Glad this video wasn’t about how Michael Esposito wasn’t the right guy to interview MoFi guys. Fremer strengthened his ego overnight. Well done!

that ac/dc snippet was incredible

A brilliant and fair video. This label and their parent company now need to get back consumer trust, because I don't think I will buy another product from Music Direct/MoFi until that happens in a meaningful way.

I was critical of you over the interview with 45rpm, but I really appreciated this one. Very helpful information - thank you!

I note a considerable collection of long playing recordings forming a backdrop to this you tube video.

Hello Miichael . Don't even listen to negative comments . You are very knowledgeable and ahould be respected as a not only an enbassador of vynil. Congrats

Thank you for clarifying your stance and back story.

This topic is better than tv. Great job Fremer!

Excellent video, Michael 👍

Very good and fair video, Michael.

I just played my original 80s pressing of "Thriller" and It does sound freakin' good. I wonder how much better can the one step be? I'd rather get 3 "Tone Poets" for the same $$.

Excellent video 👍🏻👍🏻

MOFI only had to state back when the dsd source came into play that they will have to start using more analog to dsd mastering and that would have been transparent enough ...

Ha, I didn't know Michael Ludwigs was involved in helping deflect VWgate! I'm sure that was a healthy contract to secure! LOL. Good video Michael.

Great video Michael! I was never a big fan of Mofi I like seeking out older copy’s that’s just me. But yes they need to be truthful about there source of master tapes or DSD that’s it!

Great videos Mike, as always. Best sounding record in my collection = Mofi's Miles In The Sky. Worst sounding record in my collection = Bundles by Soft Machine, an all-analogue recording pressed in 1975. Too much prejudice against digital audio, which is probably why Mofi haven't been transparent about what they're doing.

Excellent conclusion to the first video.

great video mr. fremer!

Apparently, next week they will start giving out all the processes for every album going back to the 80's.

ooof would’ve loved to have heard that ac/dc

I agree with the comments made in this video. Funnily a few minutes in I thought this debacle reminded me of the series "Gaslit". So more agreement there Michael. Thanks.

Good video man!!! 🎤

the email from Mofi Customer service was sent to me. It was posted from the Steve Hoffman forum, but it's interesting that i've seen it posted a few places now on social media, but not a single person reached out to me to confirm it's real.

This might be your best video yet, and you have made tons of splendid videos. Thank you so much Mr. Fremer!

I thank you for your videos about the MOFI issue. The MOFI case is a mirror faced in front of the Audiophile community that reveals the replacement of the main goal of a common audiophile which is the desire for a maximum/best sound quality reproduction with a race after the isosteric hard to get more expensive all analogue process. This has occurred without us the community stop to ask ourself or even worse, when a digital step added to an audio process is ruled automatically to be bad for the whole cutting process even it enables a (no doubt about it) superior one step pressing. no one is evaluating the whole chain. the word digital has blocked the thinking process of the total result. The question have to be asked why MOFI who undouble achieved a higher sound quality (as reported for the Abraxas release for example) had to be vague on the fact they are using a digital process in their updated sound reproduction process? is it because they want to hide a fact they are selling a much easy to produce and inferior "CD on Vinyl" product (the statement is just for the sake of discussion) and continue collecting money with higher profit from the audiophile "suckers"? or maybe is it because Audiophiles community, who their moto is judging a product sonic quality with their own ears will be too shocked to hear (Double meaning... 🙂 ) that digital process exists and add an advantage to the sound quality, in conflict with the community conception which automatically detach a "made from original master" when a step of a super high resolution digital copy is involved? If MOFI would have used a 2nd generation analogue copy, done by MOFI from original master, and not a DSD process, would the Vinyl community have accepted this step because the All analogue purity has been maintained? we have to remember that MOFI have replace the "Father + Mother" steps with a 2nd generation copy so there is an important improvement added to the process together with that 2nd generation added step. Why nobody talks about the total results? why focus only on one (important) added step? why nobody evaluate the 2 choice between a DSD vs a 2nd generation Analogue copy which MOFI has done already for us? So the vinyl community has to first identify if the latest MOFI "one step" process has a total improvement of sound or not, comparing to any process MOFI has presented over the years, and comparing with other companies audiophile releases, of course also with price tag comparison. Last, I present you with the most shocking "Elephant in the room" which no one yet on all the MOFI videos so far has neglected to talk about: In case MOFI "one step" process is found to be actually the best audio quality and efficient way to cut a vinyl from an original master then it means that within the chain of cutting process, The DSD step has the maximum and better sound quality source for the vinyl cut process, better than the vinyl product itself. This has a huge impact on the vinyl industry, because the DSD (or other high res digital file format) can be sold and streamed with even a better quality than that of the best vinyl pressing there is. This means that audiophile vinyl format becomes to be in the third place of the highest audio quality possible (the second place belongs to an exotic, expensive and very limited in quantities direct Reel to Reel studio quality copy of the original master Tape) and 1st audio quality possible to obtain at home would become to be a digital file. This removes the carpet under the whole vinyl industry, or at least the audiophile vinyl industry, and this is in my opinion the real reason for MOFI ambiguity on the cutting process.

Michael, I have always admired your honesty and integrity. Has any progress been made regarding the DSD vs. master tape comparison you spoke of?

Well I am not a psychic, but I suspect there will be a class action, probably already is one ready to be filed ATM. And like it or not, you may end up as an expert witness again. I can easily imagine the mobile fidelity response team is putting the brakes on the needed response to anticipate the suit(s) that are almost certain to follow.

MoFi used our passion for analog sound vinyl and took advantage of that to get our money.

Hey Mikey, your Watergate comment reminds me of anther: "Oh what a tangled web we weave, when we practice to deceive..." I believe they have released a list of provenance for the albums...

Good vids, and you've called them out well. As I've pointed out elsewhere, when Blue Note did the 75th anniversary vinyl releases, and Apple the 2009 stereo LP releases, they told us up front that they were cut from digital. It matters to us, and if people want to debate our foolishness about that, fine. But if you know that about vinyl purists and then mislead us...well, let's see what happens.

Because 4xDSD has such incredibly exponentially greater & deeper resolution than 30ips analog tape, MoFi appears to be referring to the 4xDSD as “The Original Master”.

EPIC!!!! (love the tidbit of info. re. Michael 45rpm) So glad you made such a forceful point about the major labels no longer releasing master tapes.( I consider myself to have lived through the golden age of reissue vinyl from Classic Records, AP, Impex etc.) Life is going to seem so empty without all these dramatic revelations and ensuing videos..... Seriously though, the silence from the top brass at MoFi has been deafening.

That sound you hear in the distance is Mofi lp prices crashing on discogs.

I fainted when I heard that. My wife had to throw a bucket of water in my face and kicked me in the ribs to revive me.

I’ve been following this pretty closely for the past two weeks, and your explanation, for me, is the final word. Well deserved and interesting shoutout to Michael45 as well.

Thank you making this video. Transparency is the key issue here. I remember when cd’s first came out they would say AAD, ADD etc. I remember people complaining about not having pure digital recording but at least we knew. MOFI should come clean and list how the recordings were made and in all future records have those details printed clearly on every record. The worst thing that MOFI can do is bury their head in the sand and not come clean to those who purchase their records.

Most manufacturers regard honesty as a liability rather than an asset. In many cases, that is to their advantage.

(I love the Elvis Costello LP in the background.) I am sooooooo glad you took this firm stance against MF. I thought you might just shrug out of a sense of fatalism and practicality. (You know, you can't fight City Hall). Thank you, Michael. Thank you. I listen to records for one reason- the analog sound. Q: Are there any forensic tools that could be used by an independent party to verify if a record is made from a digital source? PS: I LOVED the conversation you had with "German" Michael! Please do more. When you do your own videos, we get the kind of Uncle Mikey version of yourself. As a guest with Ludwig it's much more apparent what an intelligent, erudite guy you are.

We need a new version of the spars codes

Thank you. 🙏🙏

Great video. I am learning so much as always. Will Mobile Fidelity Vinyl price in the future change? I'm guessing it was easier to provide maximum prices when the public was under the belief that these recordings were processed a certain way, but now that the public knows better and as part of Mobile Fidelity possible image cleaan up, I was just curious as to what their price points will be in the future.

Michael a great informative video & finally the last one I need to see from anyone regarding this mofi debacle. Your last sentence "quote" nailed it !

Michael, agree with you completely about the labels, having worked with Sony/Columbia studios in a past life. They are part of this ecosystem and ironically are shielded from all of this negativity. I don't intend to add them to list of "targets", but clearly they too have their reasons for not being "transparent" and would be great to get them included in the conversation. I wonder if anything will change, at least where it comes to pre '80s original analog tapes or will they for ever keep them in a vault. When you speak of Sony, something comes to my mind. (a) the Bob Dylan Mono Box that shot up in price must also be a digital transfer even though everyone has been speculating that it was all analog (b) A lot of people have said in reviews that some of the records in that box set are as good as the Mofi counterparts which makes me wonder if the source digital file is from Sony and not from Mofi, specially since both were pressed at RTI.

As always, great vid, great insight. Keep ‘em coming.

I'm shocked that people are shocked that the Masters are DSD. Most masters done from like 1982 on were probably done on Digital Tape anyway. Too that, if there are any Magnetic Master Tapes that can still be played, they've already been copied to a digital master. Even if the Master is transferred to a DSD file, it's still the ORIGINAL MASTER. It's an exact copy of the analog tape but will allow Mo-Fi to be able to make many copies over and over, something they couldn't do with a dying role of decaying magnetic tape that's already half-past dead. To that, wasn't it Mo-Fi that damaged the Original Master Tape for TDSOTM back in the late 70's when they accidentally taped over it with their NEW master... Is this really that big of a deal? Was Mo-Fi really deceitful or did the consumer have an unrealistic expectation in the 21st century? I love SACD and Mo-Fi makes some killer SACD's, from the same source as their LP's but without the anomalies of Vinyl Records.

Brilliant!

Thank you Michael for great reporting on this issue so important to us audiophiles. I hope they do come clean so we can all move on and just talk about the music

The formats that sound closest to the master tapes are: 1. Digital, 2. Digital, 3. Digital. Thank you MoFi !

Michael, you rock man. I even think I met you in 1972 when you and a couple of others from WBCN 104.1, always my favorite station then, came to Brookline HIgh School during our Seminar Day, and when someone from the station asked us, "so you're all seniors?", I said, "well I'm a freshman, ha!" Keep doing what you're doing. Again my favorite places were Music City in Kenmore and the Harvard and Children's Hospital COOPs. Later a great store in Coolidge Corner that had Friday night 11 pm sales. Great prices and selection. Anyway thanks for shedding light on this deceptive practice by MoFi. I have some of their pressings too, not all sound better than my originals.

Great final thought and an amazing idea!!! Go Fund Me for the two lacquers and we all get each record!!! Im all in!!!

Nailed it again !

u just gotta ❤️ this! ✌️❤️🇩🇰

thank you

I am still a bit confused on the Miles Davis issues. So would In The Sky, On the Corner, and Filles de Kilimanjaro, be from DSD as well or are those in fact from the master tapes?

Mofi in their wording says “immaculate copy” Thanks for taking the high road Looking forward to your channel and sharing your great experiences You don’t have to apologize and ignore your detractors It will enhance your message Glad to see your concern and holding record companies accountable Thank you

Hi Michel, thanks so much for all your efforts. Mofi must be transparent, and do things the Kevin Gray, Bernie Grundman and all the others are doing this. Be honest is really what we need, and not dirty capitalism. Thanks

Hearing this brought me back to MQA brou-ha-ha.

“The Cover Up is Always Worse Than The Crime” is 100% true!

I'm shocked! Shocked to find out gambling has been going on in this casino! Round up the usual suspects!

Well, no matter what you think about this guy, at least he didn't return from Munich declaring "peace for our time".

That were impressive and best founded arguments and statements for the theme of the year. Congratulation Michael

well done

Audiophiles will still buy it.... Because they are COLLECTORS! They have to have it! They have to have everything... even if it sounds bad!

So is the mono Dylan box from digital files? Thought that set was cut from analog.

Great Michael.

It's amazing that some people think there could be lawsuits over this. BAILIFF: Do you swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but the truth? MOFI: Uhh. Yes. We brought some records JUDGE: Play the one with the red cover. 4 minutes later... JUDGE: I didn't realize they still made records; and they sound way way better than I remember too. I don't hear any problem. Case dismissed...Bang.

The Michael Ludwig Chad Kassem video stream was FANTASTIC!! 45RPM Mike is really becoming a fantastic resource for analog/vinyl info.

Customers were willing to pay the significant premium - of one-step releases especially - not only for the expected sound quality but also on the assumption that working with analog only is a greater challenge and more costly. MF need not only to come clean but to cut prices in the process of regaining goodwill.

Charging exhorbitant analog prices for audio version of photoshop...nice. It'd be fine if they just said this is REALLY good digital capture.

So we're all listening to digital on vinyl! How do you like them apples? I'll be no good dadgummed!

More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a "convert." Delicate "converts" are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.

I dare them to hire Michael Ludwig and Michael Fremer on a consultant basis to fix this customer relations problem. They won't do it, of course they're afraid of any hint of admission of guilt, but they would be very, very wise to do so.

The tricky thing is that MoFi uses quad DSD and plangent is a PCM process. To use it they have to convert to 24/96 or 24/192 and incur further loss of transparency from the original tape. Maybe it worth it because of the Plangent Process, but I'm sure they would rather manage on their end with playback deck and keep it DSD, which IMO sounds pretty close to the source.

The thing I don't relate to with audiophiles is I think it's a little crazy to have the desire to pay to hear, as Fremer suggests at the end, the difference between using a DSD step and not using it. I will concede that on a very high-quality system you *might* hear a *small* difference, but I could really care less (this is all assuming I'm not paying over say $40 for either product at the end of the day btw).

I did not understand why the MFSL box should be so strongly avoided. What is wrong with it except of the white modern sleeves? By the way, it is pretty much clear reason for what they has done. The Beatles UK LP covers were designed using pictures of the group with too much retouch to it. As a result they had never been a real piece of art. So why bother keeping them?

Harry Pearson from the other Magazine told us CDS were bad and We said oh yah it was true and Now You have Put MOFI to Task Thank You.

Thank Gawd for Michael - I'm stunned at the criticisms he receives - he's one of the few beacons in the darkness of our hobby that we can rely on - - on the brighter side, "your speakers sound different with different cables, sorry to tell ya" - that one brought a grin to my face, too funny - - and it's funny because it's beyond ridiculous true, no matter what ASR tells everyone and regardless that I truly respect Amir and his measurements - - my love for Stereo is burning bright after my leaving it for dead back in the dark ages of having CDs jammed down my throat - which I enjoy, but that period did bring on a loss of interest to me personally - so my opinion which isn't humble here is that we all have this man to thank for that.

See you at the Seattle Audio Show

Many times I was listening to my 1 steps albums, thinking about the sound journey from the artist's voice and my speakers. Now I not sure about my feelings.

Thanks man now let’s get back to music

Unbelievable windbag. Am I going to be like this when I'm 75?

Can’t believe they don’t have records of what was done for each pressing. If not that says a lot about how they runs things. You’re the best Michael 👍

Thank you Michael. Clear and concise, with no personal attacks. Does my heart good to see this. Love the idea of the go fund me analog/digital comparison. Pick a title issue as a double lp, one analog one digital but don’t reveal which is which until a designated time has gone by. I’m in for that!

Every time there's some type of debacle in the world, a name is assigned to it. It's usually something that ends in "gate" (referring to Watergate). What is this controversy called? Digigate? Dacgate? Mofigate? With all the Michaels involved, maybe Mikegate?

I saw the MoFi ad / headline with Bernie Grundman It lasted under 10 minutes, immediately seen, possibly tagged/ copied on Steve Hoffman Forums

Thanks Michael. I really enjoyed watching these two videos. Do you remember the name of the greatest hits compilation that was cut ‘on the fly’ with two engineers, one on the lathe, the other adjusting azimuth? I’m very intrigued and would love to seek it out.

What ACDC song was that?

Thank you for your video. I would like to focus on the old vs the new Mofi cut processes and its impact on vinyl comunity. We all agree that a Mofi "original master recording" is and should be a process where MOFI gets its hands on the original master, not on an unknown copy of that master. The DSD MOFI which is using is an added, new step, within the MOFI cutting process of Original Master Tape system. The DSD copy is then becomes a (ultra hi res digital) second generation source within the Mofi cutting process. should that be the only modification for Mofi cutting process than yes, it would be a degraded Vinyl cut process comparing with MOFI original Legacy cutting system. However, Mofi takes advantage on this added step to actually reduce the total number of degradating copying steps from the whole cutting process as per the following: 1) Original Mofi ( and other companies) AAA Process steps are: Step 1: master tape to lacquer (a 2nd generation analogue mechanical copy of the master is generated into the laquer) Step 2: lacquer to Father stamper (a 3rd Generation analoge mechanical copy is generated ) Step 3: Father Stamper is copied to be Mother mold (a 4th generation analoge copy is generated) Step 4: a Stamper is copied from mother (a 5th Generation mechanical analoge) Step 5: Vinyl Stamping (a 6th generation final analoge copy is pressed on vinyl) to summarize AAA process: A vinyl recording is the 6th analoge generation copy of the original master tape 2) MOFI "1 step process" comprise of the following steps: Step 1: Master Tape to DSD (a 2nd generation Dsd version of original master is created) Step 2: DSD to Lacquer (a 3rd mechanical analoge Generation) Step 3: Lacquer to Stamper (a 4th analoge Generation) Step 4: Vinyl Stamping (a final 5th generation which contains only 4th analoge generations copy of the master ) To summarize: MOFI single step process results in a 5 generation copy of original master recording rwhere 2 analogue mechanical copies of the sound are replaced by a single DSD copy . DSD copy of original master is to my understanding a much closer to original master quality (if not identical) than to any 2nd generation analogue copy alternatives availabe. 1) This is to my opinion a significant over all advantage to the cutting process 2) The Elephant in the room: The DSD step which contains a 2nd generation copy of original master is by definition a supirior version in compare witg the vinyl outcome which is a 5th ( practically 4th) generation copy of the original master tape. This means that the best posible reproduction quality can be obtain by a direct use of the DSD via streaming or a SACD platformd. Thanks and best regards

Could we have a top 100 of BEST records cut from a digital file. 😀

Sticking it to the MAN .

Thanks again for your concise message regarding the complete MOFI debacle. I look forward to the transparency to begin before the Michael Jackson Thriller release. Cheers!!

Michael, I loved the #gofundme idea but thinking a bit further about this I guess that we would pay for it anyway. Imagine if they released BOTH versions (cut from a tape transfer and from a digital transfer). We would go crazy to buy both versions of each release because that’s what we do… We would spend endless hours discussing each version and each review. We would agree and disagree with your thoughts and some would say how they got digital wrong when analog sounded better, while others would say how they had some issue with their Studer when the DSD killed the analog version. Its a win-win for everybody including MoFi because they would make even more money with full disclosure and transparency. I better start saving because now there’ll be not only mono and stereo but also digital and analog 😂

The whole affair has been interesting to follow. I understand that records that comes from MoFi (or other "premium" companies) should be clearer about the whole process in making their records but shouldn't this be a reasonable claim with all (new) records. I think it would be nice to know the process regardless of what I buy (vinyl, cd, downloads etc.). Maybe I don't understand the business side but would it not be quite easy to include a document containing this info? Charge a bit more if need be.

19:50 exactly! Can you imagine the fun to be had in comparing the Mofi AAA Bitches Brew to a Mofi One-Step Bitches Brew!!

It’s Subway tuna all over again.

Thanks Michael. You may know that MoFi has been making digital backup copies of master tapes for a very long time. They did so in 1982, making digital half-speed copies of the stereo Beatles box set tapes, using a large Sony BVH-1000 1' type C video recorder, and a Sony A-D / D-A converter. The early digital setup did not sound very good when used at normal 1:1 recording and playback speeds, but at half speed the sample rate was effectively doubled, and musical signal content was kept far away from the early dreadful brick-wall anti-aliasing filters surrounding the A/D/A process. That helped a lot.~~~ Also, the stereo tapes, in their metal boxes, were in the safe at MoFi for much longer than two days, no matter what Herb said - it took quite a while to carefully and delicately transfer them at half speed to the 1" machine for backup. Some of the early lacquers were cut with the master tapes, but once the tapes were returned, follow-on lacquers were cut from the backups. This is where the 'rumor' about the early box sets being more desirable came from, since there was no digital conversion, and a very large layer of complexity was naturally cut out of the signal path. ~~~ Stan was quite funny during the cutting process for the early recordings. The band was presented in ridiculous hard stereo, voices on the left and instruments on the right (or vice versa), a very gimmicky early stereo arrangement possibly imposed by a hostile recording engineer somewhere in the process. He would mute the half speed vocal signal feed to the loudspeakers, and we'd just listen to the half speed instruments over the Meyer monitors. Kept our sanity that way. There's more fun details surrounding these events as well. Best Regards!

Michael you are the best…..😊We want transparentsy 😅 Have a good day 👍 -Thomas

GET'M Mikey-go for the throat- Grrrr

They are full of it, to my ears the original dire straits first pressings sound substantially better than the 45 RPMs they recently released. I couldn't understand why until now but it is what it is. How do I get a refund?

I got the impression they do have data on how they did the older stuff. I'm thinking it's just not in computer data base.