Just came across this. Interesting–anyone heard it?
I had not. Very neat concept.
Neat concept. If they can be that accurate I wonder if different stylus profiles would have an impact- probably not but I hope they thought about it. Will it make arm/cartridge set-up easier?
This story has been around quite a while. My only guess is that they got the money $(650k) to buy the lasers and decided to do a new round of publicity.
While it seems like a good idea (and we won’t know until we hear it - remember the elp laser turntable that was supposed to revolutionize LP playback?), I am dubious of the sonic impact of trying to squeeze more playback time per LP side. Elvis Costello did that years ago and the results weren’t great.
If anyone in NY wants to hear an innovation in LP playback you can hear my Strain Guage phono cart with swappable stylus profiles.
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Not sure if its exactly the same but MoFi is producing albums using a one step method described below. Simon and Garfunkel’s Bridge over Troubled Water LP using MoFi’s method is selling on musicdirect.com for $99.
More About Mobile Fidelity UltraDisc One-Step and Why It Is Superior
Instead of utilizing the industry-standard three-step lacquer process, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s new UltraDisc One-Step (UD1S) uses only one step, bypassing two processes of generational loss. While three-step processing is designed for optimum yield and efficiency, UD1S is created for the ultimate in sound quality. Just as Mobile Fidelity pioneered the UHQR (Ultra High-Quality Record) with JVC in the 1980s, UD1S again represents another state-of-the-art advance in the record-manufacturing process. MFSL engineers begin with the original master tapes and meticulously cut a set of lacquers. These lacquers are used to create a very fragile, pristine UD1S stamper called a “convert.” Delicate “converts” are then formed into the actual record stampers, producing a final product that literally and figuratively brings you closer to the music. By skipping the additional steps of pulling another positive and an additional negative, as done in the three-step process used in standard pressings, UD1S produces a final LP with the lowest noise floor possible today. The removal of the additional two steps of generational loss in the plating process reveals tremendous amounts of extra musical detail and dynamics, which are otherwise lost due to the standard copying process. The exclusive nature of these very limited pressings guarantees that every UD1S pressing serves as an immaculate replica of the lacquer sourced directly from the original master tape. Every conceivable aspect of vinyl production is optimized to produce the most perfect record album available today.
Mofi one step LP is totally different than laser cut. But I do have a Bill Evans release and it’s incredible.
We had that it was called Mobile Fidelity… Nautilus, and maybe even some Japanese Imports. Oh minus the the masters don’t wear out, they actually had to create new masters to stamp from.