MoFi v/s UHQR

Oops, not 15kHz, but rather 15K ohms. The Deccas (and to a lesser extent the Londons) can benefit from a lower than standard 47K ohms input impedance, and a little extra capacitance.

In the late-1980’s I was graced with a phone call from Decca uber-enthusiast (and New York Audio Labs owner, as well as a very entertaining hi-fi writer) Harvey Rosenberg, in which he shared with me a lot of his wisdom regarding the idiosyncratic nature of the Decca design. At that time the changes made when John Wright took over management of the company (and changed the name to London) had yet to transpire, and sample-to-sample variability was notoriously inconsistent. Harvey advised me to load Deccas with an input impedance of anywhere from 10K ohms and up, and 200-300 pF of capacitance.

That variability was greatly reduced by John Wright, and London’s were made to a significantly higher standard than were the Deccas. John Wright retired a coupla years back, and the new owners are working on getting the company’s products back into production. I am very happy to already own a London Super Gold (with Decapod mounting system and Line Contact stylus) and a London Reference, neither of which would I sell at any price.

Yeah @sokogear, while with mc pickups you need to have enough gain, with the Londons and Deccas you need to have not too much (for low noise and freedom from overload distortion). In their Mani phone amp, Schitt Audio includes a gain setting of 33dB, specifically for those pickups. In their Andros phono amp, Zesto Audio includes an input impedance setting of 15kHz, specifically for the Londons/Deccas. They have quite a rabid cult fan base.

Grado has long offered both very inexpensive entry-level pickups and (relatively) high-priced statement models. I had a cheap one back in the 1980's, but have never heard their higher priced offerings.

@sokogear: The two best known moving iron pickups are from Grado (U.S.A.) and London/Decca (England). Both are very high output designs, the London/Decca 5mv!

Why the ignoring of moving iron pickups? 

@cundare2: I have another "problem" with Tea For The Tillerman: I just don't like Cat Stevens that much .

Do you have the 2-LP/45RPM version of the Analogue Productions UHQR Kind Of Blue, or the single LP/33-1/3 version? I went with the single disc version; while the 45RPM version reportedly sounds better, I'm willing to forfeit that difference to get the original musical format and flow.

I had both Mobile Fidelity versions of Carole King's Tapestry album, and kept the 1-Step version, returning the other for a refund. Though both were made using the same digital file as source material, the 1-Step is considerably better sounding than the standard MoFi. While the sq isn't great, the original on Ode is really, really bad. While Lou Adler may have been a good producer in musical terms, in terms of sq he was not so hot.

@cleeds: It wouldn’t surprise me if Fremer also covered the Tea For The Tillerman subject in his Stereophile column. This would have been quite a few years back now, but may be available in the mag’s archives.

I have a lot of Harmonia Mundi LP’s (my favorite Classical label), and just about all the original Sheffield’s (I’m a big fan of direct-2-disk LP’s). Only a few Windham Hill’s (I don’t care for Stan Rickter’s mastering. He applied the "smile" equalization to his MoFi records), a lot of RCA Living Stereo and Mercury Living Presence LP’s, but no ERC’s (silly pricing, variable quality). Another great label is Bear Family Records, a German company.

When I speak of the quality of an LP pressing, that is not the same as the sound quality of any given title.

@cleeds: The information regarding the Dolby issue came from Bernie Grundman, Chad Kassem, and Michael Fremer. Fremer posted a video on his Analog Corner website telling the story, which was subsequently further discussed with Grundman in another video.

A number of years back Fremer got a call from Grundman, informing him of the situation. The Tea For The Tillerman tape boxes were marked indicating that Dolby noise reduction had NOT been used in the recording of the album, so Bernie mastered the LP for release by Chad Kassem on his Analogue Productions record label without the Dolby playback circuit engaged. He told Fremer that when so mastered, the resulting sound was very bright, far brighter than the Island copy of the LP Fremer had supplied him with for a reference (comparing a new remaster with the original is very common in high end mastering).

Grundman sent Fremer a test pressing, asking him if he thought the remaster should be made with the high frequencies decreased somewhat, as he didn’t think audiophiles would like the sound of the LP mastered "flat". Fremer said no, to cut the lacquer flat, brightness and all. Hearing that first lacquer is when Fremer realized the characteristic sound of the Ovation guitar used on the album was muted, lacking it’s inherent "bite". As I said above, I heard the high frequency sheen of the drumset cymbals missing, along with the overtones of the snare drum, toms, and bass drum.

The first pressing "pink label" Island LP had been on Harry Pearson’s Super Disc list for years, and I assumed the problem I heard with my copy of the LP was a result of it being a later "sunray" Island label pressing. Nope, the Island LP (as well as the U.S.A. pressing) had been incorrectly mastered with the Dolby noise reduction circuit engaged, reducing the frequency response with a declining slope as frequency rose.

The Analogue Productions pressing of Tea For The Tillerman album is THE Version to own. By the way, it was also Grundman who discovered the mistake made in the mastering of the Kind Of Blue album, for it’s entire history! That topic was also discussed by Grundman, Fremer, and Kassem in a long YouTube video.

Regarding Cat Stevens’ Tea For The Tillerman (the recorded sound quality of which is stunning):

For years the go-to version was the original "pink label" Island Records pressing. When Chad Kassem acquired the rights to reissue it on his Analogue Productions label, he hired Bernie Grundman to cut the lacquer and do the remastering. Grundman got the master tape from Island, and upon examining the notes included in the tape boxes, along with listening to the tapes, he discovered an amazing fact: the tapes were made without employing Dolby noise reduction. In spite of that fact, all precious issues of the album (on both LP and CD) had been made assuming Dolby WAS employed. So in playback, all previous mastering had been done with the Dolby system engaged, with it’s mid-to-high frequency slope reducing those frequencies.

I always wondered why the sound of the drumset cymbals and bass drum (which was missing it's high frequency overtones, which provide that drum's "snap") didn’t sound right to me. Fremer talks about how the sound of the Ovation acoustic guitar (which is known for it’s unique sound owing to it’s plastic body) is missing it’s signature high frequency-emphasized sound. Now we know. The Analogue Productions Tea For The Tillerman was made sans Dolby, so it sounds most like the master tape, with high frequencies fully intact.

Grundman is also credited with discovering the fact that all versions of Kind Of Blue had been made with one side of the album mastered with the tape running at the wrong speed. He discovered that fact while doing the reissue for Classic Records in the late-90’s. Chad Kassem bought Classic Records, and used Grundman’s "metal works" (which are manufactured from the lacquer he cut for Classic) for the AP reissue of Kind Of Blue, restoring the full album to it’s correct running speed and musical pitch.

I should have mentioned that original pressings of 60’s, 70’s, and 80’s LP’s are plentiful, and often available at low cost if you live in a city/town with a good used record store. Just yesterday I found a NM copy of the original pressing of the debut Wings album for five bucks at Music Millennium, just one of the many (a couple dozen) Portland Oregon shops stocked with thousands of used LP’s (even more new releases).

I prefer to buy used LP's in person when possible, as my grading standards are higher than those of sellers on ebay and even Discogs.

For those wanting to access the quality of MoFi  vs. Analogue Productions versions of the same album, compare the pressings of Kind Of Blue by Miles Davis. AP offers the album in both 1-LP/33-1/3 RPM and 2-LP 45 RPM versions.

Lumping all MoFi LP's together is to over-simplify the situation. There are quite a few MoFI LP's that were mastered in pure analogue fashion, including three Ry Cooder albums, all of which sound excellent. By the way, for those wanting to boycott Mobile Fidelity for their outright deceitful lying when claiming all their LP's were made free of a digital conversion step (even when asked point blank), the German company Speakers Corner also offers some of Ry's albums made in pure analogue fashion.

The best way to buy LP reissues is to look at who is cutting the lacquer. Kevin Gray does all his mastering through a custom-made, all-tube, pure analogue system, and is amongst the best engineers now working. Other names to look for are Bernie Grundman, Ryan Smith, Chris Bellman, Steve Hoffman, Robert Ludwig, and Doug Sax.

As for pressings, QRP (Quality Record Pressing, a division of Acoustic Sounds, along with AP all owned and managed by Chad Kassem in Salina, KS.) is making the best LP's the world has ever seen. Single Analogue Productions LP's sell for about $40, doubles $60. You don't have to buy a MoFi 1-Step or Analogue Productions UHQR to get a great sounding reissue.

The are another couple dozen or so smaller companies doing great LP reissues, including Intervention Records, Rhino Hi-Fi ($40 for a 1-LP pressing), Light In The Attic, Music Matters, Blue Note Records, IMPEX, and Vinyl Me Please.

There are also new albums being released on LP in numbers not seen since the mid-to-late 80's. Some of them were recorded digitally, some purely analogue (I've been in studios lately that contained both a 2" multi-track analogue recorder and a full digital work station). YouTube is full of videos in which new and reissue LP's are reviewed, many commenting on sound quality (of new releases), even comparisons of different pressings (of reissues).

If you want good sounding LP's, you have to do your homework, just like you did to assemble your hi-fi.