There is a lot of band width in the 'States' about how the Mobile Fidelity company has been 'hoodwinking' their customers for decades with regards to the master tape source of their reissues, including the 'One Step' series! Apparently all of these releases are sourced from a digital 4X DSD file and NONE of them come from the original analog master tape! Has anyone else here heard about this revelation? Thoughts?
For the sake of clarity I think they are sourced from an Original Analogue Master Tape (or more than one). But the record companies will not let the tape off their premises, so Mo-Fi travel to them, make the digital copy, take this back to Mo-Fi and finish the process.
Well, doesn't really make any difference, does it. Having said that, I think the real issue is how well MoFi does their "mastering" once they get the product back to their labs.
The unhappy people are the "Analogue Is King" brigade who regard anything connected to Digital to be the spawn of the Devil. They now find they have been listening to records with "One Step" of Digital in it. And, they have been paying £100+ per release so to do.
It does to some analogue fans, some say they can hear a difference. The problem is MoFi said there was no digital involvement.
This not about sound quality. It's about misrepresentation.
For example, there are vinyl collectors (I am not one), who paid huge premiums for what was sold as pure analog, limited production, when the albums were produced with digital in the chain. What happens to their "investment"?
For example, there are vinyl collectors (I am not one), who paid huge premiums for what was sold as pure analog, limited production, when the albums were produced with digital in the chain. What happens to their "investment"?
Reports suggest that their "investment" is losing value every day. However as copies of the One Step Abraxas by Santana have sold previously for £3,500 it's hard to feel too much sympathy as loads of these sales are between scalpers.
Isn’t it the case, though, that a cutting lathe will always use a digital delay at the cutting head, or do MoFi use the cutting engineer’s ear as would have been the case years ago?
Mick
Mick
Most current cutting lathe setups use a digital delay to the cutting head, but then most come from a digital master. However, the other option is not just to rely on the cutting engineer's ears. All-analog cutting rigs use a mastering tape deck with two widely spaced play heads. One feeds a computer that controls the speed of movement of the cutting head and the other feeds the cutting head directly. There are still a few records that are mastered all analog here and there such as those by Gillian Welch on her label Acony Records and "The New Standard" by Jamie Saft, Steve Swallow and Bobby Previte on Rare Noise records and they sound quite excellent.
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The root cause of this is that music labels now see value in their master tapes and won't send them out. If MoFi is going to do such a title they have to go there with their tape machine and a make a copy. They think 4xDSD is better than analog tape. In the YT interview that In-Groove Mike did with the MoFi engineers one recounted that he was at Abbey Road (maybe to do the Dire Straits transfers) and he asked to see the Beatles masters and he wasn't allowed. Abbey Road acknowledged that they once sent those tapes to MoFi but these days they won't let anyone even see them.
IMO, the ire caused by all this is from those who believe analog is king and enjoyed those records in that knowledge. And pretty much everyone said how great they are. Now people are pissed that they couldn't tell there was a digital step.
IMO, the ire caused by all this is from those who believe analog is king and enjoyed those records in that knowledge. And pretty much everyone said how great they are. Now people are pissed that they couldn't tell there was a digital step.
I meant it doesn't make any difference why they did it - they did it, and didn't disclose it, and conned people into thinking they had bought the Emperor's new clothes!
Jim Davis ( Mr. MoFi) just released an 'apology' from the company- basically admitting that they were not only not transparent in their press and marketing releases, but also that they let misinformation go on with no correction. Clearly they believed that the misinformation about these releases was more beneficial to their business model than total transparency!
Question is how much of a consequence will they face now that the truth has been laid bare??? Somehow, given the current ethical 'climate' in the USA, I seriously doubt anything!
Question is how much of a consequence will they face now that the truth has been laid bare??? Somehow, given the current ethical 'climate' in the USA, I seriously doubt anything!
I just read on the MoFi website that provenance for all their pressings, past, present, and future will be provided. I have the following OMR pressings:
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Yes - Close to the Edge
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
I'm just wondering if any are actually all analogue. Perhaps Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, and Supertramp. And I wonder if value will increase for all analogue. We shall see.
Pink Floyd - Dark Side of the Moon
Yes - Close to the Edge
Supertramp - Crime of the Century
Genesis - Trick of the Tail
U2 - The Unforgettable Fire
Dire Straits - Love Over Gold
I'm just wondering if any are actually all analogue. Perhaps Pink Floyd, Yes, Genesis, and Supertramp. And I wonder if value will increase for all analogue. We shall see.
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I would guess that all those from the original incarnation of MoFi were cut from the original master tape from the days when MoFi was sent the tape to work with. Now, whether they were sent the original master is probably lost to history. Perhaps one advantage to MoFi going to the label to make a transfer is that they can understand if they have the original tape or a cutting duplicate or a back-up. If you inhabit the Steve Hoffman.tv music forum the provenance of tapes is often discussed. Steve Hoffman has written that in searching through archives the best tape to use was often marked 'do not use' - this was the very original and a 'mastered' duplicate with eq and compression would be the one sent for cutting.
Your list looks to be from those old days except Love Over Gold - the recent 2x45rpm issue is undoubtedly from DSD as MoFi went to Abbey Road to make the transfers. I have that issue and it is great - better than my original UK pressing.
Did MoFi release The Unforgettable Fire on vinyl? I have the CD version but didn't know there was vinyl too.
Your list looks to be from those old days except Love Over Gold - the recent 2x45rpm issue is undoubtedly from DSD as MoFi went to Abbey Road to make the transfers. I have that issue and it is great - better than my original UK pressing.
Did MoFi release The Unforgettable Fire on vinyl? I have the CD version but didn't know there was vinyl too.
We shall see as Mo-Fi are allegedly going to release the "analog/digital history" of all their previous records. Personally, I would think the "Digital One-Step" may go back for some titles 15 years or so when the record companies starting locking Master Tapes in the bank vault.
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- May 20, 2014
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And, up until now, everyone has been happy and praised them? Tells you something?
’troll
The Unforgettable Fire is on vinyl. It is a numbered copy, 403 I believe. You may be right about the others. Hopefully all this provenance will be revealed.
