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History
of Mobile Fidelity
Jump
to: Pre-1977 | 1977
| 1978 | 1979
| 1980 | 1982-1984
| 1983 and the Digital Revolution
| 1984: OMR comes to CD
| 1987 | 1986-1989
Historic Finds in the Soviet Union | 1989-1992
| 1993-2000 | 2001-Present:
The New Millennium
Overview
Mobile
Fidelity Sound Lab has been the undisputed pioneer and leader in
audiophile recordings since the company's inception in 1977. Established
by dedicated audiophiles, Mobile Fidelity's first and foremost goal
was to offer faithfully reproduced high fidelity recordings that
would compliment the numerous advances occurring in audio delivery
systems. Throughout its history, Mobile Fidelity has remained true
to this goal, pioneering state-of-the-art technologies and setting
audiophile standards that remain in place today.
In
response to rapid advancements in both recording formats and audio
delivery systems over the past several years, Mobile Fidelity has
maintained its ongoing commitment to improving industry standards.
This has resulted in the introduction of numerous innovations in
the audiophile arena: half-speed mastered Original Master Recording™
LPs, Ultra High Quality Records™ (UHQRs), high fidelity cassettes,
consumer alignment devices for phono cartridges and audio cassette
decks, Original Master Recording™ compact discs, the 24-karat
gold plated Ultradisc™ CD and the Ultradisc™ Ultra High
Resolution™ (UHR). To this day the independently owned firm
continues its commitment to exceeding industry standards
Pre-1977
A
history of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab would be incomplete without
tribute and credence to its founding father Brad Miller.
As
a producer and recording engineer Mr. Miller changed the music industry
for the better. Brad Miller had two driving passions - sound and
quality. If you count yourself as an audiophile, you probably
owe Brad Miller some measure of gratitude.
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| Pictured:
Brad Miller, founding father of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. |
Brad Miller (1939-1998), was an acknowledged
master of recording outdoor environmental and man-made machine sounds.
He began his career by recording the sounds of steam engine railroad
trains as a teenager during the 1950's, releasing LP's on his own
Mobile Fidelity Records. In 1965, he founded the Mystic Moods
Orchestra (a.k.a. Nature's Mystic Moods), which mixed the sounds of
machines and/or the environment with orchestral music. In
1977, he founded the renowned audiophile label Mobile Fidelity Sound
Lab. He produced music projects through the companies Mobile
Fidelity Productions and Mobile Fidelity International Productions.
Brad Miller died September 9, 1998.
In 1955, Brad recorded the sounds
of one of a steam locomotives for the first time. He borrowed
his father's Ampro monaural tape recorder along with a crystal microphone,
and recorded passing steam trains from the Burbank tower, and at
Surf, California where he vacationed with a telegrapher friend.
A kind Los Angeles round-house foreman installed a power converter
(32 volts DC to 110 AC) so that Brad could make his first cab recording
aboard a Southern Pacific #4455 engine.
In the fall of 1957, Brad and a
friend named Jim Connella decided to record and release a record
album of Southern Pacific steam locomotive sounds. In March,
1958, Mobile Fidelity released album MF-1. They released two more
monaural albums before the end of 1958. In September, 1958,
Brad traveled through Wyoming, Colorado and Nebraska, recording
locomotives while living on hamburgers and sleeping in his car.
He had purchased an Ampex 601-2 tape recorder and a pair of Electro-Voice
microphones, a battery and an ATR converter. The trip resulted
in Highball, MF-4, Mobile Fidelity Record's first stereo
album. High Fidelity Magazine praised the album.
While recording the sounds of steam
locomotives, Brad had on occasion captured other outdoor sounds.
This inspired Brad's idea of expanding the soundstage to give the
listener a more panoramic environmental scene. Mobile Fidelity's
MF-8, released in September of 1961, was entitled Steam Railroading
Under Thundering Skies. As the title implies, the record
featured the sounds of locomotives combined with rainstorms.
The album was recognized in Billboard Magazine as their "specialty
pick of the week".
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MF
4 - Highball - Mobile Fidelity Records (1959) |
One night in 1964, a San Francisco disc jockey
- Ernie McDaniel of KFOG-FM - played Steam Railroading Under Thundering
Skies on one turntable and some music on his other turntable,
and broadcast both simultaneously. Listeners responded very
favorably, as the station's phones lit up and hundreds of requests
to hear the combination flooded the radio station. McDaniel
relayed his actions to Brad Miller, and Miller spent three months
creating One Stormy Night, the first album of the Mystic Moods
Orchestra.
Among many other productions with
the highly successful Mystic Moods Orchestra, Brad Miller also made
two solo "sound-effects" albums in the late 70's and early
80's. The Power and the Majesty and The Power and
the Majesty Volume 2 which were both released on Mobile Fidelity
Sound Lab. A history of Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab would be
incomplete without tribute and credence to its founding father Brad
Miller.
1977
Mobile
Fidelity's significant contributions to the world of high-end audio
software are grounded in the art of Original Master Recording, significantly
advanced by the company with the introduction of the half-speed
mastered Original Master Recording™ LP. As part of the company's
resolve to provide the most accurate sonic reproductions possible,
all Mobile Fidelity product is mastered directly from the original
master tape as opposed to production copies often used for mass
reproduction. This ensures a more complete and exacting transfer
of the original musical data. In the case of the Original Master
Recording™ (OMR) LP, the use of the master tape is combined
with a unique procedure known as "half-speed" mastering,
which literally slows down the cutting system involved in mastering
vinyl so that musical information can be transferred from the source
tape to the lacquer with greater precision. To this advanced mastering
technique, Mobile Fidelity adds substantial refinements in the vinyl
compound itself and improves methods of plating the lacquer. The
result is a significant improvement in overall performance from
the vinyl medium.
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1978
In February, Mobile Fidelity
ships its first OMR LPs to a select group of audio dealers in the
United States. The high-end audiophile community's response is overwhelming,
encouraging the company to expand further into the audiophile market.
In the Spring , Mobile Fidelity begins soliciting major conventional
record companies for the right to license and remaster commercial
recordings.
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1979
In June, Mobile Fidelity
Sound Lab releases what is to become the benchmark phonograph for
the audiophile LP industry for years to come -- Pink Floyd's Dark
Side of the Moon. The response is astounding as sales exceed
all expectations. Mobile Fidelity is now at the helm of a newly
emerging market for audiophile recordings featuring popular music.
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017
- Dark Side of the Moon - Mobile Fidelity Records (1979) |
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1980
Mobile Fidelity expands on
this initial licensing of the Pink Floyd release by securing additional
titles of significant commercial recordings from all musical genres
including pop, rock, and jazz -- genres sorely missing from the
current repertoire of available audiophile recordings. The Mobile
Fidelity catalog begins to expand as does its marketplace, branching
out from the audiophile community and into the hi-fi arena in general.
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1981
The company continues its
aggressive commitment to the refinement of existing audio technologies.
Further research and development results in the introduction of
two new formats: the first high fidelity Original Master Recording
cassette in and the Ultra High Quality Record™ (UHQR). OMR
cassettes are developed in response to the increasing sophistication
of car stereo systems. Mastered from first generation master tapes,
the OMR cassettes are among the first commercial tapes to be duplicated
at "real time"-- the speed at which the tape is actually
played -- as opposed to the high speed bin-loop duplication utilized
in traditional mass production. The cassettes are recorded on superior
quality audio tape and custom-loaded into proprietary shells. Titles
highlight popular rock and jazz releases.
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The development of the Ultra High Quality Record™ in
'81 signified the growing importance of the collectors' market.
Aimed at the high-end audiophile, the UHQR was unlike any other
LP available in the marketplace. Pressed on specially formulated
200-gram virgin vinyl (known as "Super vinyl"), this superior
quality analog phonograph record was limited to 5,000 pressings
per title to ensure quality standards. Today, both OMR LPs and UHQRs
continue to solicit higher and higher prices on the collectors'
market.
1982-1984
The success of these limited edition
vinyl releases are culminated with the issue of a limited edition,
boxed collection of 13 Original Master Recording™ LPs by The
Beatles entitled The Beatles - The Collection. The Collection
is lauded by critics and fans worldwide and sold-out completely
within the first year.
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BC-1
- The Beatles Collection - Mobile Fidelity Records (1982) |
Based
on the Collection's enormous success, Mobile Fidelity follows with
the release of a second boxed collection in 1983, Sinatra,
which includes 16 of Frank Sinatra's most popular recordings, and
in 1984 with The Rolling Stones, a collection of 11 OMR LPs
which includes an art book with original album cover graphics and
exclusive interviews with the original producers and recording engineers.
All three collections meet with critical acclaim and are destined
to increase in value as collectors' items.
During
this time, Mobile Fidelity also introduces related products into
the marketplace, most notably, alignment devises for consumer use:
"Geo-Disc" for phono cartridges and "Geo-Tape"
for audio cassette decks. These products allow consumers to make
user-friendly precision adjustments to home stereo components at
a fraction of the cost of the existing technologies. Both the Geo-Disc
and Geo-Tape are instrumental in making consumers aware of the importance
of stereo maintenance and the potential for permanently losing musical
data via an improperly aligned component.
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1983
and the Digital Revolution
The entire recording community
undergoes a profound change as the digital revolution begins to
take hold. In response to the industry's new-found commitment to
the compact disc, Mobile Fidelity immediately begins exploring ways
to refine existing digital technology. The company considers the
standard CD mastering process itself; utilization of production
copies as source tapes, thereby degenerating the transfer process.
Mobile Fidelity continues its reliance on original master tapes,
which are carefully scrutinized by engineers who reject those which
do not respond to proprietary restoration techniques so that only
the most pristine tapes are retained for mastering.
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1984 OMR Comes To CD
As a result of a time-intensive
process which incorporates advanced mastering techniques and custom-designed
equipment, the Original Master Recording™ compact disc --
the first limited edition, audiophile quality CD -- is introduced
by Mobile Fidelity with the release of Sonny Rollins' Way Out
West.
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The OMR CD series continues and represents a wide variety of musical
genres including pop, rock, jazz, blues, classical, gospel, comedy
and soundtrack titles, all CD-exclusive to Mobile Fidelity.
1987
Further refinements to the OMR
compact disc results in the launch of the Ultradisc™ -- a
limited edition, collectible, 24-karat gold plated, audiophile CD
which quickly becomes the audiophile standard among industry leaders.
Responding to a growing unrest with traditionally produced CDs,
the Ultradisc™ is developed after years of research which
yields the most advanced, sonically accurate CD available on the
market. In addition to proprietary mastering techniques, perfected
through thousands of hours of listening evaluations, and custom-designed
equipment, Mobile Fidelity engineers add perhaps the most essential
ingredient of all -- time. engineers work solely on one project
at a time, paying meticulous attention to every phase of the mastering
process, beginning with a careful inspection of the original master
tape. Custom-designed equipment includes a playback machine which
is aligned to mirror the recording-heads of the equipment used in
the original mastering process. Other refinements involve the use
of music itself as a test signal to adjust the reproducing machine,
as opposed to commonly used test tones which are incapable of revealing
the delicate spectral balance required for exact reproductions.
Advanced manufacturing methods involve custom-pressing discs in
a carefully controlled, limited output CD ROM pressing plant which
adhere to Mobile Fidelity's exacting standards of production. The
use of 24-karat gold as a CD coating is the result of extensive
research which revealed that gold naturally resisted the oxidation
sometimes associated with aluminum discs, thereby ensuring that
the Ultradisc™ virtually lasts forever. Gold coating also
eliminates the pinholes common to aluminum discs, which require
error-correction on the part of compact disc players.
The first Ultradisc™, a Jazz
Sampler containing a variety of selections from Mobile Fidelity's
OMR CD collection, is released to significant critical acclaim.
This is followed with a Classical sampler and popular titles licensed
from major recording companies for limited periods of time.
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The
Ultradisc™ Series, like the OMR CD Series, remains an ongoing
concern of Mobile Fidelity's. The Series is as historically significant
as it is sonically, representing a cross section of classic releases
from a variety of musical styles including rock, pop, blues and
jazz. Artists represented include Elton John, Sting, Pink Floyd,
The Who, B.B. King, Eric Clapton, Stevie Wonder, John Coltrane,
Jimmy Reed, Frank Sinatra, The Allman Brothers, Cannonball Adderley
and Miles Davis.
1986-1989
Historic Finds in the Soviet Union
As the company flourishes, making
innovative strides in the technical arena, innovations of a cultural
and business nature began to take shape. In 1986, following extensive
negotiations, Herbert A. Belkin, as president and owner of Mobile
Fidelity Sound Lab, makes the first of three separate agreements
with the Soviet Union, contracting with Melodiya -- the official
State-owned recording label and the world's largest record producer
-- to name Mobile Fidelity as the exclusive distributor of Melodiya
recordings in North America. In return, Mobile Fidelity would provide
the Soviets with audiophile quality digital remasters for their
vaults. Boasting a vast treasure trove of Soviet classical recordings
numbering well into the tens of thousands, the Melodiya label also
housed a remarkable, yet lesser-known collection of Soviet jazz
recordings. Upon this intriguing discovery, Mobile Fidelity immediately
launches the USSR Jazz Showcase Series, for the first time exposing
American jazz audiences to an entirely new realm of Soviet music,
one that has proven both musically and historically significant.
A second agreement soon follows,
this time with the Soviet broadcasting authority, Gosteleradio,
to distribute their extensive recorded library. These cross-cultural
partnerships culminated in 1989 with the establishment of Art and
Electronics (A&E), a joint venture between Mobile Fidelity,
the Union of Composers of the USSR, "Soyuzconcert"(the
Soviet domestic concert-booking agency), and "Electronica"(the
Soviet manufacturer and retailer of consumer electronic goods).
The result is a recording company that comprises the first independent,
Russian-based alternative to Melodiya. Moscow-based, with branch
offices in Vilnius, Lithuania and a state-of-the-art recording studio
maintained by Mobile Fidelity in the Moscow Conservatory of Music,
A&E recorded Soviet classical and jazz artists for both Soviet
and U.S. distribution via an arrangement with MCA Music Entertainment
Group.
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This American-Soviet joint venture was among the earliest of its
kind. throughout the following five-year period, with only 450 of
the 5000 officially such registered ventures surviving their first
six months, A&E remained a viable business, recording and distributing
98 titles.
1989-1992
Throughout Mobile Fidelity Sound
Lab's history, the company has maintained a high profile in the
professional audiophile world as well as in the world of the selective
audio consumer. As an outgrowth of its groundbreaking partnerships
with Soviet concerns, the firm has contributed substantially to
other aspects of the cultural arena, namely as sponsor of the first
North American exhibit of Lithuanian photographers, which debuted
in Los Angeles in January of 1990.
Mobile Fidelity has also assumed
a leadership role in generating funds for a variety of causes including
generous donations to the Armenian Relief Society in 1989 for aid
to the Armenian earthquake victims, to the Special Olympics for
the handicapped in 1987, to the Hurricane Hugo Relief Fund for 1989
hurricane victims in the Eastern U.S., to the study of Auto Immune
Deficiency in 1990 and again in 1992 with the Mercury-Phoenix Trust
for the study of AIDS.
As a natural outgrowth of
ongoing research, in September of 1992 the company launched Ultradisc
II™, a new and improved Ultradisc™ formulation which
boasts an advanced bonding process as well as a thicker gold coating.
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1993-2000
1993:
Mobile Fidelity continues to test the limits of existing audio technologies
with the development of the new GAIN™ System of mastering equipment.
This technology affects both analog and digital products from Mobile
Fidelity, and has led to startling advancements in the impact of recorded
sound.
1994:
The company returns to vinyl production with the introduction of
the ANADISQ™ 200 LP series, which features half-speed mastering
with the GAIN System technology, numbered limited editions, 200
gram super quality virgin vinyl and special heavy-duty jackets with
rice paper inner sleeves.
1997:
Mobile Fidelity engineers actively investigate several emerging -and
competing - audio technologies. Theta Digital upgrades the GAIN™
A/D converter to 24/96 and further research and experimentation is
conducted regarding this technology.
1998:
Mobile Fidelity creates one of the first 24bit/96kHz DVD's based on
audio under the DVD video specification as a showcase technology piece
for the CES Show in Las Vegas.
During this same period MFSL engineers
start research, experiments and testing with the Sony/Philips Direct
Stream Digital (DSD) system
Mobile Fidelity prepares for the
future and introduces the GAIN 2™ system developed by an international
team of engineers. This system consists of a custom tape head and
hand made reproducer electronics achieving unprecedented bandwidth.
Synergistically matched to a 2.8 MHz DSD A/D converter and precision
down-converted to PCM for Ultradisc II releases.
1999:
Mobile Fidelity releases its first GAIN 2™ Hybrid SACD, Duke
Ellington's, Blues in Orbit. Mobile Fidelity's main distributor
declares bankruptcy and MFSL Inc. closes it's doors.
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2001-Present:
The New Millennium
2001:
Jim Davis of Music Direct in Chicago purchases
the proprietary mastering chain and all intellectual property associated
with the Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab name. A team of MFSL veterans
is assembled to helm technical and engineering departments. Emphasis
is placed upon research and development of the mastering chain in
both the analog and digital domains.
2002:
The Tim de Paravacini designed GAIN
2 Ultra Analog LP cutting system is installed later that year. Extensive
system tweaking and testing is conducted throughout the fall.
Three
critically acclaimed Patricia Barber titles are released on the
company's new Ultradisc UHR™ (Ultra High Resolution) hybrid
SACD format. Cafe Blue wins Best High-Resolution Recording
of 2002 in Sound Stage! magazine.
MFSL
signs a distribution agreement with Koch Entertainment.
2003:
The highly successful Ultradisc UHR™ SACD series is expanded
with releases by the Kinks, Aimee Mann, John Coltrane, Miles Davis,
Isaac Hayes, Dave Alvin, and Sonny Rollins.
The
legendary Ultradisc II 24 KT. Gold CD line is reintroduced by nothing
less than John Lennon's Imagine, featuring remixes and mastering
personally approved by Yoko Ono herself.
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Pictured:
The John Lennon Imagine Ultradisc II 24 KT. Gold CD
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The
new GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog vinyl mastering system is unveiled
and MFSL will begin issuing records featuring Alison Krauss, the
Kinks, John Lennon, Aimee Mann, Patricia Barber, Isaac Hayes, Dave
Alvin, and Sonny Rollins among other artists to be announced.
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Pictured
(Left to Right): Cutting engineer Krieg Wunderlich and Don
McGuiness (RTI) inspecting the GAIN 2™ Ultra Analog
system. |
At
Home Entertainment 2003 in San Francisco, MFSL announces it's
entrance in the surround channel market with the release of Ravel's
Bolero and Assorted Orchestral Works on Ultradisc
UHR™ SACD.
2004: MFSL aggressively expands
its catalog with ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING releases by Blood Sweat
and Tears, RL Burnside, the Chieftains, Jim Hall, Holst, John Lennon,
Los Lobos, Aimee Mann, Mike Marshall, and Mussorgsky. The incredible
OML-1 & OML-2 loudspeakers are introduced providing an astonishing
price/performance value to discerning audiophiles. The 24 karat
Gold Ultradisc CD-R is introduced to the consumer media market and
distributed nationally by Guitar Center.
2005: A diverse array of ORIGINAL
MASTER RECORDINGs by Patricia Barber, Blood, Sweat and Tears, Earth,
Wind and Fire, Bela Fleck Gershwin, Smetana, the Edgar Winter Group,
and Ravel further strengthen and expand MFSL's position as the world's
leading audiophile label.
2006: MFSL reissues a diverse
array of ORIGINAL MASTER RECORDING releases by the Byrds, Coleman
Hawkins, Alison Krauss, John Lennon, Little Richard, Pat Martino,
Megadeth, Natalie Merchant, Gerry Mulligan, Prokofiev, Madelaine
Peyroux, and Yes among others. The 24 karat gold Ultradisc DVD-R
is released.
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Mobile Fidelity remains committed to the original goals of the company
-- making music sound its absolute best, regardless of the time and
cost involved. With this philosophy as its cornerstone, Mobile Fidelity
will no doubt maintain its role as pioneer and world industry leader,
constantly striving to improve the sonic integrity of new and existing
audio technologies.
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