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

I've gotten to the point where I may buy some deep discount The Nice Price records, but mostly laying off the expensive vinyl lately.
Did you see that video about the batch of Walmart Van Halen 1 vinyl with the same clicks on many discs?
Lately I've taken to buying a new $49 Blu-Ray player that plays SACD everytime I get a new release on SACD.
My Ikea CD-holding shelves are starting to get full, but even more comical is the stacks of $49 Blu-Ray player boxes piling up.
I can do this and still save money compared to the 1S.
I'm thinking that if I can keep this up long enough, being surrounded by the shelves full of SACD's and stacks and stacks of $49 Blu-Ray player boxes, this will make the perfect backdrop for the hottest VC YouTube videos in no time flat.

 

Sure, that's the takeaway if you want to completely misunderstand the issue and misdirect the conversation.

 

The problem with your theory is it's an impossibility, using two different source that require different equipment to master it will yield a different mastering for each.

 

Believers will still believe. There is no dose of reality powerful enough to break that level of faith.

It goes that way with many things in life.

 

And everyone would have been fine with that, if they had just said that's what they were doing. But they didn't and they used this deception to create a manufactured sense of scarcity (in the 1-steps) and charge premium prices for the privilege. Fortunately, I never fancied the titles or already had alternatives. Blue Note did digital transfers for their 75ths. I bought a pile of them. Some sound great and some don't - but that may have nothing to do with the digital step. Then they did AAA for the Classic / TP and I bought a load of them too - for a somewhat higher price. Deception and manufactured scarcity to justify a premium price is the issue. That and getting caught red handed.

 

There can be multiple takeaways. Two things can be true.

 

Devil's in the details. "Digital" is not specific enough.

 

How about this:

Mike Esposito and Michael Fremer head to MoFi headquarters. The engineers at MoFi have an original master tape and a clone of the same tape (DSD256). They also have test pressings of the same tape and DSD256, all unedited. They listen to all 4 on the same system, A/B, etc. All recorded/streamed live via Youtube, or whatever.

Brainstorm this idea?

 

One thing has been proven - MoFi misrepresented their product.

One thing has not actually been proven - that no one can actually tell the difference between a digitally sourced LP and an analog sourced LP. Is there strong evidence that it is true? Yes, to be honest, there is, but it has not (and probably cannot) be proven with the certainty that we can prove that MoFi misrepresented their product.

But again, the analog/digital debate is misdirection because most of us who collect LPs don't have a problem with digitally sourced LPs in principle - I have dozens and I enjoy them - the problem is that a company sold very expensive LPs with the clear implication that they were analog-sourced and they were not.

 

Fremer says digital "hurts his ears". But some of his "Top 10 AAA records" are MoFi DSDs. Imagine that!

 

I don't care about any of these guys.

I've done my own tests, several times, in several settings. I know what I'm capable of hearing, and what I'm not capable of hearing.

 

I suggested that this would happen earlier in the thread and it doesn’t matter if it is true or not. The effect will be to further degrade the MoFi brand as people will listen more critically and (likely wrongly) ascribe perceived issues to the digital step.

And all the while, MoFi will continue to offer digitally sourced records at stupid prices. They need to wake up, adjust to the new reality, or they’ll be done.

 

Where in the world do you get that they are applauding a company for lying to their customers? They are just applauding their end-results. Which most people in here did for years, for the majority of the 1-step titles - until they found out last week that, by doing so, it challenges a core belief.

 

Sorry, It was just a quick thought. I might not be able to tell between a 18 year-old and a 25 year-old Macallan but if I buy the later I want it to be a 25 year-old whisky.

 

MoFi would have to be stupid to authorize such a test for multiple reasons. You don't ever subject the quality of your product to a test with an uncertain outcome.

 

Yes, but the most glaring takeaway is that nobody noticed. All those people with golden ears and impeccable gear profiles.

 

It would be difficult to "prove" it, especially to many people here. Regardless, I'm pretty confident in my belief, as I always have been, that no one can tell the difference. This episode just further reinforces that belief.

I also agree that they misrepresented their product and would never have come clean w/o Arizona Mike's shocking expose

 

Bernie Grundman and Kevin Gray have stated it takes them usually about 3 hours to master a recording in analog

Their work speaks for itself

 

That's entirely fair. Proving no one can tell the difference is indeed an impossible bar but some people seem to insist that it is more certain and more important than MoFi's obvious misrepresentation.

For my part, I do not contest the idea that digitally sourced LPs can sound as good as analog, I just wish MoFi had been more honest from the beginning. This whole thing should not have happened and it only hurts them. AAA advocates will not be budged by this.

 

Not gonna spoil it, but the twist on page 327 is a doozy

 

It's not an impossible bar. The issue is that the golden ear folks won't believe it. Which I guess doesn't matter.

 

Wonder where we can get the source for some of their older releases. Like the Allman Brothers - Self Titled, Sinatra at the sands, Milt Jackson - Invitation.

 

Pandora's box is officially opened.

 

How about listening to the record

Multiple copies

Trust your own ears and it’s a case by case thing

Many a person can hear the same aspects inherent to each mastering

It is not just the Mikes

 

No, it really is - it literally cannot be proven. People hear things differently.