Bright Side Of The Moon: MFSL - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

Desde que descubrí las ediciones de la MFSL, que no puedo estar ya sin oir el maravilloso sonido de sus producciones. quizás a algunos no les guste un sonido tan depurado, con una separación de canales asombrosa y con tanta pureza que no reconoces el original, escuchado miles de veces. Ahi esta la gracia de estos discos. después de haber oído centenares de veces el "Axis" de Hendrix, o mas de mil los vinilos de Beatles, descubres otras sensaciones, autenticas, ya que la música esta ahi, y solo es sacarle el mayor partido. Realmente el cd aun tiene mucho que ofrecer.

Tengo algunos cds que no están en la mulica. Antes que caduquen los servers, los iré poniendo para que los disfrutéis, convenientemente arreglados cues y demás, con portadas a poder ser, solo aqui.

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL, or MoFi) is a company that produces audiophile releases of classic CDs and vinyl records. In the past, MoFi has produced audiophile cassette tapes, and Ultra High Quality Records (UHQRs) that were thicker and higher quality than typical audiophile records.

Many commercial CDs undergo dynamic range compression in order to sound "louder" when played on radio or low-end systems. This is detrimental to the sound quality when reproduced on high-quality equipment. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab releases are highly desirable for their attention to detail concerning the audio mastering process. Some of the techniques used are half-speed mastering [vinyl] and pressing gold-plated CDs. MFSL also releases record albums meant to be played at 45 RPM instead of the standard 33⅓ RPM, for better sound quality. These albums must be released on two or three discs, as each disc can hold less music at the increased speed.

MFSL only acquires the license to reproduce releases for a specific time period, and because of the limited quantities produced, they are highly sought after.

MFSL became highly noticed in 1981 when they released The Beatles box set. The set comprised of all 13 of the original British versions of their albums pressed off the original Abbey Road Studio master tapes. With the high-density "virgin" vinyl and Half-Speed mastering used, these albums produced sonic nuance never previously heard on earlier Beatles releases. Each album cover had a picture of the actual studio tape in its box along with the engineer's log sheet. An album-sized booklet displaying the original album covers was also included. The box set was such a success that they followed up with the Frank Sinatra and Rolling Stones box sets respectively.

MFSL has had a small number (four) of excellent mastering engineers over the years. Engineers Stan Ricker and Jack Hunt mastered all of MoFi's half-speed vinyl releases in the 1970s and 1980s. Shawn R. Britton has mastered all the CD-format and variations product since 1996, and is coming up to speed on lacquer mastering under the guidance of Stan Ricker as of this writing.

MFSL has been through two incarnations. The original company folded in November, 1999 when their main distributor went bankrupt, taking a large chunk of deliverable money with them. In 2002, the label was resurrected by Music Direct and has been producing well received Super Audio CDs, GAIN 2 Ultra Analog Limited Edition vinyl, Ultradisc II Gold CDs and Ultradisc CD-Rs since then. After nearly five years of service, in March of 2007, MFSL's Vice President of Marketing and Communications Coleman R. Brice left MFSL to run his own label - AERIA Records of Asbury Park, NJ.

New material on vinyl - We have the aim to deliver you high-quality music of the categories Jazz, Classical Music, Rock and Pop to reasonable prices on vinyl. We offer you all articles available at present as new material on vinyl. If however a reprint of a LP does not exist, we have a second hand pressing of this record.

Are second hand records equal to low-quality records? Does the combination of second hand and high-quality go together at all? - Our experience in the vinyl- sector for many years now has shown that the sound carriers handled with good care - or just by not being played at all or not very often - keep their value when they are new over decades. Many recordings exist in the original pressing only because there had never been released a new pressing. In the early nineties then there has very often been released a more than doubtful sounding Cd, mixed in a rapid method, that gave the critical listener nothing and brought the record industry quick money for a short time. As a customer of an internet mailorder you don’t have the chance to check the condition of a second hand record like you can check it in a record shop. Therefore we select the sound carriers we offer you carefully. We want satisfied customers who can enjoy their purchased records at home without any crackling sounds or other interferences on their drive. We only offer you records that we ourselfs as critical listeners of music would let rotate on our own equipment.

Why records? - The music-lover can make the best and most intense listening experiences in the concert hall, the jazz club or in front of the festival stage. Such impressions may not convey an audiophile oriented chain. But if the music-lover wants to enjoy his music at home, the record is still the medium of the first choice. Provided with a decent listening equipment the good old vinyl is tonally still up to date and outdoes on closer critical examination all of the modern formats. Besides: The listener of records can only smile about the permanent change of the formats of digital media. An old Thorens record player from the seventies plays a record with the pressing date of 2004 with the same quality like an old Living Stereo from 1964.

The cleaning with a record washing machine. - For every friend of the vinyl there is nothing worse than to listen to a scratched and dusty record. Therefore we sell absolutely new and high-quality material only. If there is a record covered with dust a little bit because of its long time of storage, we clean it with our VPI HW 17 or with the LORICRAFT PRC-3 record cleaning machine. The cleaning with a record washing machine is the most effective and most careful method to get the audiophile vinyl dust- and residue- free. A liquid based on Isopropanolalcohol is put on the record. By means of a brush the solution is then spread over the record. The liquid flows deep into the grooves and absorbes all of the dust particles on the record. The Isopropanolalcohol dissolves any traces of fat ( fingerprints etc.). In a second action then the liquid containing the layers of dirt is absorbed from the record by means of a suction arm. This method is far ahead of the cleaning with a record brush because the record brush is not able to remove any residues of fat and does not reach the ground of the grooves. Low-grade brushes do more harm than good most of the time. The brushes very often spread the dust much deeper into the grooves and only the layer of dust in the upper region is absorbed. The result is a musty and muddled sound pattern.

The pleasure of listening - A record offers its whole spectrum of information and tone over high-quality and correctly tuned equipment only. Therefore make sure that your stereo system is linked up correctly, its components harmonize among themselves and - very important - your drive as well as the pick-up arm are precisely adjusted.

Our equipment
Turntable: VPI Aries Scout and Tonearm JMW-9
Stylus: Ortofon Rohmann
Phono preamplifier: Camtech "Phono Verstärker"
Preamplifier: Camtech "Vor Verstärker"
Power amplifier: Quad "606 MkII"
Loudspeakers: Spendor 75/1
Wiring: HMS, Van Den Hul

Our "small" equipment
Amplifier: Camtech "Der Verstärker"
Turntable: Thorens "2001"
Loudspeakers: Dynaudio "Audience 52"

Abbreviated as	MFSL
Formed	1977
Current Address	318 North Laflin Street Chicago, IL, United States 60607-1006
Phone	(312) 491-1836
Web	http://www.mofi.com/
Associated Artists	Various Artists - Labels - Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab
History	Founded by Brad Miller (1939-1998), MoFi gets licenses from major labels to remaster limited-edition audiophile versions of their recordings. Since 1978, MFSL has offered high-fidelity, remastered, "Original Master Recordings" on Vinyl; UHQR Vinyl; Anadisq Vinyl; HQ Cassette, Aluminum CD, Gold CD and most recently; Ultradisc UHR SACD.
Notes	Lists of interest: Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab [vinylography], Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab [cassettography], Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab [aluminum CDs], Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab [Ultradisc gold CDs]