MoFi controversy
I see this hasn't been mentioned here yet, so I thought I'd put this out here. Let me just say that I haven't yet joined the analog world, so I don't have a dog in this fight.
It was recently revealed that Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs one step LPs are being cut from digital masters (DSD) rather than being straight analog throughout the chain.
Here is one of the many Youtube videos that discusses it
To me, it seems that if MOFI is guilty of anything, it's "deception by omission." That is, they were never open about the process and the use of digital in the chain.
One thing to mention is that hardly anyone is criticizing the sound quality of these LPs, even after this revelation. Me personally, I wouldn't spend over one hundred dollars for any recording regardless of the format.
- ...
- 255 posts total
DSD is now included in the description under the Technologies tab as well as posted with each individual UD1S album. NOTE: There are a few albums without the DSD statement added. I'm not sure if that means the album was created from the original tape without the use of a DSD file or if they (hurriedly) missed a few albums in the description upgrade. Either way, they seem to have felt the heat and have complied with better transparency. My opinion, though, is they should further update their Technology statement with a detailed description as to why they do it in this manner. While they have gone to great lengths to describe and market the UD1S process and purpose, this new reveal about DSD should also include a full and complete disclosure of the technological details and why it serves purpose. Maybe sometime soon? |
@twoleftears Interesting article. Plenty of opportunity to mention that their modified Studer contains an analog to digital converter and why they do the transfer this way, but no mention of it at all. In the youtube video with the MoFi mastering engineers after the story broke, they say they get a better source to work with by converting to a 4x DSD file than they would if they made a tape to tape copy. |
I think the reason this is such a big deal to some people is their almost religious conviction that digital is bad and that if it so much as touches the music, it contaminates the music irredeemably. The fact that many of these people were "fooled" by the MoFi releases makes it such a betrayal to such belief. I don't care how they achieve a nice sounding release. I find decent most, but not all, of the MoFi reissues I've heard, and that includes both their CD/SACD releases and vinyl albums. Is it their mastering, or their technology, or access to decent source material, or quality manufacturing, or a combination of all these factors? I would bet it is the combination. |
- 255 posts total