Mobile Fidelity Announces Bob Dylan and Miles Davis Titles

Then there is the 2007 Japanese SACD (catalog number SICP 10082), which is stereo and is a hybrid disc.

 

That is correct...Sony redbook remaster. Moreover, I've never heard this on vinyl or in any other audiofile/hi-rez format so my impressions will be of limited value to many around here. I should have noted that in my original post on the topic.

 

I have this and love the sound but it's Stereo so it will be hard to compare to the Mono Mofi.

 

You guys are great; I need to pick up this SACD.

 

Yeah, me too!

 

Reviews? Is there a preferred mastering engineer at Mofi? Who did this one.

 

I like Shawn; he does very good work.

 

The Milestones SACD was "Mastered by Rob LoVerde, assisted by Shawn R. Britton at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Sebastopol, CA on THE GAIN 2 SYSTEM TM."

I have only a handful of MFSL titles, but among them is Beck's Sea Changes and the Pixies' Doolittle each of which was also mastered by Mr. LoVerde and is an incredibly good sounding disc in my opinion (i.e. massive improvement over the redbook version of each).

 

Will you throw it in the trash if you don't like it?

 

I just listened to both the new MOFI Mono SACD and the Sony Stereo Single Layer JSACD, and I was surprised at the fact that I actually liked the Sony Stereo SACD better.

The Sony SACD is based on the 2001 remaster by Mark Wilder (with 3 additional alternate takes not on the MOFI) as the SACD was released in 2001, and it sounds excellent. No glare, and not, at least on my system, mastered hot. It sounded nice and open, detailed and smooth. Nice immediate sound, with nice high end extension and just enough low end to make things sound pretty natural to my ear. I take it the recording is a three track affair, and the stereo mix is merely a representation of that three track recording (my guess) as the piano is in the left channel, the drums are in the right channel, and everything else comes from the center.

The MOFI, although not bad, just wasn't preferred by me. The recording didn't sound as immediate or "live".. it sounded more constricted and less open. I know it is a mono mix, and maybe I just felt that the stereo mix allowed the instruments more room to "breath" in the mix. The MOFI had a nice smooth tone overall, but had less top end - so it was a bit muted in comparison to the stereo SACD. (The Mofi did seem to have a heavier low end - with a bit more bass response - but that still didn't make things sound more "live".)

I listened to the MOFI SACD first, and it has been quite awhile since I listened to this album, yet right away when I started listening to the MOFI SACD I felt that it just sounded like a "tape" as opposed to a more immediate and live performance. Regardless, I really enjoyed the 48 minutes it took for the album to play out, but I just felt that something was "missing" overall. I was thinking to myself, not having heard the mono mix in I can't remember how many years (and no longer owning the mono LP I had - lost in a basement flood), that something just didn't sound "right". It didn't sound bad sonically, but didn't sound as if it was an "audiophile" presentation. I wanted it to sound more "live" or should I say more alive. That is when I decided to go get the Stereo SACD and play that right after finishing up listening to the MOFI SACD.

Immediately, when playing the Stereo SACD, I heard the difference. I felt as if the music were more alive and as if the musicians were closer to being in my listening environment than when listening to the Mofi SACD. I really liked the sound of the drums on the Stereo mix over the sound of the drums on the Mono mix.

Is all this to say that you shouldn't pick up the Mono Mofi SACD. No. As I mentioned, I haven't heard the mono mix in ages, and have no memory if the sound of the Mono SACD is spot on if compared to a nice version of the Mono LP (i.e., original LP, etc). The Mofi could be the way the Mono mix sounds, and may even present it better than any other version of the mono mix.

But to my ears, the stereo mix sounds excellent and natural - and my preference is the stereo mix on the Sony SACD.

I can't remember, and it isn't stated (from what I can see) but is the 2001 Mark Wilder master of this stereo mix a "re-mix"? If so that may be the possibility it trumps the Mofi Mono in clarity and overall detail?

 

According to the credits of the Sony Miles/Coltrane box set, Mark Wilder remixed this 1958 session (and the following ones) from the original 3-track tapes.

 

Well there you go. I surmise that the stereo SACD is probably a remix. I have the Miles/Coltrane box as well, in addition to the complete Miles Columbia album box set (79 CDs) - but just figured I would compare SACD to SACD.

So my comparison has to be taken with a grain of salt, since the comparison of a remixed stereo presentation to an original mono mix is really unfair. Then again, if someone like me gets more enjoyment out of listening to the more detailed and more "clear" stereo re-mix - then my comparison might be helpful to those who might be on the fence about whether they should go after the Mono SACD (either way).

I'm not going to spring for the MOFI Mono LP when that is released (wasn't planning to do so regardless), but I suspect that might sound better than the SACD - since I have found that in general MOFI LPs where they release a Gold CD or SACD always sound better.

 

I listened to the Milestones CD from the Complete Columbia Albums Collection earlier today and had more or less the same experience; it sounds open and clear, but not too bright. It is a remix, so comparing it to the mono MoFi SACD would indeed be comparing apples and oranges. Thanks anyway for your review, MikeT, which I enjoyed reading.

 

I think my vinyl system smokes my digital system, and my digital front end is no slouch (Naim ND5 XS).

 

I use my DA5ES for everything - it has a built in phone stage, which I would assume would be the equal of the digital inputs (but maybe not).

I am only reporting why my ears tell me, I never meant to say that the same engineers that master the LPs and the SACDs/CDs don't put the same attention to detail into doing both.

And even if I have multiple digital players, those that I do have are some that have been rated pretty highly overall (Sony XA5400ES, Sony XA777ES, Oppo BDP-83SE) - so yeah I guess I could sell them off and buy a player like an Esoteric or some other very highly rated CD/SACD player - but I'm not going to.

Probably the weakest link in my system is the Sony DA5ES Receiver (which is a do everything pre-amp/amplifier/home theater thing-a-ma-jig).

I know this is your forum, where I get a lot of great information, and I try to impart the best information I can. To my ears, MOFI vinyl nearly always bests their digital counterparts (of the same title). It wasn't meant as a knock on Rob LoVerde, Shawn Britton, Kreig Wunderlich, etc.... and you, Steve, being in the business would know better than I.

Did I ever do anything or say anything to you or about your work that would make you seemingly post a fairly "harsh" response to my opinion about what my ears hear?

I didn't mean to offend anyone with my post.

 

Paul Stubblebine and Krieg Wunderlich make the cutting for MFSL with help from the other two dudes. I have sold most of My Mofi LPs, because they sound "bad"... against originals or other LP remasters. Their vinyl reissues are overrated IMO.

 

An "all analog" source has an inherent advantage when played on a vinyl setup (imo).
Records sound "more real" to me. There are awesome sounding c.d.s, but as we have often said here, "it's in the mastering"...

 

Point taken. Regardless, if the sound I hear coming from the Clearaudio Concept (a basic fairly inexpensive table in the scheme of analog audio playback) with the Concept Moving Magnet cart is pleasing to my ears, it should be fine for my uses (even if it is not "neutral").

I guess if we are talking neutral playback, well then I guess I really don't know what is what. Doesn't every electronic piece of playback gear add or subtract something from the digital or analog source (CD/SACD/LP). If you can say that the XA5400ES or XA777ES presents the digital source in a more neutral pallet than my TT set-up, that is fine - I love the sound I hear coming out of those components as well. Maybe in the end I prefer "colored" sound over more "neutral" sound.

I'm not apologizing for my system, and I am fully aware that it is middle of the road at best (with some nice components) - yet I could do better.

Anyway, keep pumping out those Audio Fidelity Gold CDs - as most, if not all your remasters, are very pleasing to my ears - that is why I subscribed to both the AF CD and LP series.

 

Are you talking all recent MOFI LPs or those from before Music Direct took over?

Really you think they sound "bad" - wow. Ok.

Not sure how to respond to that.

 

No chance at all that the Sony is fair to use as a proxy for digital to put up against a nice turntable rig. Really not giving the digital mastering a fair shot.

 

Regarding Milestones, the Japanese 32DP CD is mono.

 

Maybe we can get an A/B once the SACD has arrived? Hpefully, several members will have both on hand before too long.

 

I don't know. On Mike's DA5ES, is the phono pre-amp better than the analog inputs used for his digital players?

(If his receiver is capable of taking incoming analog signals and then doing A/D and D/A conversions, then I'm assuming he has the analog direct mode engaged to prevent this.)