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. EdogawaRampo

    EdogawaRampo Senior Member


    Points well taken, but there is something to be said for the actual, mechanical process of a stylus tracing the groove and having that converted into an electrical signal. Recall the reviews of the laser turntable and how it seemed to do something to the sound the reviewers didn't think too highly of -- i.e. made all recordings played on it kind of homogenized sounding or something (among other negatives like picking up the sound of every speck of dust), if I'm recalling that correctly, and that a good, conventional turntable and high quality cartridge sounded lots better to those ears.

    I'm sure there are members here who have purchased both the SACD and vinyl record, on the same label, of some titles who could chime in.

    Postscript: my comments leave out the extent to which the mastering factor in, different for different media...
     
  2. The one step and subtle origin box thing was never meant to be mass market. I think we see that also with the UHQR Steely Dans. Way too many imho
     
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  3. Uglyversal

    Uglyversal Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sydney
    One has and he prefers the vinyl but after all that is know it is also not far fetched that you can make the more expensive product in your line appear to be worth it. Either by making something better or worse purposely.
    The TT you are referring to would have the limitations of the electronics and their design in it. You are pretty much stuck with what they sell you while with conventional TT's, cartridges, etc there is a huge pool of variables that can provide you with a wide range of results. It is one of the things that in theory sound good but the practical aspect leaves a lot to be desired.
     
  4. Strat-Mangler

    Strat-Mangler Personal Survival Daily Record-Breaker

    Location:
    Toronto
    I have a few of his records. Terrific stuff.
     
  5. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    I would think the best possible outcome for them would have to been exonerated but that was not going to happen because they lied and took advantage of their customers for years in order to make a bigger profit.
    Celebrating $390,000 in attorney fees, their own legal expenses and millions in refunds as a victory doesn't sound right to me.
    But they were lucky some lower hanging fruit was offered as a settlement and they were able to pounce on it. Sounds like other suits were a lot tougher? I wonder if some of those plaintiffs are still going to look into things?
     
    MonkeyTennis likes this.
  6. Iving

    Iving 'Neath Kishmul's walls

    Location:
    UK
    Special thanks for this!

    Really enjoyed watching it. The SUN connection is exquisite. Nice to see STAX tapes seeing daylight again.

    (Also - I have a Dangerous Convert-2 DAC, which I like much, and this made me feel extra fuzzy inside about it.)
     
    Last edited: May 27, 2023
    BuyMeVinyl likes this.
  7. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    This is likely the appropriate thread:

    mofi claims sourced from the master
    The word 'directly' is assumed to imply no intermediate steps.

    tape head > electronics > cable > console > lathe drive > cutter head

    tape head > electronics > cable > DA > AD > console > lathe drive > cutter head

    Neither is direct.
    Perhaps plugging the player into the lathe drive may be.

    There is a reason the did not say AAA, etc. It's not hard.
    AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head.

    MOFI did not. They never mention the D step, that omission may have led some to believe it was AAA. They used words like 'sourced' and 'directly' rather than like those above to obscure/confuse and protect themselves.

    After MOFI coming clean I reread their blurbs. They never say it is pure analogue. Others may have come to the same conclusion. A poster in a VE thread did 7 years ago.

    Apparently customer base was well informed and bought anyways. I was not: I read reviews here and elsewhere and assumed based on price that it was.
    Fool me once...,

    I still enjoy mine. In fact bought another after the expose, The Young Rascals
    1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

    256 x 44.1k, 11.3 MHz, 560 pulses at 20 kHz, 0.6 deg phase resolution, 0.9 u sec
    Amazing
    Does magnetic tape have a finite resolution?

    Hasselblad, their best analog and digital
    Take a picture with each
    Compare
    Take a picture of the digital picture with the analog and compare to the original analog.

    imo we do not appreciate the tech enough. The D step may result in a better result in some cases.

    The individual will decide if MOFI's intent was heinous or evil, I chalk it up to greed which used to be a sin but now is SOP.
    You get yours, I'll get mine.

    Time for some DSD Rascals.
     
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  8. Detroit Rock Citizen

    Detroit Rock Citizen RetroDawg Digital

    Shouldn't you wait 'til Sunday afternoon
     
    MonkeyTennis and Ingenieur like this.
  9. VQR

    VQR Recovering AAA-holic

    Location:
    ...
    This is a long way to say words have no meaning. Are you a lawyer?
     
  10. Ingenieur

    Ingenieur Just a dog looking for a home...

    Location:
    Back in PA
    No, I write ad copy for companies that use DSD to make records.
     
  11. Greenalishi

    Greenalishi Birds Aren’t Real

    Location:
    San Francisco
    Never ending argument. Unbelievable
     
  12. bajaed

    bajaed Forum Resident

    Location:
    USA
    "After MOFI coming clean"

    So what did they come clean about?
     
    ARK, dkmonroe, Biff Jones and 4 others like this.
  13. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    It’s official

    finally got an email that wasn’t an auto answer from mofi

    no Bitches Brew one step until 2024
     
  14. siddhartha

    siddhartha Forum Resident

    Location:
    Decatur, Illinois
    Man, that hurts. Hope I'm around still when it comes out.
     
  15. in_the_fog

    in_the_fog Forum Resident

    Location:
    Sweden
    Snake oil is better served cold.
     
    ARK, ZippyPippy and Coltrane811 like this.
  16. slop101

    slop101 Guitar Geek

    Location:
    So. Cal.
    Here's a question...
    So I sign up on MoFi/Music Direct's site to be notified when a record is back in print/stock.
    I get the notification email, click on it less than 5 minutes after getting it, and the record is already sold out!
    What gives?
     
  17. Biff Jones

    Biff Jones Forum Resident

    Location:
    Maryland
    It is MoFi. What else would you expect?
     
  18. DeanoBee

    DeanoBee Lifelong Music Junkie

    Location:
    Newfoundland
    My experience is there is always a few days delay between the ad and the actual re-stocking, so check every couple days and it might show up.
     
  19. Bigdz68

    Bigdz68 Forum Resident

    Location:
    SF peninsula
    You can preorder to lock a copy in on MD. I have had things pre-ordered for two years (Santana) at the old price too....and it shipped and also no charge until shipment so no it's a win win .
     
  20. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    well, contrary to this forum’s popular belief people are still buying records from mofi…I have, good sounding record is just that…some suck, some mediocre, some great…which is the same for all labels…

    Before the reissue craze the words “from the original tapes” was used by everyone…no one had really any idea in what way those tapes were used because zero info was given…let’s take the Connoisseur series for example (I have 5 or 6)…people found out there “might” be a digital step but blue note never cared and didn’t say a word, 75 th anniversary debacle, still nothing, but everyone loves the tone poets so we forget about the Scorpio blue notes…

    how about the DBLP blue notes, I have 9 of them, they sound great and are essentially digital sourced but not sure because it’s still a mystery and they are still fetching huge $’s…but no one cared

    so this mofi thing is the same as all the others, in a way i find it ridiculous…either it sounds good on my set up or it doesn’t…

    Blue notes are a huge part of my collection, I just NOW know which are the ones to avoid…not because of source but because of sound…

    oh, good morning…ha
     
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  21. Dominique29

    Dominique29 Well-Known Member

    Location:
    Budapest (Hungary)
    (Sorry if this was already posted on the forum, my search gave no result)

    A VC buddy of mine recently purchased a fresh repress of the Bill Evans - Jim Hall – Undercurrent Silver Label (MOFI 1-031) as it was back in stock, but noticed some inconsistency on mastering data.
    On his website, MoFi claims: 1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby A analog copy to analog console to lathe
    On the release, we can read (printed on the jacket) 1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby A analog copy to DSD 64 to analog console to lathe (see the zoomed-in detail on the picture attached)
    [​IMG]

    Albeit the Silver Labels were not in the focus of the DSD-gate, it's nevertheless sad that:
    - such errors are still possible for MoFi
    - Even if using a tape copy, hence probably in good condition, MoFi would still record it to DSD for its subsequent mastering process (yeahh, I know that MoFi is saying that as per its tests and regardless of the source, original or tape copy, the DSD transfer sounds better than a full analogue treatment)
     
    Last edited: Jun 15, 2023
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  22. Cjb2233

    Cjb2233 Forum Resident

    One difference is the price. 125 for a copy of tapestry. Get real.
     
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  23. dsdu

    dsdu less serious minor pest

    Location:
    Santa Cruz, CA
    [​IMG]
     
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  24. BKphoto

    BKphoto JazzAllDay

    Well, people bought them, I didn’t…I like 33’s
     
  25. newbluesuit

    newbluesuit Forum Resident

    I bought the same repress and noticed the same inconsistency. I emailed MoFi about it, and here is their reply:

    Hi Antoine, thanks for your order and apologies for the delayed response. After checking with our Soundlab, the correct sourcing of this title is indeed 1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby A analog copy to analog console to lathe. Our design for the jacket on the latest restock of the title is a typo that had been mixed up with a different title. We will be correcting the mistake on our next restock of the title and will be updating the item and Discogs page for Undercurrent to reflect this. Thank you for your patience and please let us know if you had any other questions!​

    So Undercurrent is all analog, but there is another unspecified title which must be described as all analog on its back cover when in reality it is cut from DSD 64. This level of sloppiness is quite amazing (and sad indeed) from MoFi at this stage.

    Antoine
     
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