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

Back in April a friend brought over the one step Paul Simon/Still Crazy. We warmed up the den system about an hour or so playing some EP's and relaxed a bit. Then played the Simon one step. It sounded good. Then I broke out my WLP and played side 1. He didn't have much to say about it as we moved on to some other records. As he was leaving he said yea that WLP sounded pretty great...

 

If there is a market for it, another company likely will. There are not often bucks to be made that somebody does not try to step in and make.

 

I'm pretty sure that this was the case with MFSL's Kind of Blue as well. I'm a big fan of the SACD; warm, clear, tubey goodness; while their 45rpm had boomy bass that sounded like it was coming from a strange place in the soundstage. Granted, the LP sounding that way could mostly be my equipment. But from what I've read around these parts many seemed to agree that the mastering choices between the two were meaningfully different.

 

We will see. Doubt they are going bankrupt so probably a moot point. But again, Mofi and their chain is possibly unique. It would be ironic if they closed, another place opens and then folks that were ready
to burn the building down end up saying "Yeah, this new company that is doing the 4xdsd/analogue chain mastering just doesnt sound like the way Mofi use to do their best sounding lps" lol. That would be about par for course right?

We dont know what specifically Mofi is doing in all parts of the mastering stages. They have some pretty old unique equipment with many modifications though. We do know that.

Can another company come in and fill their shoes? Maybe. But maybe in a less great sounding way also.

 

Isnt it ironic that “Thriller” started the MoFi scandal?…

 

I bet MFSL did not even realize they were bungling Live/Dead. I wonder what they asked for…

And boy did they pick the wrong fanbase for that kind of mistake.

 

Wunderlich masters the vinyl, correct? Britton and LoVerde work with him sometimes on the vinyl. But Britton and LoVerde do the SACD mastering, so I wouldn't expect the SACD to sound just like the vinyl.

 

@thrivingonariff, if DSD is generally more cost efficient, why did MoFi put out any AAA post 2011(?)?

Generally speaking, what would make AAA more cost efficient than DSD (if a mastering facility is set up to do both processes)? I am thinking a mastering engineer would need to answer this.

Hope that helped clarify a little more.

 

I just finished reading Jim Davis’ interview at The Absolute Sound. Am I correct in my thinking that Jim is essentially saying that based on experience, they can get better results going master —> DSD —> analog for EQ —> cutting instead of just cutting the lacquer from the master, and doing the EQ “on the fly”?

Clearly, when done properly by skilled professionals like Bernie Grundman, Ryan Smith and others, the “traditional” way can yield extraordinary results.

Just to be clear, here is the part I am talking about: MoFi President Jim Davis Addresses the Digital LP-Mastering Controversy - The Absolute Sound

JV and RH: Why did you decide to master from DSD files rather than from analog mastertapes, as you used to do? What are the advantages of mastering from files vis-a-via mastering from tape, and what (if any) are the limitations?

Jim Davis: Some record label tape vaults changed policy regarding shipment of mastertapes. At that point our only option for those recordings was to go to the mastertapes. Once we were able to access these masters, the dilemma was how can we best retrieve the information from the master? We experimented with making analog copies from the master. Various tape stocks (½**, 1**) and speeds (15ips, 30ips) were tried but rejected. There was no way to overcome the noise-floor disadvantages of copying from one analog tape to another. When we tried DSD, it was immediately clear this was a vastly superior method for maximizing information retrieval. Developed as an archival format, DSD is sonically transparent, with a very low noise floor. Combined with the painstaking transfer process described below, the capture is a virtual snapshot of the master, revealing detail and nuance at a level that conventional methods could not. Counterintuitively, this capture yields, in our evaluation, superior sonics compared to a cut that is direct from the analog tape to the lathe.

 

Can I trade you a MoFi Tapestry one-step for your case of Chimay before you read more??

 

And yet they picked the inferior mix for the Lovin Spoonful title also ...weird. Maybe they didnt have access to the stereo. Who knows. Still an odd choice.

 

No, that's wrong. Jim said MoFi had the choice of making a DSD copy or a tape copy of the master tape. They could not take the master tape to cut their lacquers.

 

Given the apology said that they were sorry that there was a misconception in the market about how Mofi masters vinyl, yes.

To think it means something else could be another misconception by their market. He didn't say the DSD copy is better than a tape copy. He said a DSD copy is better than
"a cut that is direct from the analog tape to the lathe."

So yeah, rather than the market making assumptions about what that means without specifying a tape copy, we have to take that as what JD said, DSD copy is better than the original tape.

 

I’ve read this criticism of vinyl playback a lot but I’d offer that it takes neither a lot of money or necessarily high end gear experience to achieve incredible results with vinyl. My system is a jaw dropper and never once thought it was inadequate or didn’t sound incredible. Well mastered vinyl sounds absolutely awesome! Love CDs and SACDs too but vinyl is my passion.

 

I’m sure everything you just stated is true and I can only feel sorry for the young kids who will only “stream” music the rest of their life. Wow, that’s just not an adequate form of listening for me. Give me physical media all day long!!! The smartest god damn thing I ever did in my life was buy a turntable.

 

For what it’s worth (hint: not much), I really like the Silver Label B-52’s s/t. I don’t have an original pressing to compare, though. Should there be other Silver Label titles that sound as good, this would be my sweet spot. Known digital upfront, not too expensive, nice pressing and sounds good.

 

This thread is up and down like a bride's nightie.

 

“The fog is getting thicker…….. and Leon is getting laaaaaaarger!”

 

And yet the vinyl produced from that digital sounds better than an SACD of the same title. Go figure.

 

I think the number of pages too, I was convinced I've read 798 before now it is 795.