Mobile Fidelity 24k CDs

The only reason to purchase MOFI is for the mix and remastering. I happen to think Analogue Productions does a better job of that than MOFI. Anyway, Gold CD's are archival but they sound like any other CD. Better of buying audiophile CD polish and hoping it makes a difference.

@stuartk Agree that MOFI is inconsistent but believe it has a lot to do with the original tapes and whoever does the remastering. I‘m not much of a collector when it comes to popular music, so I rarely purchase MOFI releases but will say that I usually find good remasters to be an improvement to their originals, regardless of which label they’re associated with. However, a dealer friend always preferred original vinyl to remastered vinyl on his very high end rig so I’m inclined to say that it’s a matter of taste. Major labels like Universal are now taking great measures to remaster their catalogue and many are excellent but as I said, it always depends on the quality of the source and who they hire to do the remastering.

@stuartk I believe that ‘Layla’ remaster was relatively recent. If you like Eric kClapton, then I’d recommend the ‘Blind Faith’ remaster from many, many years ago. They did a remix that warrants having, even if the original is highly prized. The old Traffic remasters are also pretty good, however they never released a version of ‘Johnny Barleycorn Must Die’. The Grateful Dead ‘Mars Hotel’ was remastered twice. Once in the late 1980’s and another time just around two years ago. There is a significant improvement in the most recent release however that recording isn’t that good to begin with, so there’s an issue with separation, balance and distortion. The original Traffic recordings are just old and there’s just no work around under those circumstances. My two favorite MOFI remasters are Bob Dylan’s ‘Blood On The Tracks’ and The Grateful Dead’s ‘American Beauty’. Those both turned out really nice while giving the slight edge to ‘Blood On The Track’s’. So in a very discursive way, what I’m saying is that yes, the catalogue is inconsistent but I would say the same thing regardless of who does a remaster/re-release of pre recorded material. There’s absolutely no way they couldn’t be unless the original tapes were all recorded in the same studio, by the same producers, with the same equipment and at the same time. And while the historical period of the recordings are worthy of serious consideration, some earlier recorded tapes sound better than recent ones. The Analogue Productions ‘Scheherazade’ RCA Richter/CSO remaster that was originally recorded in the later 1950’s on a three track machine is jaw dropping. There are just so many variables to consider, that it’s either hit or miss or get to together with someone who owns a lot of these re- releases and pick there brain. My last purchased re-releases are Japanese paper sleeve remasters of the three Nick Drake studio albums. I’m happy with them however what they lack in detail, they make up for in warmth of tone. Anyway, recordings are flawed and they’ll always be that way but I would never want to be the guy who makes the blanket statement that all remasters are b*ll s**t.

@stuartk Totally understand, different stereos render different results. I have Quad 2905 ESL’s and they are very revealing. I will say that ESL’s while great for classical music don’t work all that well with rock/popular music. I wouldn’t say however that my stereo is cold. It’s generally neutral but can sound warm or cold depending on the recording. As far as alternative recordings to MOFI, I recently purchased the MOFI Crosby, Stills and Nash and am wondering if I don’t prefer the Audio Fidelity remaster instead. I’m not laughing at Rhino, the GD box set Europe 72 remasters are outstanding.

@curiousjim I believe the Gold Archival CD’s have a life expectancy of three hundred years. I personally won’t be around to find out.

@stuartk When Jerry passed, I stopped following the Dead altogether with exception to the Fare The Well concerts in SF. Prior to that, I saw them just four times starting in 82 as well as the only JGB show ever in San Diego. I’ve always had extraordinary responsibilities towards my immediate family so I couldn’t just pack the car and follow them around the country. Anyway, I’ve liked various aspects of each era though I do have issue with those shows where Donna wasn’t given a monitor and sang out of pitch. Rhino has the rights to all GD recordings as far as I know. I do like many of the Rhino remasters but as a whole, don’t hold the opinion that they reach the same level of refinement as some MOFI and most Analogue Productions do. With Audio Fidelity remasters, the original tapes are unaltered with exception to cleaning up hiss and noise. I’m inclined to recommend those remasters to folks who want the same mix and levels they remember from the originals. Also, not long ago, I downloaded the Bill Evans Trio ’Waltz For Debbie’ DSD 128 file from High Definition Tape Transfers and will say that I am impressed. The clarity, balance and tone is better than I expected. I hope this discussion will dispel the idea that all remastered reissues are the same. Most likely, the age of the source will speak to the audio quality but not always. The levels, microphones, tape machine, recording venue, etc... will influence the original recordings sound quality. Additionally, the condition of the original source tapes and the person leading the project will greatly influence the remaster. And I’m pretty certain that many other variables could influence the final project. I will say however that a certain aesthetic consistency can be heard in these boutique companies so that the MOFI sound may or may not sway someone from justifying the cost of purchase. Personally, I’m excited from time to time to see a recording that has undergone a process of remastering but in the end, the price tag is a very big factor in whether I’ll pull the trigger. As much as I’d love to own re-pressings from The Electric Recording Company, their price tag is too far beyond my budget. Anyway, I believe I’ve said pretty much everything that I can about this matter.

@lalitk and @stuartk, not meant as a comparison in any way but yes, I have a very nice system. Lately, I've been appreciating the quality of somewhat recently recorded ECM redbook Cd's and DSD files. I've said this often but I believe we're in a digital renaissance.

ASR Emitter Exclusive II amp, Bryston BDP 3, Ayre QB 9 Twenty DAC, ASR power cable, Hi Diamond Speaker and Interconnect cables, Wireworld Platinum Starlight USB cable, Thorens Modified TD 160 MK1, ASR Mini Basis Exclusive phono amp, AT33 mono cartridge, Audioquest interconnect cables, Quad 2905 ESL speakers, PS Audio passive line conditioner, Cruz First Maestro outlet, various Akiko Audio tuning sticks both large and small, Herbies Audio accessories, lots of mono vinyl, lots of CD's, DSD downloads on external SSD. Apple M1 Mac Mini, iPad, iPhone.

@stuartk So above is a list of just about everything I can think of. Power cables and headphones are next on the list. Probably Sennheiser HD 800s are priority and that way I can enjoy more rock and pop.

@stuartk It does match up perfectly with the Quads but I bought the amp first and then chose the speakers. The entire stereo sounds excellent but yeah, the ASR is my binky.

@tattooedtrackman The MOFI Cd's are SACD hybrids, meaning there are two layers on the Cd. One layer is a Redbook Cd for standard Cd players. The second layer is SACD for SACD players. A standard Cd player cannot read the SACD layer. Occassionally SACD's aren't hybrids, meaning that only the SACD layer is on the disc but this is becoming more rare and usually only applies to certain labels. The SACD file is Direct Stream to Digital or DSD and it is at least twice as large as the standard Redbook Cd. Downloading DSD files and playing them through a compatible DAC is essentially the same as playing an SACD in an SACD player.

@tattooedtrackman You're correct, your Rega will not play SACD's. Most SACD discs are hybrids, meaning that there is a standard Redbook Cd layer that the regular Cd player (Rega) reads and an SACD layer that only an SACD player can read. Both layers are on the same Cd so If you put one of those SACD hybrids in your Rega Cd player, it will play the standard Redbook Cd layer. If you had an SACD player and placed the SACD in your SACD player, it would play the SACD layer. The fact that the disc is a hybrid and contains two different files has no affect on the sound quality of ether layer.

@tattooedtrackman Generally, I would opt for the SACD layer. Please keep in mind that more recent MOFI Cd's are SACD hybrids so they have an SACD layer but if you don't have an SACD player, then you'll be listening to the Redbook Cd. With older Ultrasound MOFI releases, your solely paying for the remaster/remix as there was no SACD back then. Personally, I only own a DAC but if I were in the market for an SACD player, I would get a player that strictly plays SACD and not Redbook Cd's. This is because it's difficult to make a good sounding player that can play both.

First off, I think too much emphasis is put on whether the CD is gold. If you were to burn that gold CD onto your computers hard drive and then rip those same files onto a plain silver CD and play it on your CD player, you wouldn’t notice any difference. The advantage of a gold CD is that it has a life expectancy of three hundred years. But to answer your question, the first MOFI hybrid SACD was in 1999. Here’s a citation from their website, “1999: Mobile Fidelity releases its first GAIN 2™ Hybrid SACD, Duke Ellington's, Blues in Orbit. Mobile Fidelity's main distributor declares bankruptcy and MFSL Inc. closes its doors.”. And then in 2003 under new ownership, MOFI expands its catalogue of SACD’s and here’s a citation from their website, “2003: The highly successful Ultradisc UHR™ SACD series is expanded with releases by the Kinks, Aimee Mann, John Coltrane, Miles Davis, Isaac Hayes, Dave Alvin, and Sonny Rollins”. Now in my opinion, whatever MOFI or any other company calls their specific products means absolutely nothing. If MOFI calls their CD’s Gain or Ultradisc II or whatever, it’s only purpose is in identifying their releases according to the their date and their order within MOFI’s catalogue. Analogue Productions has the same arrangement, i.e. Ultra High Quality Records and that tells us absolutely nothing about the production process.

@tattooedtrackman The only reason a MOFI CD would sound better than the original Redbook CD is because of the remastering. When most anyone buys a MOFI CD it’s because of the remastering. The only other possible reason would be to get the SACD file of that recording. Keep in mind that these original Redbook recordings are converted to SACD, they’re not recorded that way and there is legitimate question as to whether converted files to SACD offer anything other than an oversized file.

@tattooedtrackman Yeah the only way of knowing is by listening.