Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (Mofi Ultradisc One-Step 45rpm 2LP vinyl)

Spend money? Allow me to give you and others my take on the cost of these One Step releases from Mobile Fidelity. These are FREE. That's right, you read that correctly, FREE. In fact ( I can't speak to the Dylan release due to the 9000 units planned for sale) these releases actually make you money should you chose to sell one after purchase. All of the One Steps to date have sold on the secondary market for equal to or greater than the initial cost, unless they were damaged. No other vinyl product, except maybe the original MFSL UHQRs from the 80s had such a return on investment. All one needs to do is actually pony up the original $125 to MD or your favorite retailer, and then when you wish to recoup your costs or actually double your investment, you sell it. So, yes dear people, these are indeed FREE. You can't ask for a better product at that price.

 

Where?Can you post the link?

 

I've cancelled my order with a UK supplier. I've read too many reports of bad quality/off centre pressings, blotchy sleeves. No way I'm gambling £140 plus on getting a good copy.

Sam above says these one step recordings are as good as free, that's if you sell your copy and why would you sell a good copy? No way can you sell a bad copy, you'd soon have an irate buyer rightly demanding their money back. BOTT one step is going to be a run of 9,000 copies, I can't see a thriving second-hand market for this issue.

 

Same with me on side 3. Slightly weaving but not enough to distract.

 

No matter what pap that Gordo is peddling, the SQ on the Dylan one step is fabulous.

 

Yeah anyone actively choosing not to pick this up is making a big mistake.

 

Even with off centre pressings?

Maybe the "pap" is in your head! I don't own and will never own this Dylan 1 step so I won't / can't comment on the SQ.

So you are clear, the issues sit with MoFi, that they won't rectify faulty goods, that they won't rectify faulty manufacturing of the boxes / sleeves. That they also appear incapable to have RTI press their records to an acceptable standard at this price point.

As I already said, when they get it right it is " very right".

 

From the little poll running here, more passing than buying.

There are easy fixes to that but that'll be in MoFis hands.

 

I'll be inspecting disc two tomorrow and then request replacement. I'm not settling for an off center disc if I can hear it.

 

I said if you didn't like it, you can sell it. Based on past One Step sales, almost all sellers got a return on their investment. So no cost to try it out. And if you like it, buy two. Sell the second one for double what you paid , and your copy is free. See? Now for the guy that bought two Abraxas titles, he gets around FIVE One Steps for "free." Get it? As far as BOTT selling in the second hand market, we shall see. 9000 is a lot, but the reviews have been overwhelming positive. Down the road this will increase.

 

https://www.amazon.it/dp/B07S4KS8CY/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_apa_i_4lIxDbZQ7MFS9

 

As a little test, I played my Bill Evans One Step PIJ once, then I put it up for sale at $10 more than I paid for it...after two weeks and no takers i pulled it off the market. So, while the One Steps 'may' sell for more than what one originally paid when sealed, IF you open the record and play it, it seems all bets are off! ( unless of course it is Abraxas or Village Vanguard)
I'm no longer selling, but this experience certainly told me something.

 

The reason why I didn’t buy the one step PIJ was because I own the AP Riverside box, with the LPs being cut by Hoffman and Gray. I already double dipped with the Village Vanguard and Stevie Ray Vaughan titles and had to draw the line someplace.

It also comes down to, do consumers want to buy a used copy for $135 or spend the extra $25 for a sealed copy on EBay.

 

For the first time EVER I've had to request a replacement for a defective disc, and it happens to be BotT disc 1. Side 1 is off-center and has a pretty bad scuff on the final track. To top it off, the disc is warped. I can handle the warp, as my VPI table has the outer ring that holds the disc flat. But between the scuff and the arm swinging back & forth that was enough to precipitate a call to MD.

As I've heard here, MD had no issue with ordering a replacement disc and since I was already on the phone anyway, I asked for replacement sleeves. The commonly seen problem with the two rubbing together but sleeve 1 looked like someone had used it as a frisbee. Normally I don't really care about the sleeve damage with these sets, as I'm in it for the music and don't plan to sell / flip them. But sheesh...

 

Lol. You have to give it a little time. Where did you put it up for sale? Ebay I would hope. Biggest market. Did you provide good quality pictures? It always amazes me when people sell records with no pictures. Price goes way down.

 

Right and expecting it to sell at elevated price immediately after release?

 

I have now listened to my copy 3 times and it just gets better every time. I own Portrait In Jazz, The Nightfly, What’s Going On and Texas Flood. They all sound wonderful but BOTT is definitely at the top of the list. I am super impressed with it. I’ve got the MoFi 33 rpm pressing from a few years ago and this tops it by quite a bit.
If you’re a Dylan fan and are on the fence I would suggest going for it. I’m pretty damn sure you’ll be glad you did.
Just my .02

 

I played my Blood on the Tracks One Step for the first time tonight. Sound quality is great. The individual albums covers had a bit of the rubbing marks, but I can live with it...I put the One Step insert between the two covers to hopefull prevent further rubbing.

The first side of disc 2 was visibly off center. I did not notice it when the LP was stationary, but definitely could see it while the platter was turning even before I put the tone arm onto the LP. I don't think I can hear anything, but it bugs the heck out of me to see the tone arm gently weaving back and forth while the $125 record is playing. Not sure if I'll ask for a replacement, probably play the record again before deciding.

 

Yeah, the rubbing marks. Annoying. My copy of Blood On The Tracks is actually the best one of the 5 titles I own as far as the goes. Sure seems like they could come up with something to put between the album jackets to stop that from happening. I mean even one of the rice paper inners sleeves or something. C’mon MoFi, little things like this should not be a topic of discussion on pressings of this quality and price!
As far as the off center I have not looked at mine and probably won’t unless I hear something that doesn’t sound right. If they are off and it doesn’t affect the sound quality (to my ears) I’m going to go with the ‘ignorance is bliss’ attitude lest I start obsessing over it. Not that you shouldn’t. Not saying that at all and don’t mean to offend with the statement. Any release that costs this much $$$ should be well....perfect. Just not a can of worms I want to open if I don’t hear anything that doesn’t sounds right

 

Clearly with the ‘One Step’ releases, one is paying considerable money for the packaging. How much the nice box, inner paperwork and the very nice art work contributes to the overall value is a personal decision. Personally, I would much rather pay a fraction of the asking price and do away with these ‘fluff’ aspects....but maybe that’s just me. For sure, the aforementioned allows Music Direct to more easily justify the asking prices.

 

I will probably return the 2nd LP for a replacement. Selling 9000 BOT One Steps at $125 is $1,125,000 at retail, and probably $250,000 net profit for Music Direct. $125 is a premium price for an LP and creates an expectation of premium quality. Making sure records are not off-center is a basic of record manufacturing, much less premium audiophile records. With the expected profit on One Step's, Music Direct can afford to send an employee to the pressing plants to watch and test the One-step pressings. The person watching does not have to be an expert..my experience in the consumer electronics business is you get better quality out of a factory if you send one of your own people to watch the manufacture and packaging...just showing up puts the factory on notice to be on best behavior. And calls and returns regarding quality is a way to encourage Music Direct to own the quality process at their 3rd party suppliers.

 

Has any one experienced a "MUSTY" smell coming from the box after opening? NOT a faint smell - pretty strong one! I bought two boxes - with the intention of keeping one copy and sealed "for the future". After opening the first box and noticing the smell, I opened the second box and SAME MUSTY Smell.

The two boxes arrived together and were numbered 1881 and 3744 which I thought was kind of strange.

 

Musty from buckets of rain?

 

Good one!

 

No, I can’t say I noticed that. Sorry about that.