Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (
MFSL
or
MoFi) is a company that produces reissues of
albums. All releases are advertised as being
made from the first-generation
master
recordings and
mastered at half-speed,
which MFSL claims allows for an improved sound quality. In the
past, MFSL has produced
cassette tape,
LP,
CD and
VHS releases of a few titles. In addition, each
title is licensed to be mastered, manufactured, and sold within a
specific time frame with limited quantities produced.
Although Mobile Fidelity existed prior to 1978, MFSL's popularity
began at that time with the Original Master Recording LP. The first
titles in the series were classical releases by the Mystic Moods
Orchestra. The label hit mainstream appeal with their release of
Supertramp's
Crime of the Century.
Other popular titles followed, such as
Steely
Dan's
Katy Lied,
George Benson's
Breezin',
Fleetwood
Mac's
second eponymous
album, and
Pink Floyd's
The Dark Side of the
Moon.
MFSL's releases became publicized in 1981 when they released a box
set of
Beatles recordings.
This comprised all 13
original British versions of their albums, mastered from the
original Abbey Road
Studio
master tapes with the exception of Magical Mystery Tour which
was sourced from a copy of the original US Capitol
tapes. The releases used high-density
"virgin" vinyl and
half-speed
mastering. An album-sized booklet displaying the original album
covers was also included. The box set was followed up with box sets
of
Frank Sinatra and
The Rolling Stones.
Compact Disc
MFSL first entered the CD market with its line of
aluminum CDs. The CD line continued into 1987, when
the Ultradisc was first released. The Ultradisc was a gold plated
disc. MFSL claims that the surface is more reflective and that
Ultradisc titles sound superior to their standard release
counterparts. MFSL located the master tape for each title, and the
tape was transferred directly to the CD master.
Comparison and additional information
Prior to
the release of Queen's A Night at the Opera
in October 1992 each Ultradisc branded release was manufactured in
Japan
. At this point, discs were made exclusively
in the US and given the Ultradisc II designation. Many of the early
Ultradisc titles were re-pressed in the US, and given the Ultradisc
II designation.
Current MFSL releases include
SACDs and LPs, as
well as the traditional Ultradisc II gold discs. The original
company folded in November, 1999 when their main distributor went
bankrupt. 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.
MFSL has had only four
mastering
engineers over the years. Currently, Shawn R. Britton and Rob
LoVerde are mastering for MFSL. Engineers Stan Ricker (denoted by
"SR/2" in the deadwax) and Jack Hunt ("JH") mastered all of MFSL's
half-speed vinyl releases in the 1970s and 1980s.
In addition to the regular-weight LP releases and box sets, MFSL
also released several UHQR (Ultra High Quality Release) titles on
LP. Each was a single-record box set limited to 5000 copies, each
individually numbered. UHQRs were pressed on heavy-weight (200
gram) "virgin" vinyl and pressed on the master stamper at the JVC
company in Japan.
See also
References
External links
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