Victor Martell
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- Joined
- Mar 9, 2018
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I don't have an SACD player, nor do I play SACD files on my system.
But more to the point: I enjoy vinyl records as a playback medium. I like owning the physical copies, the turntable, all that stuff. Otherwise I'd just be streaming everything. Also, I often enough have preferred the vinyl version of albums that came from excellent digital masters. It seems the process of putting the music on vinyl, and getting it back off, can add something to the sound I enjoy. So I don't think the SACD and the vinyl version would sound exactly the same anyway.
- It won't. Vinyl colours the sound, no matter the source - this, in addition, but not referring to the OBVIOUS disadvantages of vinyl. And I admit this, because this is ASR and I am after all an ASRer, so no magical thinking here.
- This is not about vinyl vs. digital, objective vs. subjective, science vs. magical thinking or even about whether those records sound good or not. This is about truth and corporate transparency.
- One of the best analogies I have heard on this is the Kosher analogy! - When a customer (vinyl buyer) goes to the Kosher Deli (MoFi) and order a pastrami sandwich, if that sandwich is the best pastrami sandwich EVER the customer will be happy.
- However, if the reason turns out to be that the sandwich has bacon bits in it, then that is an issue.
- It doesn't matter if the customer did not notice because there was not enough bacon to overwhelm the pastrami flavour (vinyl coloration).
- It also doesn't matter how harmless, after all, the customer won't be poisoned or anything like that - assuming no allergies, of course ( customer got a great sounding record) or if an atheist (ASR) tells the customer that nothing will come out of the customer breaking the rules, because, your know... what atheists think...
- The customer wanted Kosher. The customer should get Kosher and not be deceived. Period. No matter you and I, or anybody else thinks of their preference.
- Now, the interesting question is regarding the pricing of those records. Their top of the line, the One Step is priced similarly to other top of the line records from other companies, like AP's UHQR (not One Step, though) and the Craft Recordings One Step... thinking Impex are also about to get into the game, at the same price point. Of those, in general, think we can trust AP and Impex to be all analog. So the question is: Is all-analog a requirement to consider a record a premium product?
- Part of the controversy is that the market could bear MoFi's pricing because they were an all-analog premium product. Would the market have bear the same price if people knew they were not all analog?
- Now, these are great sounding records. Will they be still considered premium products? Only time will tell. If MoFi have to reduce prices due to a decrease in sales and/or the very expensive items in the secondary markte (Abraxas! ) drop in price, then we have our answer.
- Is that fair, if by all accounts those records are still premium products, apart from the controversy?
- Is that fair, if by all accounts those records are still premium products, apart from the controversy?
- Now my own take is what I hope you would expect of an ASR member that is ALSO a vinyl fan. I won't sell my MoFi or stop buying them, when they issue something I like. They are still great to incredibly sounding records. In fact, this whole controversy reminded me to pre-order the regular (not One Step) 2X45RPM "I Robot" from MoFi just in case it is re-pressed. Disclaimer, never have bought One Steps, my limit for a record that is not a multi set or box set does not go to $125.
- But out of principle I think we should still demand transparency and truth in labeling from MoFi - or from any company for that matter. That what this is all about. Not anything else.
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