You’re wrong, there is a noticeable difference between an analog tape and DSD transfer of that tape. It’s not really hard to detect differences. I always suspected that MOFI does not cut from the master tape and written my concerns somewhere in this forum before MOFI debate.
On 29 Dec 2021 here is what I’ve written about MOFI 45rpm Kind Of Blue;
“
I believe one step process records are sourced from one step later tapes or digital in worse case scenario”
Post in thread 'Supersense Mastercut Edition Lacquers'
https://www.whatsbestforum.com/threads/supersense-mastercut-edition-lacquers.33964/post-769482
Anybody can detect it I’m no exception.
Ever since I first heard the term "One Step" I was under the impression that audiophiles / the buyers are delusional in their assumptions what "original" means in the context of unnecessarily playing back fragile, decades old tapes multiple times - not going to happen (whatever "original master" means in the first place - please everybody, be sure to ask a few mastering engineers for their opinion, you'll be surprised!).
Advertising slogan / product blurb aside, step one is a copy, which henceforth may be referred to as the "master", for two obvious reasons: spliced master, not to mention session tapes don't travel (i.e. if one know anything about archive vaults, that's the first thing to learn: nothing ever leaves the premises, and for the handful times it's ever happened, the reported extra cost for e.g. insurance was astronomical), and secondly, whatever is being used to cut records needs to be played back multiple times without deterioration. In the old days, a so-called "production master" (analogue reel-to-reel tape, equalized, and using noise reduction) would be sent out. In the modern world, 24/96 PCM flat transfers were being sent to remastering engineers, more recently (roughly the last ten plus years) 24/192 flat transfers have become the norm. Even if, say, the remastering engineer got an analogue copy to work with, to use a Quad DSD capture of the remastering (usually on the fly via a console, regardless of what the source format may be) would seem a smart move, as there's clearly a tradeoff in taking reel-to-reel copying yet another generation further. Besides, whatever differences we audiophiles hear between formats aren't the same played through a cutting lathe. I've heard worse digital than Quad DSD (i.e. DAT) used and remember being surprised how much of an equalizing effect a cutting lathe has with PCM, that plus the ability to use a Quad DSD master thousands of times without degradation, one would need to be able and compare the end result (as in the comparison of lacquers, which is what I heard, better yet, the finished product), to reach a conclusion. My impression is that MoFi have their reasons, and regardless of what audiophiles may think of them, they are primarily (from a legal perspective exclusively) guilty of false advertizing.
Greetings from Switzerland, David.
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