MFSL LPs Provide High Audio Quality
Starting in 1987, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs, an audiophile label, combined several of its pioneering techniques to create long-playing records (LPs) of what is widely considered to be superior sound quality. MoFi, as the company calls itself, was founded in 1977 by Brad Miller, who started his career in the 1950s, when he was just a teenager, by taping the sounds of steam engines.
Miller’s dedication to sound quality is legendary. As part of his company’s multi-step process, an MFSL LP is mastered from its original master recording so as to minimize musical data loss. The company calls this part of the process “Original Master Recording.”
In the second part of the MFSL process, called “half-speed” mastering, the cutting system is slowed down so that musical data can be more precisely transferred from the original tape to the lacquer master disk. Music mastered using the MFSL process also benefits from the company’s advancements in the techniques used to plate the lacquer, as well as its improvements in the composition of the high-density vinyl used to press the LPs.
MoFi received much acclaim for the quality of the albums it released in the late 1970s, such as “Crime of the Century” by Supertramp, and LPs by Steely Dan and Fleetwood Mac, among others. In 1979, the company released an MFSL LP of Pink Floyd’s “Dark Side of the Moon,” which was a huge success. They followed by releasing LPs of high-quality albums in the genres of rock, pop, and jazz. In the early 1980s, the company released a 13-LP box set, “The Beatles – The Collection,” which was so successful they followed it up with box sets by Frank Sinatra and the Rolling Stones. All of these are collector’s items now, since each MFSL LP is produced in limited quantities and sold only for a specific period of time. In 1984, with the coming of the digital age, MoFi expanded its advanced mastering offerings to include MFSL CDs.
Related posts: