The MoFi Mess and TAS rolling over for them

@builder3 - Well said!

I was just struck by the irony that this is the same forum that's hosting a multi-page thread with so many people defending counterfeit Chinese cables. Lie like hell and sell a cheaper product that costs a legitimate manufacturer lost income, no big deal. Lie like hell to sell a higher priced product that swindles the consumer a bit, cue the outrage. I guess it always depends on whose ox is being gored.

L.

I used to read TAS back in the 70s when it was literally a pamphlet format with zero ads. It seemed credible to me at the time. Today? Not so much.

@bdp24 Gotcha.

Did you like the One Step pressing of Tapestry?

@tylermunns: No, no mid-70's pressings. I wore out my original; In 1971 I was backing a chick singer who did a coupla songs from the album, and played the album a LOT. "Smackwater Jack" was a lot of fun to play. Drummer Russ Kunkel and bassist Leland Sklar were real good at creating a killer groove and feel. That's why they got as much studio work as they did. 

@bdp24 You ever give any of those mid-‘70s re-issues of Tapestry a go?

IIRC, mine is the ‘75 US with the grey-on-white labels, not the ‘77 beige labels.

Sounds better than the OG pressings I’d gone through multiple times.

ericsch: I believe Bernie Grundman mastered the 2017 version. Fremer might know the answer to your question.

I recently received a marketing email from Music Direct promoting Fleetwood Mac - Fleetwood Mac: 2017 Remaster(Vinyl LP).

I wrote them asking for the source of this pressing.

This is the response from their "no reply" email:

Released in 2017 and no relevant information. Not a confidence builder.

Agreed. I wince when I hear the term record collector. I’m not collecting anything, I’m amassing a music library (my entire adult life), for listening to. And to then refer to record collecting as a hobby only makes it worse!

When I started buying LP’s it was the only music format available (well, except for 7" 45 RPM singles, of which I own about 500 or so). I never bought pre-recorded reel-to-reel, 8-track, or cassettes tapes, and when the CD was introduced ignored them for as long as possible. LP’s were phased out gradually, record companies offering new releases in both LP and CD formats into the 90’s, before finally abandoning the LP sometime in the middle of that decade. Then it was either buy CD’s, or not be able to listen to new music.

Cool. Anybody that buys all the UHQRs (or One Steps for that matter) is an investor/collector and is fine for AS & Mofi, but they drive the prices up for the true fans. Whenever I see a great album for sale thats brand new, I don’t think that is what the artist would prefer. Its like the car collectors who never drive them. Their creators, like Dr. Porsche, would roll over in his grave. Collecting us for stamps and  coins and beanie babies, not records and cars.

Yep @sokogear, you HAVE fallen hard for Steely Dan! Those who buy all the upcoming UHQR's are going to have a fair chunk o' change invested in that group.

I sold my MoFi collection of The Beatles albums when the mono boxset came out, as those MoFi's weren't so hot (Stan Ricker was not a great mastering engineer). That way more than paid for the box. I also have them all on original UK Parlophone in stereo pressings.

I bought the Tapestry 1-Step because the Ode Records pressing is terrible, no matter the vintage. And I really like the album (I had the pleasure of meeting Carole in L.A., and she was a delight. She just exudes positive energy.).

I have quite a few Speakers Corner reissues (both Classical and Pop), all of which are great. I bought their 3-LP 33-1/3 RPM version of the Janos Starker Bach Cello Suites boxset rather than the 6-LP 45 RPM from Analogue Productions for the reason I explained above. As a bonus, it was half the price ;-).

@bdp24 - understandable, but I would argue that the 45s are not changing the order of the songs the artists prefer, only the pacing between them.

Many of my jazz 45s only have a song or two on a side anyhow. This only other pop/rock 45 I own (aside from the Simon and King 1Steps and the Dylan one I mentioned) is Rumours - just a Reprise issue recently repressed. It is significantly better than a Nautilus one (33) I sold that paid for the new one! I traded old audiophile and other records I never listen to on the 1 Steps because I was curious as to how good they sound. so my out of pocket net was around $30-$35 each. I never owned Tapestry so it is hard for me to say how great it is compared to any reference point, but I did have Still Crazy on a standard release (sold it) and the 1 Step of that is phenomenal. The most I have ever spent out of pocket was $60 for Brubeck Time Out AS -45, and it is great. Back when I got KOB it listed for $60 and got it 10% off with an AS sale before they stopped discounting Mofi.

Being a Steely Dan obsessed fan (I’ve seen them 20+ times including Fagen solos and Dukes of September concerts, read Fagen’s book and met him briefly at a book signing- he’s not what I would call sociable) I am afraid I will break down for 2-3 of the UHQRs coming out. My copies of Royal Scam and Pretzel Logic were standard issues, so they’re definite candidates. I have Gaucho an an excellent Japanese pressing so that’s out, I have Can’t Buy from Speakers Corner, which is fantastic, Katy Lied on an Original Mofi that doesn’t sound great, but is my 2nd from the bottom favorite, so I’ll stick with that, and Countdown is at the bottom, and even though it’s on a standard pressing, it sounds decent and I won’t be paying $150 for that. That leaves Aja. In my mind a top 10 album of all time. I have it on an Original Mofi, which I will probably end up selling and buying that UHQR.

I wish they would issue Kamakiriad on vinyl, and Morph the Cat reissue in the US (it previously was released in Europe and the prices are not worth it for my least favorite album of Fagen). Of course Nightfly is a classic, only outshone by Aja (I have it on an excellent Japanese pressing so didn’t go for that One Step which I hear is unbelievable), Sunken Condos was issued on clarity vinyl (or at least the vinyl is clear) and is second to The Nightfly, but not that close in Fagen’s solo offerings (were really SD albums but don’t get the same notoriety.

I have record store day issues of SDs 20th century albums, and they are excellent sounding, so I will stick with them. I even have a pre SD Fagen/Becker album that was really a movie soundtrack - You Gotta Walk it Like you Talk It that is kind of like a fossil that had maybe one SD worthy track. I think I’ve played it 2-3 times.

In all of the 13 albums in their catalogue of mine (I didn’t mention the Northeast Corridor live album I bought the day it came out) aside from You Gotta Walk it, there is only one song I skip. It’s a Becker (RIP) song and vocal and it’s easy to do so as it is the last song on side 1 of Everything Must Go, their last album. 

I can’t say that about any other group, even the Beatles.

Please help me…..

@sokogear: In the world of rare LP collecting, $3-400 is not at all uncommon. Original 1950’s Blue Notes in Near Mint condition now sell for more than that, and even more rare records into four figures. I myself don’t swim in those deep waters, and was speaking in terms of the price of rare records in the collectors market.

I like superior sound quality as much as the next guy, but respecting and preserving the nature of the album creator’s musical ambition in the album side’s programming and flow takes priority. Bob Dylan had the Sony engineers make him multiple test pressings (in the early days) or cassette tapes/CD’s (in the later), each with a different song running order. He would decide which order he preferred after living with them awhile, and the album would be made to his request.

I don’t like to mess with the artists musical creation, but rather want to give him "final cut". If I have a choice between a 1-LP 33-1/3 RPM version of an album and a 2-LP 45 RPM, I ALWAYS choose the former. I chose the single disc version of the AP Tea For The Tillerman, and the Kind Of Blue, both also available in 45 RPM. I will admit, however, that I did get the 1-Step of Tapestry, which is of course a 2-LP 45 RPM set. But in that case, one was given no choice. The $125 for that album was the most I’ve ever spent on a record. Most of my LP purchases are in the $5 to $10 range, used. For new $20 to $40.

@bdp24 - you're a higher roller than me if you don't think $3-400 for the 4 LP KoB isn't real money. When you are talking $20K, then you are talking about an investment....Zeppelin is OK, but I don't have any of their stuff and have non interest in it.

I always prefer 45s - they sound better without exception (all else being equal). I don't mind getting up twice as often to flip the record or push a button to change speeds on the Power Supply Unit to 45 (exercise is s good thing). I really just care about sound quality. Not collecting/investing and reselling, memorabilia, boxes, etc. I'd rather have the money go into the pressing.  Although the 1Steps do have all the boxes, it's a better pressing process. You can argue over the digital mastering aspect (I challenge anyone to actually hear that - understanding some thinking there is deliberate deception involved), but not cutting out steps in pressing the vinyl.

Every 45 I own is among the top in my collection (Mofi's as well - The Dylan Greatest Hits one sounds like Bob is in the room). Never heard a bad 45 or got one that had any issues - warpage, noise, although there are seam splits on the top of the jackets of the Carole King One Step I have so I stopped using the folders inside the jackets. 

@sokogear: Another guy did a shoot out between the Classic Records "regular" 45 RPM Kind Of Blue (NOT the single sided boxset) and the Analogue Productions 33-1/3, and felt the latter was superior overall (I don’t remember on what basis). I don’t like 45 RPM (I want the original release musical "flow", impossible of course on a 45 RPM pressing), and am willing to forfeit the relatively small difference in sound quality. All the Classic Records and Analogue Productions Kind Of Blue LP’s were made using the exact same metal parts that Grundman made back in 1997.

I have only one Classic Records album, the 2-LP Whiter Shade Of Pale by Procol Harum. It’s a keeper! The Classic Records LP’s that fetch REAL money are the Led Zeppelin albums, especially the one of the entire catalog housed in a flight case. Around twenty thousand, last I heard. Kassem has a couple in his collection. Good thing I don’t care for Zeppelin ;-) .

BTW the 4 LP set goes for over $300 on Discogs...

@bdp24 - watched Michael Ludwig's video.He is obviously a pal of Chad and Bernie's, which is fine, but I think there is some bias.

He rated the Mofi 45 an 8/10 and the new 45 UHQR 10.5 (which is ridiculous of course - it's like someone giving 110%). His main issue was too much bass on the Mofi, and also said the UHQR was more natural (whatever that means). I can get $40 from a used record store near me for my Mofi 45 (and save the hassle of selling it myself for $50 or $60). I have seen some complaints about surface noise of the UHQR. The only hesitation (aside from the extra $110) is that it is not the ultimate issue of KoB. My brother in law has a Classic Records issue that has 4 45s with only one side pressed to make the records even flatter that sounds unbelievable. AND they are talking about pressing it on a 78. There are lots of people who want every one of them. Why wouldn't you just listen to the best one and chuck the rest? I wouldn't keep more than one.

I  just wish AS would sell it like the regular audiophile 45s they make without all the excess packaging, booklets, etc for 1/2 the price. Oh well....

Never trust what Valin says because he is so biased. 
But, I think it’s funny that analog junkies are changing their tune toward these albums, 1 minute they are praising the sound of these albums and when they hear that DSD is involved in the process, now they don’t like the albums anymore. DSD will make the recording better and the sooner people realize this, the sooner you will buy more albums with DSD or just go the streaming DSD route, which is what a lot of us have done

@sokogear: Michael Ludwig (45 RPM Audiophile on YouTube) has done a video in which he compares his MoFi 45 RPM 2-LP version of Kind Of Blue with his Analogue Productions 33-1/3 RPM 1-LP. I think he may have already compared the new AP 45 RPM 2-LP version to the 33-1/3 as well, but that may have been someone else.

@pratorious - I was under the impression the SD titles would be offered thru AP in a “typical” audiophile release at 45 like is available for Two Against Nature and Everything Must Go. They were released on record store day last year on regular vinyl and they sound great. Pressed at Pallas in Germany I believe.

I am not an attorney @denverfred , but as far as I know for a settlement  to be awarded/paid, there has to actually be some damages incurred by the class. If the records are worth more than they paid, then what are the damages? The disgruntled analogue historians can just sell them and make a few bucks as audiophiles looking for excellent sound quality will snap them up. 

I got a couple MOFI CD's. Gold ones no less! Should I be upset that I got a really clean copy of a really good recording? Don't see a better one on the shelf. But I think MOFI probably owes a chunk of cash to a class-action filing. It's nice to sit this one out since I gave up my vinyl years ago. Good luck!

@sokogear For me? Yes an analog tape copy is better than a digital copy for a vinyl record. As Chad said "Why tie one arm of the mastering engineers hand behind his back? Once it's [digital] in there you can't get it out."

I am not interested in any Steely Dan releases but when I buy a re-issue I do want it all analog otherwise I would just spend the inflated prices on original pressings. I definitely appreciate the labels that make the effort for all analog re-issues.

Chad's deal with Universal was limited to only UHQR 45rpm and then to provide digital files, from Bernie Grundman, so Universal could make the 33 1/3 versions at $29.99 to sell themselves. Thats a good option for people that don't care about sources but want new releases of these Steely Dan records. Win win.

You might notice Universal isn't bothering to make an analog 33 1/3 OR letting Chad do it because they expect the 33 1/3 version to $ell bigger and provide more profit. Then add the CD's and streaming and unlimited vinyl repressing. At least that's what is implied to me.

@pratorious - Is an analogue tape copy better than a digital tape copy if the sampling is high enough? It's still a copy. I know that way back starting with Fleetwood Mac's Tusk in the early 80s, some records were recorded digitally. I remember that sounded great.

I have a copy of Kind of Blue on a Mofi 45 box set from a few years ago and would be interested to compare it to the UHQR version and see if the differences are noticeable to a moderately focused listener. I rarely just listen to music like in a demo at a stereo store - usually I am reading or watching tv (sound off of course) or doing a puzzle maybe. 

In any case, I am glad there is competition in the audiophile record market, although the prices seem to be becoming stratospheric. I would rather buy the $60 45 AS sells that sound fantastic to me (Brubeck's Time Out for example) than pay $150 for the new UHQRs. Chad mentioned they will be available at lesser price points with digital steps involved but didn't say the price points. Steely Dan has the first one (Can't buy a Thrill) listed on their web site for $29.99 without any details about the pressing. Knowing Steely Dan, I am sure that it is damn good. At some point it becomes a collecting rather than actual listening issue.

Speakers Corner and Blue Note and Impulse have the right idea keeping prices for excellent records on the reasonable side. Wish they had wider libraries.

@sokogear Chad's caveats for Aja and Gaucho were that they are from tape copies because they could not find the master tapes. Not digital. You can see the source information on the Acoustic Sounds website.

@whart said it all!

By the way, some of the MoFi LP’s made in the past 15 years WERE "cut" (the lacquer) from analog tapes (presumably a "production"/aka "safety" copy---usually 1/4" 15 IPS---of the 2/ch mix master, though some original studio master tapes are made available by some companies, particularly WEA), amongst them a couple of Ry Cooder albums, as well as the debut by David Crosby.

For those who don’t already know, the Analogue Productions Kind Of Blue was made using the metal parts made by Bernie Grundman back in 1997 (for Classic Records), using the actual 3 channel master tape fed directly into Grundman’s mixing console, no intermediary 2/ch tape made or used! Grundman was the one who discovered the original master mix---from which all releases of Kind Of Blue had been made---was made with the songs on one side of the LP having been recorded in the studio with the 3-track machine running at the wrong speed, causing the music to be heard slightly off pitch and tempo. He of course corrected that in his mastering.

In his mastering of Tea For The Tillerman for AP, Grundman discovered the original release had been mastered assuming Dolby noise reduction had been employed in the recording. It had not; with Dolby engaged in playback, the recording was subjected to a considerable degree of high frequency roll-off, resulting in the sound of Cat Stevens’ plastic-bodied Ovation acoustic guitar/guitar strings/etc. to be drastically changed, as well as that of the drumset cymbals and any and all other high frequency sound producers (the upper harmonics of the acoustic bass strings, etc.). The AP reissue of TFTT was the first that sounded anywhere close to that of the master tape. Thank God for Bernie Grundman!

In Chad’s video announcing the Steely Dan UHQR:s, he says Aja and Gaucho are based on digital, not analogue because of analogue tape availability. Like I said, i doubt if it will impact sales of those titles, and when he said the numbers being produced, it certainly didn’t. Audiophiles care about SQ  after all, above all else, or at least that’s what I thought.

Wow.  Anytime someone says to me, “you should be grateful for…” my hackles go up.  Terrible way to frame an argument.  The fact that it is an excuse for misrepresenting expensive products, exploiting the ignorance of customers…again, wow.

The engineer is Shawn Britton, who has been at MoFi a long time. In this video, circa 2017, he talks about their all analog mastering chain at 1:30:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=z-td3Uk5TIQ&t=115s

The heavy stock inserts that accompanied the One Steps showed a reel of tape going to the "convert"- their term for the lacquer that gets electroplated and used as a stamper without going through the additional "father/mother" duplications to create additional stampers. I gather that records are now being shipped without those older inserts- the MoFi website, containing roughly the same diagram, has since been modified to show DSD below the tape reel, before the convert step. And the packaging now has a DSD hype sticker. 

There were also various emails and messages to customers who asked the question and were told "all analog" (except where the underlying recording was itself digital). 

But, I wouldn't rely simply on these. They were crafty by omission and that's not good, especially when you consider that they were charging a premium for these records. Saying "wait, they still sound good" doesn't address the misleading marketing.

To me, the issue isn't whether these records would sound better if they had used a 1:1 tape dub or whether 4xDSD is transparent.  It has everything to do with truthful marketing and the goodwill of a company that claims to be the leading audiophile reissue house since 1977. 

They engaged in a pattern of deceptive conduct for years and this sort of conduct not only harms MoFi's prestige, but is a virtual invitation for others to do the same if it is not addressed meaningfully. (Many do-- "sourced from the tapes" is meaningless). 
I find their conduct appalling given their claim to being a leader in this niche, and setting market for reissues at $125.
There is some level of trust that develops between companies and their customers--"goodwill" is one term for it-- that allows a company a certain latitude based on customer experience.
I'm also disappointed in the industry press for what amounts to a stunning silence--apart from the press release type interview published by TAS and a few other online magazines that did address it. Valin's comments, to the effect that MoFi kept vinyl alive and you owe it to them to continue to patronize the company are nonsense. MoFi was not meaningfully issuing vinyl in the '90s and really didn't resume until late in the oughts. We don't "owe" MoFi anything. They have to clean up their act-- which they are now doing and strive to regain customer trust, which isn't easy. 

Personally, I never relied on a diet of MoFi. I have a bunch of the old Stan Ricker era product, most of which sounds fiddled with and typically bettered by OG copies. 

I don't wish MoFi ill will but this hurts the credibility of the niche audiophile record industry as well as the legacy press in my estimation. You may take a different view and are free to do so. 

It was one of MoFi’s engineers on YouTube. You can find it if you want.

Aja and Gaucho from analogue productions will be all analog. In Chad we trust.

Whoever is quoted on You Tube lying didn’t speak for Mofi. I can’t find any materials where they say the records ate produced 100% analogue through every step.

Now that this controversy is out there, Mofi states how each record uses any digital steps in mastering the records. 

Will anyone not buy Aja or Gaucho UHQRs. because there are digital steps involved? I doubt because it peole know AP will try to create the best sounding records possible, just like Mofi does. Sometimes digital steps make the end relut records sound better.

Laughing...rolling over pays the Bills.

Happy Listening!

"I don't think there was deceit. Perhaps not being as honest of every detail about each stage of the mastering"

So what is it then , partial deceit? You either honestly disclose all or if you don't you are deceitful

"I don’t think there was deceit."

I not only think it, I know it. There is a clip floating around on YouTube, in which one of the MoFi people is asked point blank if their mastering chain is 100% pure analog. He responds with a very unambiguous "Yes". That was a deliberate lie. If you watch very closely, you may detect the same subtle sense of shame register on his face immediately after saying yes as do I. Not everyone can pull off being a shameless liar. Those who can sometimes run for president of the United States, and win (once, at least. Fool me once, shame on you..... ;-) .

In his announcement of the upcoming release of the Steely Dan catalog on LP, Analogue Productions’ Chad Kassem states the first five albums will be cut to lacquer from the analog master tapes (Chad and mastering engineer Bernie Grundman go to great lengths to secure master tapes), the 6th and 7th from DSD files.

I don't think there was deceit. Perhaps not being as honest of every detail about each stage of the mastering. Does anyone care about the number of bits in the DSD file or the size and speed of the tapes used? Come on. 

All we should care about is the sound. If someone bought the records thinking they were 100% analogue and they are not, just sell them. I am sure you will get your money back, probably even make money.

Also, if the sound quality is just as good, who cares? I don't want to get sidetracked, but I am sure when you are buying a Mercedes you don't dig into the source of each component Mercedes assembles. They are overpriced with plenty of snob appeal built in, and because of their lack of reliability and extremely high cost of maintenance and repair, their resale value on the market is terrible.

My feeling on the matter is this. Honesty matters to me. If I purchase a Mercedes from a dealer and get a Volkswagen that is wrong. Even though both are good German automobiles. It is not what I paid for and that's part of the problem. For people who thought they purchased Audio masters, not Digital masters were deceived. Not to say Digital did not sound good, it is a mater of trust you get what is advertised and if you did not there should be compensation returned. 

I think the MOFI issue has been beaten into the ground and its time to move on. Not a vinyl guy myself, but I do have a large collection of their CD's that I have been collecting from the late 80's to the present. In most cases, I prefer the MOFI's sound to the standard CD issue but not always. I am sure their vinyls are the same: It boils down to preference. The odd thing about this is nobody could tell that they were listening to a digital file imbedded in their vinyl. They only way MOFI was  caught is the record store owner did the math and figured out that they could never release that many copies from an original tape. He could not or did not mention that he heard digital in the vinyl in his video. So my conclusion is that, despite what people think about how good their hearing is, it is very hard to discern source material when the listener has no idea what he or she is listening to. MoFi knew this and their deception has lasted about 7 years if their 2015 omission is accurate. It seems this is the trend in vinyl. I work in store that sells LP's and when I get bored, I read the covers. I noticed that I high percentage say they are OMR's remastered and transferred from digital files to vinyl. After the UMG fire, I wonder how many OMR's are real which could be another scandal in the making.

I have always looked at TAS, and Stereophile mags as pure entertainment, it is very rare that I take their opinions seriously. It's like a comic book magazine...

it is obvious that the thousands of vinyl reissues that are currently released each week are not pressed from master tapes but from a CD or FLAC format. Not only do you have to be a bit silly to think of vinyl as Hifi, but you have to be downright dumb to believe that vinyl makers have access to all those tapes, that they're all still in usable condition , and that they have time to produce them on vinyl at this rate with analog one-step machines (without intermediate digital copies). The whole vinyl come back is a marketing bullshit.

As a US distributor of high-end brands, I've personally dealt with MD, MF, JV.  I recall a wise old saying..."If you can't say something positive about someone, don't say anything".  I will say there are MANY YouTube reviewers that are quite insightful & honest and certainly worthy of consideration.

I have absolutely nothing positive to say about TAS (or by extension HiFi+) reviews.  Does that count as not saying anything?  I’ve also not seen a YouTube review that’s anywhere near what I’d call rigorous or worth a damn — ok stereonews.net being one exception, but he also does thorough print reviews so not just another cheesy YouTuber.  The rest of them?  Trailer trash showboaters that are all show and very little go.  IMHO. 

I'd rather save my cartridge for real analog

Because it sounds great on vinyl too and I only listen to records.

As soon as the analog signal is converted to digital why by it on vinyl?

As a US distributor of high-end brands, I've personally dealt with MD, MF, JV.

I recall a wise old saying..."If you can't say something positive about someone, don't say anything".

I will say there are MANY YouTube reviewers that are quite insightful & honest and certainly worthy of consideration.

Re: dishonesty, it's both quite disappointing but also good to have truth exposed as we are seeing in so much our society. 

I did not renew my TAS and Stereophile subscriptions this year. Enough said about that.

As for MOFI, there are some real good

early ones, like Supertramp crime of the century and Little Feat the live Columbus album. Luckily, with my 2K+ vinyl collection and the new world of streaming entering my life, I no longer buy any vinyl. So rest in peace MOFI, you're dead to me.

TAS is the Robb Report of audio. The reviews are paid ads, nothing more.

Great point yoyoyaya! If these recordings become digitized anyway, why then go to the trouble to "store them" on vinyl at all? It's probably the worst medium to do so that can add nothing but distortion. I guess it's all about appearances & perception.......

I don’t understand why Jonathan attempts to create a balancing equation such that the apparently knowingly misleading statements by Mobile Fidelity (Jonathan: “Indeed, Mobile Fidelity‘s publicity has, I think, deliberately left the impression that everything is accomplished in the analog domain.” “Anyway you look at it, this was not full disclosure.“) somehow are offset because, or should be forgiven because, Mobile Fidelity profited from the business of re-mastering, pressing and selling LPs to consumers through the 1980s to the present day (Jonathan: “MoFi spent decades keeping the LP alive and kicking — releasing many, many sonic triumphs over that span . . . it would be worse than ungrateful of audiophiles not to show some charity here.”). I don’t think this proposed equation nets out to inculpability.

Jonathan appears not to consider that if consumers had known the truth about the digital step, then perhaps Mobile Fidelity would not have been as successful in business for decades selling its records and “keeping the LP alive.” I am not sure Jonathan should encourage Jim Davis to break his arm patting himself on the back for building a business, and even for helping to sustain an industry, based on a misrepresentation.

Is Jonathan suggesting that the end of keeping consumers buying records through the dark days of digital justified the means of the misrepresentation to sell re-issues? Numerous other companies were manufacturing and selling re-issues during the years in which Mobile Fidelity was selling its digital step vinyl records.

I see the misrepresentation issue as completely separate from the issue of “keeping the LP alive,” and as completely separate from the issue of the sound quality of Mobile Fidelity’s digital step vinyl records. I think that the former issue should not be conflated with, or means/ends justified by or excused by, either of the latter issues.

I give Jonathan credit for making the same point I made upon reading Jim Davis’ answers to Jonathan and Robert’s written questions: “If MoFi is as convinced of the sonic superiority of digital duplication and mastering as Jim Davis claims it is . . ., why conceal the fact?”

In the October Stereophile Industry Update, it also rolls over on the issue.  Evidently both mags' vested interests are pretty much the same.

I left a comment  on Micheal Fremer's YouTube site about how much  I was disappointed  with MoFi deceiving its customers and he shot back in a very rude fashion and in so many words said I was full of it. I was taken aback to say the least. 

My Cannonball Adderley One Step is pre-sold out and not even shown to be able to be preordered anymore. Mofi is overwhelmed with demand and every One Step ever made in the last 5 year has sold out. Maybe this nonissue (to me) will cause the resale market to drop, which I would certainly welcome.

I only care about sound quality, and even Analogue Productions is making some of their highest end records with digital tapes involved. They had a major announcement today that they are releasing all Steely Dan studio albums on 45RPM UHQRs at $150 a pop. A few are not totally AAAAnalogue. I couldn't care less. Make the best sounding records you can. Luckily, I have almost all their albums on Speakers Corner, Mofi, or Japanese pressings, so I won't be buying any UHQRs (unless I have a really weak moment and go for Royal Scam or Pretzel Logic).

The packaging drives the prices WAY up. Luckily, they will be releasing them all on 33 1/3 with digital files from Bernie Grundman that I am sure will be excellent with original packaging. No word on pricing for those, but hopefully they will be similar to other AP pricing - $40 for 33s and $60 for 45s.

For those who care more about whether the sound is 100% complete analogue than how it sounds, enjoy paying more for less and thanks for staying out of the resale markets.