My only experience with MoFi so far has been a copy of Bob Seger's 'Night Moves' LP I bought off ePray for $25.00 that had "only been played twice". - Yeah right. It was scratched all to hell. Never listened to it past the first track I was so disgusted.

What I am wondering is - are these things so expensive because they are rare? Or, is it because they sound so good? If I grab a copy of, lets say, Dark Side of the Moon on MFSL CD, am I going to be blown away by the sound quality, or am I just going to be the proud owner of a pretty rare CD?

I want to know because I am fixing to dump about $50 into a used CD and need to know what to expect. Any experts on this subject in here?

I had a copy of Aerosmiths 'Toys in the Attic' CBS Mastersound in the longbox and I really didn't hear anything special.

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b57/esiefkes/MISC/aero1.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b57/esiefkes/MISC/aero2.jpg

http://i17.photobucket.com/albums/b57/esiefkes/MISC/aero3.jpg

NO idea about the CD version but my copy of DSOTM on a MoFi LP is without a doubt the best I have heard. I have 3 other versions and the I like it the best you hear more of everything in it.

The CBS Mastersound product is in no way comparable to the MFSL product. It's like apples and oranges.

Ebay problem? Enough said. It's a crap shoot with that circus. If you got a scratchy MFSL album from a poor seller, how can you blame that on MFSL? They are a fine company who have released many fine examples. Dark Side Of The Moon is a good one.

MFSL went out of business in the 90's. All of that material went oop and became collectible. Most of that material was highly regarded although there were differing opinions. That's why MFSL ceedee's, and especially LP's, cost so much.

MFSL has reemerged in the SACD market only.

I do think that the MFSL LPs sound better than what was commonly produced in the '70s and '80s. However I don't think that they justify their secondary market prices on sound quality alone. It is the scarcity and cult appeal that makes them so incredibly expensive.

The newly issued MFSL LPs (the company is now a part of MusicDirect, I think) that I've bought recently sound superb to my ears...better than vintage MFSL IMO.

The early stuff that Mobile Fidelity released was good. Later on they sure went downhill. Supertramp crime of the century is probably their best one & then dark side of the moon.

They seemed stuck on doing material that was top 10 on Billboard and you end up with an album with 1 decent song and lots of filler.

To me, the german pressings are better than Mobile Fidelity. And, from time to time, a certain french pressing/italian pressing/holland pressing/etc. are better as well. Overall, I'd say their stuff is on par with the japaneese pressings which are always about a 6 or 7 on a scale of 10.

I see that Elusive Disc is selling new Mobile Fidelity records,so I assume that MFSL is back in the game,doing cds and vinyl.I own Al Jarreau Fly Away Home,and George Benson Breezin on MFSL Lp,and I like the sound,but dont love it.The best Ive heard was my Steely Dan Katy Lied.
Jimmy

Ebay problem? Enough said. It's a crap shoot with that circus. If you got a scratchy MFSL album from a poor seller, how can you blame that on MFSL? They are a fine company who have released many fine examples. Dark Side Of The Moon is a good one.

I am not blaming MoFi for a scratched record. I was just stating I have yet to hear a MFSL album due to the fact the one I did purchase was in bad shape.

I think I am going to try for Synchronicity - it seems to stay below the $50 mark. Expensive!

I've got a couple I've picked up scrounging. I actually bought "Sticky Fingers" new back in the day, but it is one of their less impressive works; I've heard better regular pressings and would not recommend it as an introduction.
I think I've got an Al Jarrrau, Poco's "Legend" , and a DSOTM I haven't played yet; that one I think I'll dub straight to tape at 7 1/2 ips. Generally they sound good, but can't really comment on how much "Better" they are than the regular pressings.
I think if you are a fan of a certain title and it is available in MFSL, you should check it out. Unfortunately, there really aren't that many titles I their catalogue I view as "must haves"

Back in the day when I was in to such things as Nautilus and Mobile Fidelity vinyl, I found them to superior in every way in terms of quietness (groove noise). The mastering was usually better too but as Andy mentioned, it wasn't always the case. IMO, their earliest efforts were some of their best. Pink Floyd - DSOTM, Fleetwood Mac s/t, Steely Dan - Aja, Poco - Legend, Jethro Tull -Aqualung are ones that stood out. Disappointments? Stones - Sticky Fingers, Moody Blues - DOFP (odd in comparison to my Deram copy) and some of the Beatles transfers were excessively hot on the top end, admittedly done by them. The worst I encountered had to be Don McLean's American Pie. It was phasey to the point you could actually envision the tape twisting back and forth against the tape head. A mere shadow of the original United Artists release.

Hmmmmmmmm

i'll have to give Legend a good listen later on.

I am listening to a vinyl copy of Oregon, Distant Hills on MFSL at this moment. Excellent.

Playing "Legend" now after "Sticky Fingers" and it thoroughly kicks SF's ass!

Next up, DSOTM!!!

i've had some great luck with mfs. i have a "who" tommy that is really good.

i know they went bankrupt and are back now.

look into sacd or dvd-audio. very good stuff. i know for sure there is a dsotm on sacd.

i know for sure there is a dsotm on sacd.Just to clarify -- the DSOTM on SACD is not MoFi. (I know you were going off on a slight tangent, but since MFSL did do SACD, it might've been confusing.)

Played one side of DSOTM and it too was very good. Legend may be better to me because of the nature of the material and instrumentation (more acoustic style stuff, less electric and hence more "natural").

Back in the day i purchased quite a few MFSL discs. My "Crowned Jewel" is my UHQR pressing of DSOTM...paid $49 for it at a little family owned audio shop. I played it about 3 months ago for only the 4th time since it was new thru my Marantz 2385 and Bose 901's..:music: ...Absolutly incredible. Sounds better than my SACD version. I gotta agree that Sticky Fingers is the worst I have heard from them. Also have a few Nautilus half-speeds too. I will continue to buy them if the price is reasonable. :thmbsp:

I have an original copy of Sticky Fingers with the working zipper and all. Even that sounds horrible to me. So maybe the stereo masters that MFSL had to work with are crap. Is the sound really muddy to you? With a half assed attempt to boost HF's? I'll have to listen again, but it sounds like crap. Speaking of.........I also have 'Let it Bleed'.......Same sound. I think Sticky Fingers was the first on their own label. Even recorded with their moblile unit..........Anyways, I don't think MFSL had much to work with there.
-Derek:music:

http://www.mofi.com/
Some of the Mofi Recordings are very very good and their back in business.
http://www.dccblowout.com/dept.asp?dept_id=16-001
I have the DCC copy of Jethro Tulls Aqualung, Best I have ever heard:thmbsp:
Good luck findind a copy though, very rare
http://www.elusivedisc.com/products.asp?dept=1347
I've been very impressed with the few copies of XRCD'S I've picked up. very well done

MoFi makes every effort to produce a top of the line product, but it depends on what the original recordings were like.
Some MoFi's are great, Doobies "greatest hits", Steely Dan "Katy Lied", some are the same, Heart "Dreamboat Annie", some you can just pass on.
I just picked up one of their record cleaning brushes.