Jim Davis Clarifies The MoFi LP-Mastering Process

So a few revelations, well at least for me, are coming to light regarding the current and future MoFi Mastering process for vinyl albums. Having worked in the professional recording industry many of the comments made by Jim Davies, the President of Mobile Fidelity, are not unreasonable, but are revelations based upon what I understood was happening during the current MoFi vinyl mastering process.

In short ALL mastering since early 2020 whether it is for digital SACD or analog vinyl now goes through a DSD capture process unless it is already a digital source.

Jim Davies Quote:
“The last title we captured and cut from the mastertape without a DSD step was David Crosby If I Could Only Remember My Name. It was released in 2022 but was captured in early 2020. All other releases since early 2020 use a DSD step in the mastering unless the original recording is a digital source. Going forward all releases sourced from analog masters will utilize a DSD step.”

Analog tapes are only used, if available, for the initial capture to DSD with all EQ being accomplished in the analog domain. This digital capture process allows for the optimization of the analog tape replay system for each song and/or edit, a process that would be difficult to achieve if the analog master tape audio was fed directly to the cutting head.

Here are a list of the questions posed to Jim Davies, President of Mobile Fidelity, by Robert Harley, editor at The Absolute Sound:

• Why did you decide to master from DSD files rather than from analog mastertapes, as you used to do? What are the advantages of mastering from files vis-a-via mastering from tape, and what (if any) are the limitations?
• Exactly when (what year and titles) did MFSL start mastering from DSD files?
• Could you clarify the precise process and signal chain for cutting a lacquer, from the analog mastertape to the cutting lathe?
• Why are some titles cut from DSD64 and others from DSD256?
• Why does MoFi limit the number of copies it produces, particularly when you can cut as many lacquers as you want when you are cutting from a DSD file, and wear on the precious original mastertape isn’t an issue?
• The revelation that MoFi cuts from digital masters has suggested to many that the advantages of a purely analog chain are imaginary. How do you reply to that line of thinking?

So for answers to the above questions pop over to either Mobile Fidelity or The Absolute Sound; links below.

I suppose that the good news is that everything before early 2020 was mastered in the analog domain directly from the analog master tapes, if they were available. I bet a few of those albums values are on their way up!

Well at least now we all have a better picture of what MoFi is currently doing with analog masters and understand why they are doing it. Including the confirmation that they simply clone digital PCM masters for vinyl production. Maybe at some time in the future MoFi will explain a little more as to their use of EQ and compression for BOTH vinyl mastering and SACD digital file creation.

Yes, it is a pity that the mastering chain is now not all analog as it was pre early 2020, but masters age, have their issues and analog copies are in my opinion and Mo-Fi’s not a good option for a host of technical reasons. As to how this DSD process affects the original analog sound and “breaks” the analog chain I am sure will give rise to endless discussion and debate. Mo-Fi claims the process is transparent, maybe it is, maybe it isn’t, but those analog purists out there will, I am sure, have a “hay day” with this.

As an avid collector of Mo-Fi vinyl and plastic, I have never been disappointed with their “product”. So no matter what they are doing in the preparation of the master audio signal, the final audio product on my system generally sounds outstanding. Always sounding a lot closer to what I listened to during my years in professional recording studio control rooms.

In my opinion Mobile Fidelity is one of the few mastering houses that truly go that extra mile to get all the original sound off that master tape and into the vinyl and SACD so they will continue to receive my full support and patronage.

For the full news release check out the MoFi web site.

Check out The Absolute Sound for the original interview.

Check out this post for the opening salvo on this MoFi mastering issue.