MOFI One Step’s - is it tape or digital? The big debate

Doug Sax stated long ago in a Stereophile interview that he could cut better sounding lacquers from a 24/192 PCM file than straight from the analog tape. That is only one engineer's opinion, though.
 
Instead of bothering with issuing SACDs, I wish MOFI would just sell the (4X) digital files that they make from the analog masters. That would be the closest a consumer could ever get to the master tape.
 
nicoff said:
Instead of bothering with issuing SACDs, I wish MOFI would just sell the (4X) digital files that they make from the analog masters. That would be the closest a consumer could ever get to the master tape.
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That would be awesome!

From the glass is half full perspective, SACD was all but dead and MOFI has continued to keep it alive long after Sony abandoned it. Hats off for that!


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nicoff said:
Instead of bothering with issuing SACDs, I wish MOFI would just sell the (4X) digital files that they make from the analog masters. That would be the closest a consumer could ever get to the master tape.
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That would be a buy for me. I wonder though, would something mastered for vinyl and released in DSD sound as good as something mastered for native DSD? There are lots of compromises made in vinyl mastering to fit the source to the medium. That’s ok when you are mastering to vinyl anyway.
 
W9TR said:
That would be a buy for me. I wonder though, would something mastered for vinyl and released in DSD sound as good as something mastered for native DSD? There are lots of compromises made in vinyl mastering to fit the source to the medium. That’s ok when you are mastering to vinyl anyway.
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Were the engineers cutting those master tapes thinking about what would be the destination medium, or were they just trying to get things to sound right/best on those master tapes?

In other words, at their step in the process, I wonder if they were simply concerned with getting truth onto tape. Vinyl has never been the only playback medium, there’s R2R and a cassette, then later, CD, etc.

As I said earlier in this thread, it’s a little puzzling why they never released DSD, since they already had that. Other than they were likely trying to hide that fact, so their brand as “best vinyl” wouldn’t be tainted. That cat’s now out of the bag though, and like some of you guys I’d sure love to be able to get DSD that’s made straight from the master tapes.
 
jmusica said:
Were the engineers cutting those master tapes thinking about what would be the destination medium, or were they just trying to get things to sound right/best on those master tapes?

In other words, at their step in the process, I wonder if they were simply concerned with getting truth onto tape. Vinyl has never been the only playback medium, there’s R2R and a cassette, then later, CD, etc.
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My knowledge of the process gets a little thin here. I know that mastering for vinyl and mastering for CD, for example, require different approaches. In vinyl, the mastering engineers have to limit L-R bass or even the best cartridges will fly out of the groove due to high vertical acceleration. They also have to limit some high frequency content to keep the record trackable with most cartridges. And of course there is vinyl specific eq that is used. None of that needs to be done for CD mastering or mastering to files.

So as I understand it there may be many masters depending on the target media.

Love to hear more from people who are familiar with the process.
 
I’m excited for this new spoken word One - Step :D

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And now the Washington Post steps into the fray - “How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire”

Some interesting quotes at the end of the article as well as the link to today’s Washington Post article below:

“Jamie Howarth, whose Plangent Processes uses digital technology to restore sound and whose work has earned praise for Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen reissues, wishes MoFi had come clean years ago and proudly told its customers that their prized records sounded best because of the digital step. He understands why it didn’t. It was terrified of being attacked by analog-or-bust audiophiles.

“One of the reasons they want to excoriate MoFi is for lying,” says Howarth. “The other part that bothers them is that they’ve been listening to digital all along and they’re highly invested in believing that any digital step will destroy their experience. And they’re wrong.”

“Wood [MoFi’s executive vice president of product development] says that MoFi decided to add DSD not for convenience but because its engineers felt they could help improve their records. He remembers hearing MoFi’s reissue of Santana’s “Abraxas” in 2016. “My mind was blown when we got the test pressings back,” he said.

“And Randy Braun, a music lover, Hoffman message board member and lawyer in New York, hopes that, in the end, the MoFi revelation will prove what he’s been saying for years, that the anti-digital crowd has been lying to itself: “These people who claim they have golden ears and can hear the difference between analog and digital, well, it turns out you couldn’t.”

The link to today’s Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/


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cmarin said:
And now the Washington Post steps into the fray - “How a Phoenix record store owner set the audiophile world on fire”

Some interesting quotes at the end of the article as well as the link to today’s Washington Post article below:

“Jamie Howarth, whose Plangent Processes uses digital technology to restore sound and whose work has earned praise for Neil Young and Bruce Springsteen reissues, wishes MoFi had come clean years ago and proudly told its customers that their prized records sounded best because of the digital step. He understands why it didn’t. It was terrified of being attacked by analog-or-bust audiophiles.

“One of the reasons they want to excoriate MoFi is for lying,” says Howarth. “The other part that bothers them is that they’ve been listening to digital all along and they’re highly invested in believing that any digital step will destroy their experience. And they’re wrong.”

“Wood [MoFi’s executive vice president of product development] says that MoFi decided to add DSD not for convenience but because its engineers felt they could help improve their records. He remembers hearing MoFi’s reissue of Santana’s “Abraxas” in 2016. “My mind was blown when we got the test pressings back,” he said.

“And Randy Braun, a music lover, Hoffman message board member and lawyer in New York, hopes that, in the end, the MoFi revelation will prove what he’s been saying for years, that the anti-digital crowd has been lying to itself: “These people who claim they have golden ears and can hear the difference between analog and digital, well, it turns out you couldn’t.”

The link to today’s Washington Post article:

https://www.washingtonpost.com/music/2022/08/05/mofi-records-analog-digital-scandal/


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I for one sent multiple emails to Fremer beginning in 2019 and told him I heard digital in these One Step’s. Happy to share the emails with anyone not believing me.

Here’s one from 2019!!

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THAT BEING SAID, I still think many of the One Steps are the best versions of those albums I’ve heard. Sometimes they got it right (Abraxas, Bridge Over Troubled Waters, Monk,, etc.), sometimes it wasn’t the best I’ve heard (Carole King Tapestry), but still very good.

In fact, I have hundreds of older MOFI’s which are one my regularly played list. Gordon Lightfoot Sundown (MOFI) from 1979 is one of my absolute favorite albums and on regular rotation.

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I personally think this whole fiasco is a disaster for MoFi. And, moreover, many of us that have paid top dollars to buy products that have been misrepresented by MoFi are quite pissed.

I have a number of MoFi releases that sound somewhat dull and just ok. Just a few sound quite good.

I’m done with MoFi.
 
Ritmo said:
I personally think this whole fiasco is a disaster for MoFi. And, moreover, many of us that have paid top dollars to buy products that have been misrepresented by MoFi are quite pissed.

I have a number of MoFi releases that sound somewhat dull and just ok. Just a few sound quite good.

I’m done with MoFi.
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this about sum things up perfectly.

wonder what the path is forward for MOFI? ...fortunately, i only have two titles but will never purchase another one. obviously, others feel the same.
 
Did you all notice the website referenced in to WaPo article where the guy analyzes all the various formats of an album, seems like that would be a good source for starts.
 
Considering how many Master Tapes were lost in the Universal Studio fire years ago it's hardly surprising they were using digital masters.

Some estimates put the loss of tapes in the 100s of 1000s.
 
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