Info wanted on MFSL cassettes

Yeah, I bought that one back when it came out because it stated that it had the David Kershenbaum mix of the album, which was the version that most US residents are familiar with. Unfortunately, it has the same versions as the standard CD.

 

Still got my collection of quad 8-tracks

 

This interview tells about MFSL using JVC decks:

http://web.archive.org/web/20041016145233/www.aurealm.com/violet.htm

For whatever it's worth...

 

Yep, that one was certainly a disappointment.

 

Aye, those were the days - I used BASF Chrome tapes in the Early '80's and they were a bit fussy about what you used to record them on - I had a Non-dolby Panasonic RS 600US at the time and they were really quiet.

The UK pre-recorded of 'Rio' had the 'Hold Back The Rain - re-mix' on the end of side one not the standard UK LP version which I think is the one on the re-mastered CD ( I own the original UK LP).

Candy

 

I have the Genesis Trick of the Tail MoFi tape. It still sounds great (I just played it!).

Dave

 

This appears to be incomplete, it is missing C-147, Lee Ritenour/Captain Fingers.

I have seven of these MFSL cassettes. Bought years ago, I think these were cheaper than the vinyl.

I've recently begun to burn backups to CDR. The Beach Boys Surfer Girl was a surprise, great stereo, the harmonies come through great.

 

I've always been a fan of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's CD titles (at least the ones I've had the pleasure of hearing). Unfortunately, I haven't heard more than a handful of their LP titles, although according to MANY of the members here, and their dislike of the supposed "smiley face" EQ, I might not necessarily be missing much. But, I have yet to hear any feedback regarding their various cassette releases (or for that matter, the small amount of VHS movie titles that they have done as well).

Anyone have experience with these?

 

I had one. Sounded good with the EQ set to standard, even though it was a chrome tape. Sounded dull otherwise.

 

That BASF ChromeII tape.

Sounded good, but every time you opened a new blank, boy did it smell bad!

 

They used BASF Chrome's? I used to buy those blanks exclusively because they gave me the best sonic results (Those and Maxell XLII's) and didn't degrade as quick as others (They didn't develop dropouts as quick as others). Whether that was due to the quality of the tape material, or just the other mechanical parts and how well they operated, I don't know. They were good though.

 

When you say "standard", I assume you mean that the bass, treble, and midrange are all set to 12:00 (ie. FLAT).
If that's the case, then it's a good thing because I always set my EQ flat.

 

I don't have any tone controls. What I meant is the EQ switch on the cassette deck.

 

"Supposed" is the operative word here. Opinion runs hot on this particular topic here, much of it fueled by misinformation and bias. Do your own listening and come to your own conclusions.

 

I made cassettes that many thought sounded better than the MFSL's.

In 1981 I installed a large Neve console at a George Augsperger room in Utah. This was the Skaggs TeleCommunication Center and they had several rooms, each with different vintage Neve's. Among other things, they shot those Alan Hammell 'Tell A Friend' Alpha Beta commercials there.

I recorded mine on either Maxell UD or TDK SA and they were on a Teac C1. This is basically a pro model with plug in cards with adjustments for bias and eq. You could have several of these cards, each tweaked for a specific type of tape.

While we were building the studio, I decided to play some of my cassettes there on some of the studio monitors. Everybody was blown away including George. We went into town and got some of the MFSL tapes to compare and they were considerably duller.

Of course I had tweaked them to get as good a high frequency response as possible. They actually had fairly flat response up to 20k. I don't know that the MFSL dups could claim that.

I guess partly what they were impressed with was the quality of my needledrops. I also had made some reel to reel needledrop comps in 1978, and played them in lots of studios to very favorable response. People generally were shocked that something recorded from a disc could sound so good. Of course this is common knowledge around here though several decades later.

Well these cassettes were back in 1981. I don't know that cassette recorders ever got much better than that C1, and I'm generally not a fan of Teac. OTOH, there are better turntable rigs than what I used and now that we're in the digital age much better needledrops can be made. Then again, I think a big part of what made those needledrops sound so good was that whey were made to analog tape.

 

Wow! That's so early/mid-80's!

 

Their cassette of The Beatles' Magical Mystery Tour was very worthwhile. For that, unlike their earlier vinyl issue, they sought out and used the all-stereo master tape from the German release of MMT. It was nice to hear the last three songs on the album in great stereo, rather than the rechanneled mess found on the vinyl!

 

MFSL's Rubber Soul is supposed to be much better (=not compressed) on tape than on disc.

 

I bet that sounded great. Dr. Ebbetts did a CD version of the German (Horzu label) stereo LP (supposedly made from a needledrop) and it sounds incredible. They did the same thing with the Mofi White Album, and they are both my favorite digital versions for those albums. I also have the Purplechick version of Sgt. Pepper, and that too is my favorite version on CD. The Sgt. Pepper is a 6 disc set that includes the original UK album in stereo AND mono, plus 4 more discs full of different mixes, multitracks, and all kinds of stuff from the Sgt. Pepper sessions. I'm constantly listening to the disc of the stereo album. I have yet to hear a better digital version, and believe me, I've been looking.

 

So these machines were for playing audio only? No movies? Did they do pre-recorded ones, or just blanks?

 

Cool story Doug! It's not always the tools you use, but how you use them...

 

I have Duran Duran - Rio and it actually sounds really good for a pre-recorded cassette. Much better than the standard Capitol release, for sure.