MoFi controversy

@clearthink I guess that people can disagree on whether MoFi calling their vinyl mastering process Ultra Analog and not disclosing that the master tapes are converted to digital is lying or not, but it’s not being open and straightforward when these vinyl albums can cost up to $125 each, is it?

From Mofi’s website:

Technologies – Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (mofi.com)

GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog™ System for Vinyl

GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal. (Due to this process, there may be occasional pops or ticks inherent in initial play back, but as the disc is played more, a high quality stylus will actually polish the grooves and improve the sound). We further ensure optimum sound quality by strictly limiting the number of pressings printed for each release. These limited editions, in addition to being collectors’ items, ensure that the quality of the last pressing matches the quality of the first.

As you can imagine, all these efforts involve a tremendous amount of time, technology, cost and effort. The introduction of GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ maintains Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s position as the world’s leading audiophile record label, where a passion for music with extraordinary sound quality matters most.

@onhwy61 

I Retested and clicked on the image and got the image.

Should look something like this:

Yes, the DSD on the UltraDisc One-Step description and images has been added since the story broke.

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.