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

Noted that a few of the online reviewers (except MF who broke the news) are taking an apologist stance. Not surprising but I was expecting one that I respect to be a touch more understanding of those that are upset over the whole deal, especially the one step releases and the vague marketing speak that never mentions a digital step.
Looking at a few MoFi (LP) titles on the Music Direct site, not a single one mentions anything digital in the process.

 

It’s possible that’s what I like about it.

 

I noticed that it was cut super low so you really have to compensate with some added volume. It didn’t blow me away at first but started to open up for me at about 1-1:30 on the amp. I like the original as well. Also have the 45rpm from the box set but haven’t had a chance to spin it yet.

 

The 45rpm is also good. It’s a remix, though, so there’s more going on than just mastering, when you compare them.

 

Yeah was reading some reviews where people really like the remix and for others it’s too far removed from the original sound. I really like 45rpm’s which is probably the only reason I bought it.

 

I wouldn’t want it to be my only copy, but I’m glad I have it.

 

A company with a looong history of being unethical is quite unlikely to be proactively ethical, now.

 

Not sure that's true. I just checked Thriller on MD and if you scroll down, it copies the same info about "to DSD." Has the word "painstaking" in the process description. Did not compare word for word to the MoFi page, and didn't check listings for other One Steps:
https://www.musicdirect.com/music/v...tion-ultradisc-one-step-33-3rpm-vinyl-lp-set/

 

Music From Big Pink *cough* UK Capitol Rainbow label A5/B6 *cough*

 

I'll check him out. I do like this guy. I just subscribed https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1a3_Bsv8e4FlOD-8gZiJ8g/videos

 

Of course their sighing, companies use presales to fund the project. They don't like using their cash assets, so they set it up as preorders and the preorder income funds the project. Without many up front customers the lead time will be much longer as they wait until they have enough payments to pay for the cost.

 

On the plus side, with all the brouhaha I might finally be able to afford that Beck "Sea Change" album on the secondary market ...

 

the writers can’t bite the hand that feeds them. I totally get it. However, Ijust wish those particular writers would just act halfway sympathetic

 

I find the mix of the 45 Brown album peels back a little too much of the harvest rust it originally has and needs. To clean, too bright. I find the silver MOFI to be fantastic, a Goldilocks. That said, I’ve kept both. I’d like to hear the MOFI Big Pink someday, but I grabbed the 45 mix recently and find it to be more true to the original while still revealing a bit more in the mid range. I think it’s incredible and overall appreciate it far more than what they did with the brown.

 

Is it just me? I just can't help reading most of their titles and see something related to what is happening?

Sea Change

Women and Children First (to the boats?)

Fair Warning

Desperado

Somethin' Else

Unplugged

Blood, Sweat & Tears

Fragile

Blood on the Tracks

Bridge Over Troubled Water

 

Yes.

 

Undoubtedly 40K copies of thriller were the last straw to get alarm bells sounding but several other titles were having large enough numbers to look a bit suspicious too.

 

Which means, it can be analog in the right hands, with a budget to let it. It can be remixed, carefully, by the right people, the right way. And be all analog. It's good as it is.

 

I love me a good conspiracy theory. They can make for fascinating rabbit holes. The problem with them is that they invariably require far more competence to execute than humans actually have. In short no I don't think it was orchestrated because I'm not willing to give MOFI that much credit. I think in ancient times the label was AAA, they started using DSD, nobody said anything so they didn't either, and hubris took took over from there. They just figured they could do whatever they wanted and get away with it and got too cocky. To believe in a conspiracy theory is to give someone at MOFI credit for being a mastermind, and frankly I'm not willing to give them credit for that much intelligence nor to have the planning and coordination skills to pull it off.

 

I'm surprised any of these outfits have survived. There's little material post-2000 for them to release - they seem to be largely subsisting on boomer (and - to a lesser degree - Gen X) nostalgia. That's a (rapidly) dwindling market.

 

It would be interesting to know but suspect it was a ongoing question from his customers & in his own head actually. Mike is a straight shooter & have talked with him many times on phone. He almost always talks me out of spending $ on certain gear etc.. & it has saved me a lot of $. His shootouts are trusted by many & his AZ customer base is very good indeed with the massive collections he buys etc, etc. Bieng a Mofi dealer means Mike's rep is on the line for selling their ****. I'm glad they got caught & will be better for everyone in the long run. Vinyl isn't going away anytime soon.

 

I'd take the DSD. Analog playback has all sorts of issues that add distortion to what's already a copy. Really a copy of a copy, since even the 2-track analog master is one generation removed from the original multitrack recordings.

 

This situation honestly has me rethinking my relationship to my vinyl collection. I’ve decided I’m going to cull all the digitally sourced vinyl in my collection where a AAA version is available (some of my albums will always be from digital because that’s how it was recorded or no AAA version was ever produced), and slowly replace them with AAA versions.

This is not because I necessarily think AAA is automatically better, but rather as most of the music I listen to was recorded when AAA was the norm, it’s more about getting an artifact from when the recording was made (or a reproduction that closely resembles the original process in the case of a AAA reissue). It’s about having a relationship with every record in my collection, a story of the hunt to find it and the reason it’s in the collection at all.

I already own digital versions of all the albums in my vinyl collection, some albums many many many times over. If I want to hear the digitally sourced version of the album, I can! I have it already. I want my vinyl collection to offer something my digital collection inherently cannot: An all analog presentation. It may be that ultimately a digital version of an album is the best sounding, but sometimes the “best” sound is about more than just the pure sonics.

 

Exactly.

Oh noes, the 5th "audiophile" pressings I have of Kind of Blue and Layla are really high-res digital! Yesterday I thought they sounded great, but today I don't think they sound nearly as good as my OG vinyls from the '80s (both of which went thru a 16-bit, 44kHz digital delay on the way to the lathe, but whatevers...)

 

Um, shouldn't you cull the versions that don't sound as good?

Or if you want to go with "authentic", shouldn't you cull the versions that don't sound like the OG vinyl from the initial release? (Of course, that can be problematic - the UK or US pressing? The artist hated the OG pressing and had it re-pressed a decade later. Etc. etc. etc.)