MoFi (Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab) is a record label known for its high quality, expensive reissues of music. Mike Esposito, however, has a different story.
Mike Esposito, also known by his pseudonyms, Mickey Demeo, Mickey Dee, Michael Dee, and Joe Gaudioso, was an American comic book artist who worked under the employment of many large, well-known producers such as DC Comics, and Marvel Comics from the 1950s to the 2000s. Without revealing who tipped him off, on July 14th, Esposito came out with astonishing claims that MoFi records had been using digital files in its production chain. MoFi previously had claimed that all their expensive reissues were completely made out of original master tapes.
The use of digital is often frowned upon, and rather, people prefer using original master tapes to get as close to the original quality as possible when making reissues. But using digital itself isn’t the worst thing one could do, using it while claiming not to is a grave sin in the world of audiophiles.
Esposito came out with a video titled, “Breaking News: All Mobile Fidelity titles since 2015 Are digital? My thoughts.” In the video posted on his Youtube channel, The ‘In’ Groove, Esposito explains how MoFi’s products are actually digitally made. Comments on the video included critics complaining about how they were being charged premium charges for something that’s not actually analog recordings as they were claimed to be. One such person commented, “Do I knowingly like paying $60, $100, $125 for a recording with digital steps in the production when I thought I was getting an all-analog recording (which their marketing pretty much implies)? Nope. Will I continue to buy Mofi pressings with this info in hand? Not saying I won’t, but I’m definitely far less likely at this point.”
Brad Miller, the original owner of MoFi, was an acknowledged master of recording outdoor environmental and man-made machine sounds. In 1977, he founded the audiophile label, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, or MoFi as it came to be known as. For MoFi, business boomed in the 1980s as more and more people became interested in the product. However, with vinyl sales plummeting, the company declared bankruptcy by 1999. Jim Davis of Music Direct in Chicago later purchased MoFi from Miller.
Eventually, Davis managed to bring MoFi back from its depression in value as vinyl sales hit their highest mark in 3 decades during the year of 2021. In his Youtube videos, Esposito explains how some of the products sold by MoFi seemed impossible to remake without digital, however, he didn’t think much of it.
Mike Esposito, also known by his pseudonyms, Mickey Demeo, Mickey Dee, Michael Dee, and Joe Gaudioso, was an American comic book artist who worked under the employment of many large, well-known producers such as DC Comics, and Marvel Comics from the 1950s to the 2000s. Without revealing who tipped him off, on July 14th, Esposito came out with astonishing claims that MoFi records had been using digital files in its production chain. MoFi previously had claimed that all their expensive reissues were completely made out of original master tapes.
The use of digital is often frowned upon, and rather, people prefer using original master tapes to get as close to the original quality as possible when making reissues. But using digital itself isn’t the worst thing one could do, using it while claiming not to is a grave sin in the world of audiophiles.
Esposito came out with a video titled, “Breaking News: All Mobile Fidelity titles since 2015 Are digital? My thoughts.” In the video posted on his Youtube channel, The ‘In’ Groove, Esposito explains how MoFi’s products are actually digitally made. Comments on the video included critics complaining about how they were being charged premium charges for something that’s not actually analog recordings as they were claimed to be. One such person commented, “Do I knowingly like paying $60, $100, $125 for a recording with digital steps in the production when I thought I was getting an all-analog recording (which their marketing pretty much implies)? Nope. Will I continue to buy Mofi pressings with this info in hand? Not saying I won’t, but I’m definitely far less likely at this point.”
Brad Miller, the original owner of MoFi, was an acknowledged master of recording outdoor environmental and man-made machine sounds. In 1977, he founded the audiophile label, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, or MoFi as it came to be known as. For MoFi, business boomed in the 1980s as more and more people became interested in the product. However, with vinyl sales plummeting, the company declared bankruptcy by 1999. Jim Davis of Music Direct in Chicago later purchased MoFi from Miller.
Eventually, Davis managed to bring MoFi back from its depression in value as vinyl sales hit their highest mark in 3 decades during the year of 2021. In his Youtube videos, Esposito explains how some of the products sold by MoFi seemed impossible to remake without digital, however, he didn’t think much of it.
