US: CHICAGO, ILLINOIS
Jim Austin
You've probably heard about the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab controversy, but here's a short synopsis: A blogger claimed that MoFi has been using a digital step in its mastering chain in producing its premium LPs, including its "One-Step" reissues. It became a major controversy, with blogs and social-media posts attacking and defending the company.
In a statement, Jim Davis, MoFi's president, apologized for a lack of transparency. "We at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab are aware of customer complaints regarding use of digital technology in our mastering chain," he wrote. "We apologize for using vague language, allowing false narratives to propagate, and for taking for granted the goodwill and trust our customers place in the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab brand."
While there's no mention of a digital step, it's a clear-enough admission. Davis continued, "Moving forward, we are adopting a policy of 100% transparency regarding the provenance of our audio products."
A few days later, Syd Schwartz, MoFi's chief marketing officer, offered this comment in an email: "The mastering chains for all Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab releases-other than a few that have been announced but not yet put on sale or some titles that do not have a product page as they are out of print-have been listed on www.mofi.
com. Out-of-print titles' provenance will be reflected in an archives page be added to the site in the near future." Indeed, a glance at a few MFSL product descriptions tells the story: "1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256." That's taken from the product description for the forthcoming reissue of Still Bill by Bill Withers; you can find it on many others. A few MFSL LPs, including several Miles Davis reissues, report standard-issue DSD64.
So there's the headline, and it's a fat one: MFSL employs a digital step in their vinyl mastering chain.
Esta historia es de la edición October 2022 de Stereophile.
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Esta historia es de la edición October 2022 de Stereophile.
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German kitchens, Japanese amps, and Afropop gems
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EDITOR'S PICK - RECORDING OF THE MONTH
The record business was awash in money and power. Vinyl LPs were still five bucks, and while the pressings could be suspect, the music-buying public still snapped them up en masse.
The Butthole Surfers wipe out
REVINYLIZATION - Music's lunatic fringe drifts further out every hour. As it should. In this century, with computers playing an ever-larger role, music continues to fragment and become infinitely more varied. This splintering is either the essence of what keeps it relevant as an art form or something profoundly disturbing, to be hated and feared.
You're only lonely
AURAL ROBERT - The least surprising story in music today is the inevitable passing of irreplaceable talent. Tenor saxophonist Benny Golson died at age 95 the day I finished this salute to another fallen star, Southern California singer/songwriter John David \"JD\" Souther.
PS Audio Aspen FR5 - LOUDSPEAKER
I remember the first PS Audio product: a simple phono stage. It was so simple - a passive RIAA eq filter flanked by a pair of primitive op-amps - that when the schematic was made public, I built one myself; I was in the midst of my DIY years. I thought it was, to use a word from that time, nifty.
TEAC UD-701N - STREAMING PREAMP, D/A CONVERTER
In Gramophone Dreams #88, I described the sound of TEAC's VRDS-701T CD transport as \"dense and precise in a way I had never previously heard from digital.\" I went on to explain, \"by dense, I mean there was a tangible corporeality effected by seemingly infinite quantities of small, tightly packed molecules of musical information.\"
Sonus faber Sonetto V G2 - LOUDSPEAKER
Here's a hard truth: A written review of a full-sized speaker any speaker, really-is, at best, semi-useful. We all listen differently, we have different musical tastes, our system electronics are different, and our listening rooms vary a lot. You will gain a general picture of a speaker's capabilities and foibles from John Atkinson's measurements, and I can tell you how the speakers sound to me, in my room. But that's it. You need to hear them for yourself before making a buying decision. The best I can do is tell you how my music brain felt when the speakers were in my house and making music.
STEREOPHILE'S 33RD ANNUAL - PRODUCT OF THE YEAR AWARD 2024
When Stereophile's Product of the Year Awards were first published, in 1992, we decided that unlike some other publications and their awards schemes, we would keep the number of categories to a minimum. That way, we would avoid what the late Art Dudley once described as the \"every child in the class gets a prize\" syndrome.
Moon 861 - POWER AMPLIFIER
It is unusual to begin a review with a detailed discussion of setup. But setup protocol for the Moon 861 power amplifier ($22,000 each), the top-level amplifier in the North Collection from Moon, which I reviewed bridged in mono, proved crucial to its sound.
Mobile Fidelity, PrimaLuna, and First Watt redux
GRAMOPHONE DREAMS - It's important for readers to remember that I've spent my adult life as an artist and mechanic. Making things. Working as a tradesperson during the day then at an easel or workbench at night.
