Washington Post article on MoFi vs. Fremer vs. Esposito

Given the excellent reviews on the MoFi albums, the experts involved, and the astronomical bit rate now possible, I would say that gerryah930 is likely correct that "the digital masters probably sound better than the aged tapes."  Even though I don't own any MoFi albums, I have no doubt they sound fantastic, and as they say, "It's hard to argue with results."

In general, my preference is for clean original copies, as they were likely all analog (depending on the era) and produced when the tapes were in the best possible shape.  In the case of Thriller, which is cited in the article, a NM original can be had for less than $30, maybe even less than $20.  Given how good my copy sounds (which cost less than $5 more than 20 years ago), it's hard to believe it could be significantly improved on.  So the justification for the price of a one-step reissue isn't clear (at least not to me).

Going forward simply stream the digital. Band limiting the digital to fit on vinyl in order to charge more is ridiculous. If you want to reduce fidelity , limit it with EQ. 

I get everyone's feelings about the obvious misreprentation, but going forward shouldn't we ultimately judge them by the value proposition of their products, i.e. the incremental quality relative to the incremental price?

I only own one of the "One Step" albums by Eric Clapton Unplugged. I am very pleased with it and even the wife who is not into audio thought it sounded fabulous. Will I buy others? Possibly if it is something I really like. I am curious to see if they lower the prices going forward.

What nonsense. The digital masters probably sound better than the aged tapes.

I was able to read the article because my wife has a Washington Post subscription.

I am a confirmed digitalphile.  Some years back it was revealed that many lp reissues that were lauded to the skies by the likes of Fremer and Art Dudley were using digital masters due to the sticky tape phenomenon.  Basically this means that master tapes over the years tend to congeal into a sticky blob and the tapes were prone to fracturing , thus limiting the ability to use them for new issues.  Instead many of these reissues were pressed from digital transfers made in the nineties when the tapes were more useable

.  When this was revealed the analog gurus didn’t miss a beat.  They either chose to ignore this or somehow claimed that embedding a digital file in a slab of petroleum and extracting that file with analog players was superior to leaving the same file in the digital domain.

Any mention of MoFi offering to buy back the albums they lied to us about being all analog, at full price or better yet for the premium we may have paid for certain albums???

I'm with Stereo5 on this one. No more!

Disappointed in Massachusetts...

For how long I wonder?

I won't be buying any other Mo Fi records.  Man, do I feel duped!  You can't even trust the companies that claim they do things the right way, then this.

Full article here with no paywall.

The crux of it is this:

"The fallout of the MoFi revelation has thrown the audiophile community into something of an existential crisis. The quality of digitized music has long been criticized because of how much data was stripped out of files so MP3s could fit on mobile devices. But these days, with the right equipment, digital recordings can be so good they can fool even the best ears. Many of MoFi’s now-exposed records were on Fremer and Esposito’s own lists of the best sounding analog albums."

Ha Ha

Thanks for the tip! I wasn't aware of that work-around. Much appreciated!

Keith

Here's an excerpt for you but The Post does have a "free trial" offer (and I don't work for Bezos, WAPO, or any other entity that might benefit from your money, Bruno): 

"In a sometimes halting video posted to the YouTube channel of his Phoenix record shop, the ‘In’ Groove, Esposito said that “pretty reliable sources” told him that MoFi (Mobile Fidelity), the Sebastopol, Calif., company that has prided itself on using original master tapes for its pricey reissues, had actually been using digital files in its production chain. Shane Buettner, owner of Intervention Records, another company in the reissue business, defended MoFi on the popular message board moderated by mastering engineer Steve Hoffman. He remembered running into one of the company’s engineers at a recording studio working with a master tape. “I know their process and it’s legit,” he wrote. Michael Fremer, the dean of audiophile writing, was less measured. He slammed Esposito for irresponsibly spreading rumors and said his own unnamed source told him the record store owner was wrong. “Will speculative click bait YouTube videos claiming otherwise be taken down after reading this?” he tweeted.

But at MoFi’s headquarters in Sebastopol, John Wood knew the truth. The company’s executive vice president of product development felt crushed as he watched Esposito’s video. He has worked at the company for more than 26 years and, like most of his colleagues, championed its much lauded direct-from-master chain. Wood could hear the disappointment as Esposito, while delivering his report, also said that some of MoFi’s albums were among his favorites. So Wood picked up the phone, called Esposito and suggested he fly to California for a tour. It’s an invite he would later regret.

That visit resulted in a second video, published July 20, in which MoFi’s engineers confirmed, with a kind of awkward casualness, that Esposito was correct with his claims. The company that made its name on authenticity had been deceptive about its practices. The episode is part of a crisis MoFi now concedes was mishandled."

It seems I need a subscription to Washington post, a paid prescription, no thanks.