy releases. First, Last and Always is pretty bad (I think they used an alternative mix), but the MOFI Floodland is awesome (as is the Rhino box set).
     
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  15. playsFastForward

    playsFastForward just as long as he can

    Location:
    USA
    Isn’t the RIAA eq curve filter/de-filter a much more crudely designed & implemented processing step of the original input signal than compared to mastering to DSD256 which can eliminate the heavy handed RIAA EQ in favor of much more specific discrete & hi-Q filtering without the severe limitations of mastering to vinyl with the RIAA curve?
     
    Last edited: Sep 23, 2022
  16. DaveyF

    DaveyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Jolla, Calif
    Perhaps you have not really been following this thread that closely…
    There are several members who believe exactly what I posted, maybe you do not.
     
    Strat-Mangler likes this.
  17. misteranderson

    misteranderson Forum Resident

    Location:
    englewood, nj
    "The VC??" Really?

    If this guy represents "The Vinyl Community," the VC's in pretty bad shape.

    1) New England Patriots t-shirt.
    2) Uses the phrase "blows it out of the water" at least twice.
    3) Sausage fingers.
    4) Just painful to watch overall.

    I guess it's a great video for you 'cos it dovetails with your opinion, but he's annoying.
     
  18. playsFastForward

    playsFastForward just as long as he can

    Location:
    USA
    My absolute favorite YT vids are when it’s any random dude in a way-TMI full face 4K closeup that would make even his dermatologist flinch. These are the ones that need placards or at least hold the album cover in front of face?
     
  19. Ken_McAlinden

    Ken_McAlinden MichiGort Staff

    Location:
    Livonia, MI
    You did not ask about DSD. You asked about lossy compression.
     
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  20. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    You must be aching to complain for the sake of complaining if you're going to complain about a guy's wardrobe and fingers.
     
  21. DaveyF

    DaveyF Forum Resident

    Location:
    La Jolla, Calif
    [
    I now have this guy ( Mister Anderson) on ignore, I am hoping he will do the same for a number of us here, including myself!
     
  22. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I have not followed the thread closely, but virtually every post I have seen, even by those who remain supporters of MOFI's products, has taken a very dim view of the misleading advertising and product information.
     
  23. This Heat

    This Heat Forum Resident

    Location:
    Chicago, IL
    I hope your monocle didn't fall into your tea while watching
     
  24. playsFastForward

    playsFastForward just as long as he can

    Location:
    USA
    I’ve certainly learned better than to do much eating or drinking while watching virtually any YT video, much less the gruesome 100” 4K closeups. Also need to have the remote close at hands for the mute button in case the audio gets squirrelly. I’ve noticed increasing number of videos filmed using a phone & the phone rings really really loudly mid video.
     
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  25. drbryant

    drbryant Senior Member

    Location:
    Los Angeles, CA
    I don't think it is "system dependent". However, you are correct that the Abbey Road team's work has improved to the point where seeing the etching "MILES ABBEY ROAD" in the matrix no longer troubles me. I don't own either the Tommy or Marley releases, but I think there were a couple of recent releases that were listenable - maybe the Sade box set, a few others - that were quite listenable. But for the most part, I don't think they deserve the presentation as an audiophile product - complete with heavyweight vinyl and "obi".
     
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