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Writer's pictureRandy Stepp

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs: The Analog Versus Digital Lawsuit

Updated: Oct 12


Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab logo

As many of you know, Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs was engaged in a class-action lawsuit that challenged whether or not their "Original Master Recordings" were truly sourced from analog tapes as they have frequently advertised.


Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MOFI) settled the lawsuit over digital use in records marketed as all-analog. The United States District Court for the Western District of Washington in Seattle issued a preliminary order approving a settlement in the matter of Stephen J. Tuttle, et al. v. MOFI did not admit guilt, but by settling they do not deny the use of digital sources.


"All original retail consumers in the United States who, from March 19, 2007, through July 27, 2022 purchased, either directly from a Defendant or other retail merchants, new and unused Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab, Inc. (“MoFi”) vinyl recordings which were marketed by Defendants using the series labeling descriptors “Original Master Recording” and/or “Ultradisc One-Step,” that were sourced from original analog master tapes and which utilized a direct stream digital transfer step in the mastering chain, and provided that said purchasers still own said recordings (the “Applicable Records”). Excluded from the Class are persons who obtained subject Applicable Records from other sources. Tuttle v. Audiophile Music Direct Inc., ORDER GRANTING PRELIMINARY APPROVAL OF CLASS ACTION SETTLEMENT"


The real issue? Had MOFI been transparent this would not have become an issue.


All that said, this is now a discussion of which is better, analog or digital? The listener is the only one who can answer that question. That said, give the listener the information needed to decide. Van Halen just came out from MOFI in the UltraDisc One-Step series. Let's hear how it sounds compared to the previous "analog" releases. We will offer a review once it is received.


Below is the "Applicable record list" that shares the MOFI audio source.

  • Alan Parsons Project - Eye in the Sky - 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Alan Parsons Project - I Robot (33RPM) - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Alan Parsons Project - I Robot (45RPM) - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Big Brother and the Holding Company - Cheap Thrills - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256

  • Bill Evans - Sunday at The Village Vanguard - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master

  • Bill Evans Trio - Portrait in Jazz - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Blood, Sweat & Tears - Blood, Sweat & Tears - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - Another Side of Bob Dylan - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 64

  • Bob Dylan - Bob Dylan - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - Desire - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - John Wesley Harding - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 64

  • Bob Dylan - Love and Theft 1" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Bob Dylan - Nashville Skyline - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256

  • Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Cannonball Adderley - Somethin' Else - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Carole King - Tapestry - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64

  • Charles Mingus - Mingus Ah Um - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Crosby, Stills and Nash - Crosby, Stills and Nash - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Curtis Mayfield - Super Fly - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog copy direct to lathe

  • David Crosby - If I Could Only Remember My Name - 1/4" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Dire Straits - Brothers in Arms Digital clone of Sony 1630 U-Matic digital master

  • Dire Straits - Communique - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Dire Straits - Dire Straits - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - Desperado - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - Eagles - 1/4" / analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - Hotel California - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - On The Border - 1/4" / 15 IPS Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - One Of These Nights - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Eagles - The Long Run - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Electric Light Orchestra - Eldorado (180g SuperVinyl LP) - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Elvis Presley - From Elvis in Memphis - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Grateful Dead - Blues for Allah - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Grateful Dead - From the Mars Hotel - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256

  • Harry Nilsson - Nilsson Schmilsson - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Harry Nilsson - Son of Schmilsson - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Janis Joplin - Pearl - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Jeff Beck - Truth - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Jefferson Airplane - Surrealistic Pillow - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Jefferson Airplane - Volunteers - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Johnny Cash - I Walk the Line - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Love - Forever Changes - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Mark Knopfler - Local Hero (Soundtrack) Digital clone of 3M digital master

  • Michael Jackson - Thriller - 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Bitches Brew - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64

  • Miles Davis - E.S.P. - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Filles de Kilimanjaro - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Kind of Blue - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby SR analog remix master to DSD 64

  • Miles Davis - Miles in the Sky - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Miles Smiles - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby SR analog remix master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Nefertiti - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Porgy and Bess - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64

  • Miles Davis - Sketches of Spain (180g LP) - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 64

  • Miles Davis - Sorcerer - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Muddy Waters - Folk Singer - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Paul Simon - Still Crazy After All These Years - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Paul Simon - There Goes Rhymin' Simon - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Run DMC - Raising Hell - 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Santana - Abraxas - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Santana - Santana - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

  • Stevie Ray Vaughan - Texas Flood - 1/2" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 64

  • T. Rex - Electric Warrior - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog copy to DSD 256

  • The Young Rascals - Groovin' - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Thelonious Monk - Monk's Dream - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Van Halen - Van Halen - 1/4" / 30 IPS analog master to DSD 256

  • Vanilla Fudge - Vanilla Fudge - 1/4" / 15 IPS analog mono master to DSD 256

  • Yes - Fragile - 1/4" / 15 IPS / Dolby A analog master to DSD 256

The mastering process is not clearly stated above.


For more information regarding MOFI's process click here

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