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Topic: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn? (Read 7792 times) previous topic - next topic
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Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

To others who missed the last three weeks:
BREAKING NEWS: ALL Mobile Fidelity titles since 2015 Are digital?
From someone who "hates" digital, but acknowledges these sound damn good no matter how they were made, and so does the D-sourced Brothers in Arms. Follow-up videos posted on the same channel, including interviews with MoFi staff who finally had to open their mouths and confess:

It turns out MoFi has done ... well, dare I say, something more sensible than what they want their customers to believe: digitized from the reel to reel.
And then ... hurried changing their web site!

Two months ago: http://web.archive.org/web/20220603003334/https://mofi.com/collections/ultradisc-one-step/
Their "one-step" procedure was marketed like this

Revised version:


DSD in between. Not acknowledged until caught doing so. (BTW, I think I have different counting habits than theirs ...)


Here is the May description of the upcoming $100 "Thriller" LP: https://archive.ph/B5FMT#selection-965.0-965.103 . It misses the following line: Source: 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256
That line is still missing from the description of the SACD. Which is probably from the same file.


Now, what odds do you HydrogenBookmakers give on
* the DSD 256 being untouched before DACing to analog RIAA EQ-ing to engraver?
* no PCM on the way?
* no PCM on the way to the SACD?
* MoFi acknowledging that the $30 SACD might be better than the $100 LP?
* MoFi acknowledging that they could have bypassed the entire physical medium and offered the files?



[Mods: (1) Posting to General Audio because it is about general audiophoolery more than about playing vinyls - feel free to move. (2)  I did a quick search for google hits of the last year here, I found nothing.]

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #1
A $100 LP?

Are People that crazy to pay this? :o

Well 40,000 people will or must be.

Limited to 40,000 Numbered Copies

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #2
Whoever made the decision f-cked up and made the employees lie about it too.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #3
Long time ago before the CD there was a chain store who sold vinyl, mostly classical music with free royalties, and in their ads they put the list of all chemicals used in the manufacture of the vinyl. Something like more than 40 items and their proportions, like phosphorus tribromide: 0.023%.

It was very clever marketing as I still remember it. But I forgot the name of the company. The logo as a gold eagle. I'm sure the audiofools would fall for it in 2022.

"Hey my vinyl has 0.345% of divinylbenzene and the arm of my turntable is in titanium alloy with 4.37% vanadium"  :D


Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #4
Long time ago before the CD there was a chain store who sold vinyl, mostly classical music with free royalties, and in their ads they put the list of all chemicals used in the manufacture of the vinyl. Something like more than 40 items and their proportions, like phosphorus tribromide: 0.023%.

It was very clever marketing as I still remember it. But I forgot the name of the company. The logo as a gold eagle. I'm sure the audiofools would fall for it in 2022.

"Hey my vinyl has 0.345% of divinylbenzene and the arm of my turntable is in titanium alloy with 4.37% vanadium"  :D



I don't really see the problem with this. It appears the company were ahead of their time.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #5
A $100 LP?

Are People that crazy to pay this? :o

Well 40,000 people will or must be.

Limited to 40,000 Numbered Copies

$100 for an LP is crazy. $100 for Thriller is utter insanity.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #6
To others who missed the last three weeks:...

Very interesting - well done for capturing it in pictures! Someone in their marketing team is about to get the boot. The only question this really raises for me is - why DSD?!

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #7
MOFI should add digital downloads to their services?

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #8
From someone who "hates" digital, but acknowledges these sound damn good no matter how they were made...
Same people who rave about the "natural" vinyl sound of their SugarCube SC-1.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #9
MOFI should add digital downloads to their services?
This service should be for dial-up modem users only, to make the download process as analog as possible.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #10
The only question this really raises for me is - why DSD?!
Well suited for SACD?

Or the idea that this is closer to what an 1-bit ADC does internally ... uh, if that is what they use?!

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #11
The only question this really raises for me is - why DSD?!

Simpler, cheaper, DAC chipset.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #12
The only question this really raises for me is - why DSD?!
Well suited for SACD?

Or the idea that this is closer to what an 1-bit ADC does internally ... uh, if that is what they use?!


I don't think SACD is still a thing really - I'd be surprised if that was it. I guess the 1-bit ADC thing makes some sense... Maybe just another buzzword for the marketing dept.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #13
This service should be for dial-up modem users only, to make the download process as analog as possible.

Telephone exchanges are fully digital since the late 60s early 70s. Depending on countries.
Voices were converted to 1 bit - like in DSD but with a 3.4kHz limit.





Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #14
This service should be for dial-up modem users only, to make the download process as analog as possible.

Telephone exchanges are fully digital since the late 60s early 70s. Depending on countries.
Voices were converted to 1 bit - like in DSD but with a 3.4kHz limit.
Then you should mention digital delay line for vinyl production as well.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #15
This service should be for dial-up modem users only, to make the download process as analog as possible.

Telephone exchanges are fully digital since the late 60s early 70s. Depending on countries.
Voices were converted to 1 bit - like in DSD but with a 3.4kHz limit.
Then you should mention digital delay line for vinyl production as well.

Yes, and there is many audiophiles who love live classical concert on FM radio for the "analog sound" even so that radio station relays transmit in MPEG since decades ago with tonne of filters and sound process. But they're not wrong in a way. FM radio and vinyl can "sound" better due to the compression, limited BW, low N/R(less than 10 bits equivalent) , etc... Low Fi can,  sometime, please human ears.






Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #16
The only question this really raises for me is - why DSD?!
Well suited for SACD?

Or the idea that this is closer to what an 1-bit ADC does internally ... uh, if that is what they use?!


I don't think SACD is still a thing really - I'd be surprised if that was it.

Well, not much of a thing. But MoFi sells no other digital than SACD it seems. And look  https://mofi.com/collections/digital?sort_by=created-descending got in common with https://mofi.com/collections/vinyl?sort_by=created-descending . I sorted both from newest.

But, clicking a few vinyl releases, it seems they are digitizing to DSD256, while SACD cannot use anything but DSD64, am I right?

Are there processors around that resample DSD256 to DSD64 "without PCM processing"? It is quite moot to talk about "advantages" here, but: would there be any "theoretical advantage" [imagining the rates were so long it would matter] in staying in the 1-bit domain throughout as long as source and target are both 1-bit? @bennetng , you got the details?
(Potential analogy: When downconverting say 352.8/24 PCM to CDDA, I guess we won't pass it through any 1-bit intermediate format.)

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #17
DSD256 -> DAC operating in direct DSD mode (i.e. no digital interpolation filters, only analog low pass) -> analog equipment (analog tape, mixer, preamp, EQ...) -> ADC operating in direct DSD mode (i.e. no digital decimation filters)

For those who are always anti-digital, skipping the digital filters mentioned above could be interpreted as benefits.

Anyway, in the context of your first post, the whole thing is still a scam. DSD files can be copied and distributed in mathematically lossless ways, something analog formats can never do.

 

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #18
How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire   :))

Code: [Select]
https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/
I didn't want to make an active link for The Washington Post.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #19
I wonder when will the lawsuits start.
Against MoFi for denying people of the full analog sound experience. ;D

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #20
How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire   :))

Read the entire article. And of course the last paragraph says what we knew.
And second-to-last:
Quote from: WaPo
Wood says that MoFi decided to add DSD not for convenience but because its engineers felt they could help improve their records.
[...]
Having a file allows them to tinker with the recordings if they’re not pleased with a test pressing and make another.
So ... PCM then?!

And a few excerpts, my emphasis in bold:
Quote from: WaPo
At MoFi’s headquarters, Esposito looked at tapes and machinery the company uses to master its records. He also saw vintage packaging and advertising materials for past releases, including mock-ups for Beatles reissues. Then he took out his Panasonic camcorder and asked Wood if it was okay for him to set up and do an interview with the three mastering engineers he had met. No problem, they said.
[...]
 The engineers, who had stressed the use of tape and working “all analog” in the past, didn’t hesitate to reference the company’s embrace of Direct Stream Digital technology.

Davis, the owner, not only didn’t invite Esposito but also didn’t learn about the visit until after Wood had extended the invitation. He tried to get to Sebastopol for the tour but said that a long line at a rental car check-in left him arriving at MoFi headquarters only after Esposito was finished.


By then, the damage was done. Last week, Wood was asked whether he regretted the interview with the engineers. He broke down.

“I regret everything, man,” he said.

Davis also did not appreciate the interview. Music Direct’s stereo equipment business brings in revenue of more than $40 million a year, and MoFi earned about $9 million last year. But the record company has just a handful of full-time staffers and no crisis-management plan. He doesn’t blame the engineers for what happened

“I mean, it was not a well-thought-out plan,” says Davis. “Let’s put it that way.”


And then about how "sourced from" or "mastered from" original tapes doesn't rule out a digital step in the meantime. But, someone has tipped off the Post:
Quote from: WaPo
In 2020, Grant McLean, a Canadian customer, got into a debate with a friend about MoFi’s sourcing. McLean believed in the company and wrote to confirm that he was right. In a response he provided to The Post, a customer service representative wrote McLean that “there is no analog to digital conversion in our vinyl cutting process.”





Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #22
Soooo, the customer's sighted evaluation of something they thought was analog-throughout, is always right.   ;D

And on top of that, on digitizing:
Quote
Beyond the additional time, effort, and expense, I’m not aware of any sonic limitations of using this process.
... which sounds accurate as well.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #23
Jim Davis speaks up
But he does not say sorry for lying to his customers.


& for the people who need large images on this site, No he's not this Jim Davis.

Re: Mobile Fidelity's "analog" remasters - looks like we missed out on the popcorn?

Reply #24
Quote
Exactly when (what year and titles) did MFSL start mastering from DSD files?
The first MFSL title mastered from a DSD file was Tony Bennett I Left My Heart in San Francisco, which was released in 2011.

That's a false statement! It's more like 2009.