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

33?

 

6.5?

 

40 is the correct answer! @Big Blue was closest!

 

Yeah that seems likely.

 

I think your unedited post was correct!

 

I have heard the entry level Audio Technica turntables, and they are a great value.

I think that the Stones’ original 70’s Goats Head Soup LP will sound better than the Abbey Road half speed master on the Audio Technica, or any other turntable in the world. Maybe I’m wrong.

 

I just checked and it's 40. Possibly some posts were deleted?

 

Actually 49 but 40 "this thread only" ;-)

Fun!

 

Although no one has brought any claims, I actually think that the unfair competition claim is just as strong as, and addresses greater damages than the consumer fraud claims. MOFI’s misrepresentations damaged competing manufacturers by giving MOFI a cost advantage over other companies that were trying to compete honestly, cutting from tape (which is more expensive).

In addition, they also harmed retailers by limiting certain fraudulent titles to their controlled retailer, Music Direct (or prioritizing distribution to that site). This drew customer traffic away from other sites, such as Elusive Disc, as well as the thousands of smaller retailers (online and brick and mortar) where customers might have gone to look for new albums. I wonder how many small audiophile specialty retailers have gone out of business in the 10+ years since the deception started.

 

You seem to be comparing MOFI’s misdemeanours with more important global issues - fair enough.

But in the context of the world of vinyl records (and those wanting the best analogue sourced records that money could buy, its a pretty big issue)

Their whole raison d’être was built on one big lie - that for any company however big or small is not something to be swept under the carpet and forgotten about.

Standards, truth, morality, duty, principles are all sadly in short supply these days, but coincidentally & thankfully they are still deemed to be important by many people, as we in the UK have witnessed in abundance over the last fortnight.

 

It looks like a lot of people invested much more than money in these products, rightly or wrongly. All I have is an Abbey Road pressing and that was bought cheap many years ago.
I've always been wary of 'super duper' products, whatever they are, perhaps because the word 'dupe' is hidden in there.

 

Unless you actually have one of the ATs, how would you know?

Trying to be reasonable, in a thread where it seems to be a virtue to act like your hair’s on fire all the time.

 

I think the problem here is 'invest'.

I've never invested in music. I've bought something because it sounds good to me. I bought a number of MOFI because they sound good... and guess what... they still sound good.

I still think MOFI is a contemptable company for lying. Full stop.

But am I going to burn a product that I bought strictly for its sound quality? Of course not. It still sounds good.

 

... unless the suits are simply tossed for lack of merit.

How can the plaintiffs quantify their losses? How can they enumerate their damages?

 

What competitors or retailers are making claims?

 

Amen Brotha....and my emphasis is on the Big Picture, not just the total analog sequencing for vinyl records, but our societal 'new normal'. I don't collect vinyl anymore (I'm a CD guy) but my sentiments and even empathy (not that I've bought any digitally sourced/processed vinyl) go out to those who feel duped, and the integrity of analog !

 

I appreciate your comment @lucan_g and agree with you. I used 'invest' with the meaning of 'to provide or endow someone or something with a particular quality or attribute', which I suppose goes along with how these items were marketed and sold. I'm sure many have thought these items would be 'investments' that may now be worth less based on this revelation. When I read your comment about 'burning a product', the Beatle bonfires came to mind.
They took place out of disappointment and outrage, which seems to be going on in this thread, as others have noted.
I'm sure that burnings won't be happening - or if they are, that these are taking place privately.
What a moral quandary - is it best to hide them away, to remove them from prominent display out of shame or bad choices ? Will values now plummet ?

 

Agreed. And...some are too compressed, lack dynamics and good bass response.

 

You are absolutely right. I misread your use of 'invest' on a fast initial reading.

 

Actually a few here keep saying that and from what we know MFSL says they go out of their way to get the Original Master Recording. So do you have any proof they don't get or get accsess to the original master recording?

Saying you get the OMR does not meem your mastering directly from the tape. Many know this and I thought you had more intelligence than to keep putting fallacies out like that, as it has nothing to do with the mastering steps. That said another fallacy we keep reading some of you guys saying is that they don't do their own capture of the tape. Stuppid ****t like they get a file emaild to them and cut from anything they get. Well do you all have proof of that? I find some with MFSL syndrome are lying just as much as they did. At least stick to facts we know, if they are found to be more lies from MFSL, then say something at that point. But I can't believe so much misinformation spit out by members in this thread.

 

I'm with you. After Chad's gouging price increase, and Mofi's half assed digital records, I'm going to be much more selective.

I have been enjoying many new releases on vinyl for around $30 a pop. I know they are from digital recordings, but most of them sound great and are pressed very well. I'd rather spend my money on new titles than trying to find an over-priced NM copy of some old record. The sellers are usually idiot rip offs that couldn't grade a record on top of it.

 

I just read that a MoFaux bankruptcy may be imminent. The FB post was removed though. Better make your returns quickly... Maybe JD can get a job sweeping the floors at Chad's house.

 

I’ve visited the websites of Analog Productions, Blue Note, Craft, Resonance, Sam Records, Pure Pleasure, Impex, Elusive Disc, et al. quite a bit over the last 12 months. Music Direct/MoFi? Not once.

If MoFi is literally the only audiophile reissue label you know, that’s nobody’s fault but yours.

 

Quick thumbs up for pointing out the misuse of the word 'invest' when what is meant is 'spent.' The word 'invest' wasn't always misused this way. I think I first noticed this weasel-word buffoonery some time in the '90s, probably via politics, with something like "we need to invest more in education." I'm pretty sure it had to have come from some focus group analysis that suggested people react better to 'invest' than to 'spend.'

But back to MOFI. I'm with you on your take. The only MOFIs I've gotten rid of were The Beatles MOFIs from the early '80s that I sold off 10 or so years ago. I just could never get past the mastering. Did not enjoy it.

Fast forward to more recent purchases. Not getting rid of them. I bought them based on SQ reviews I read here, not on them being AAA or not. Some of them are the best presses I've ever come across for some titles. Just IMO, but ... for example...The Jefferson Airplane Surrealistic Pillow mono. Been a favorite of mine since it was first released. I have an original mono and thought that was probably as good as it would ever get, but I was wrong. Actually, I never thought the album could ever sound as good as it does on the MOFI. Won't be selling that one any time soon.

Having said that, deceiving people sucks huge. No doubt. But for me the suckage doesn't rise to the level of me needed to get rid of something I enjoy. I've gone through record purges in the past (first in the early '80s 'cause I needed the money, and like with many older people the '80s 'CD revolution' prompted me to sell off a great collection) and I really regretted it some time later. Usually ended up replacing what I got rid of. So for me it would not be smart to go through that cycle again.

 

Why make returns? If Mofi goes belly up, their records will not lose value.