Interesting shoot out between Mobile Fidelity (DSD) & Acoustic Sounds (analog) vinyl pressings

First actual shoot out I’ve seen comparing the two different methods of transferring the master tape to vinyl. Apparently there is a difference.

Well, at least they were both 45mm! :roll_eyes: And wow I never knew Scott LaFaro was such a good bassist on that Rickenbacker! :roll_eyes: :joy:

But seriously folks, does anyone know if the provenance of the recordings used for the MFSL and the Riverside are the same? Too many variables to consider, although I’m not defending either recording here.

2 Likes

I watched most of this.
What I did notice, listening via the speakers in my little laptop, is that this guy needs to treat his very live room.

1 Like

With “Portrait in Jazz” he chose one of the DSD one steps which is really clearly inferior sounding than the respective AAA remastering (in this case the Analogue Productions 45 RPM).

After the Mofigate I even bought a few AAA remasterings I previously actually didn’t have (because I thought the Mofi is AAA and I don’t need the other ones). Other AAA’s I already had.

For those interested I list the results here (DSD based one step or non one step Mofi’s vs. AAA reissues). Although in most cases the AAA wins, the results show, that which wins, seems to depend on the quality of the master used and the quality of the remastering itself more than on the AAA/DSD topic. Simply because there also were cases where the DSD based Mofi’s had an advantage.

All are from my batch of Mofi’s I have parallel AAA releases of.

Here the batch where the AAA releases sound better than the DSD Mofi’s:

Miles Sketches of Spain (the Grundman releases have clearly more information, EQ choices may make some prefer the Mofi anyway)
Miles Sorcerer (the Sterling remaster beats the Mofi)
Miles Milestones (the Mosaic remaster kills the Mofi. Mofi must have had a much worse source)
Miles Kind of blue (the Grundman and at least 3 other remasters kill the Mofi)
Miles Bitches Brew (the Sterling and the Mosaic clearly beat the Mofi)
Miles Nefertiti (the Sterling beats the Mofi, EQ choices may make some prefer the Mofi anyway)
Miles In a silent way (the Sterling beats the Mofi)
Muddy Waters Folk singer (the AP beats the Mofi and the Classic Records beats the AP)
Bill Evans Portrait in Jazz (the AP clearly beats the Mofi)
Bill Evans Sunday at the VV (Mofi seems to have a little,more transparency by its EQ than the AP, but the AP, as Portrait in Jazz sounds more organic and palpable/realistic with more resolution in cymbals and with a fuller sounding piano, it might be a matter of taste)
SRV Couldn’t stand the weather (the AP beats the Mofi)
Dire Straits s/t (the Sterling beats the Mofi)
Dire Straits Communique (the Sterling beats the Mofi)
Dire Straits Love over gold (the Grundman clearly beats the Mofi, EQ choices may make some prefer the Mofi anyway)
Alan Parsons I robot (the Classic Records clearly beats the Mofi, EQ choices may make some prefer the Mofi anyway)
.

Here’s the batch where the DSD Mofi’s beat the AAA remasters:

Miles Porgy & Bess (Mofi beats Mosaic)
Miles In concert (Mofi beats Sterling)
Monk Monk’s dream (Mofi in sum beats Impex, especially in transparency, but Impex sounds more open)
Mingus Ah Um (Mofi in sum beats Classic Records/Grundman for my taste, for its transparency/a,Bianca information advantage, but CR sounds more open, direct and dynamic, rather a matter of taste which wins)

.

Here’s one which is on par:

Miles Round about midnight (the Mosaic sounds a bit more open, the Mofi has a wider mono perspective)

.
.
.
I made this list in case any YouTuber or journalist picks one of them and concludes to all of them, which is quite popular but would not be fair.

What’s interesting is, that when the Mofi DSD are better, they are mostly better in terms of transparency and a more of information there, as if a better source was used. When the AAA beat the Mofi’s, it’s mostly due to a more palpable, organic, realistic soundstage of instruments and shape of bass, a more open top end and a more of information in terms of ambiance at a similar degree of transparency.

4 Likes