The American record label MoFi (also known as MFSL or Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) has been sued for allegedly not using analog masters.
In the US, a class-action lawsuit is not exactly uncommon. It involves one or more people jointly bringing a lawsuit against a company to court. Sometimes it is justified, sometimes it is just a fringe activity. The latter seems to be the case with the lawsuit filed by an American who feels he has been cheated by MoFi. This label has had an excellent reputation among hi-fi lovers (and especially vinyl freaks) for years (decades…). Because: the records sound equally excellent, according to them. The story goes that MoFi always uses analog mastertapes. And that, according to the plaintiff’s ‘discovery’, is no longer the case. Instead, the ‘odious’ DSD is used as a master. And that felt wrong with this gentleman who clearly opts for the hardcore all-analog school. ‘Thus’ resulting in a lawsuit – in which in the meantime more other hardliners have joined.
No secret
An interesting detail is that MoFi has never made a secret of DSD as a source. Besides: nobody hears it but it doesn’t ‘feel’ right. And this may bring us to the essence of the vinyl craze. Yes, it sounds good. But it remains analog, with characteristic shortcomings. Nothing wrong with that, to each his love. But there is also nothing wrong with a (good!) digital source. In fact, a lot of music is only digitally mastered nowadays. And you can easily put that on vinyl. It doesn’t get any better and according to vinyl fans it doesn’t get any worse either. In short: it’s a bit of a lame lawsuit. But in the US this can make (or cost) a lot of money, depending from which side you look at it. In short: will undoubtedly have a follow up. The essence of the story is that everyone agrees that MoFi’s records still sound excellent. And that’s what it’s all about – we think…
Fully agree.
I wonder how many vinyl lovers are aware of the fact that the audio needs to be delayed before it reaches the cutting head on the disc cutting lathe. This to be able to control the distance between grooves depending on the amount of bass in the music. And I suspect that that delay often times is done digitally. The analog alternative is to use a tape machine with two playback heads and a tape loop to generate the delay between those heads. I wonder what common practice really is….
Daniel Weiss
Fully agree.
I wonder how many vinyl lovers are aware of the fact that the audio needs to be delayed before it reaches the cutting head on the disc cutting lathe. This to be able to control the distance between grooves depending on the amount of bass in the music. And I suspect that that delay often times is done digitally. The analog alternative is to use a tape machine with two playback heads and a tape loop to generate the delay between those heads. I wonder what common practice really is….
Daniel Weiss