OFF: frrrrrrrrrrripp! and stuff

[Paul Mather]

On Wed, 11 Nov 1998, Laj Waldner wrote:

=> To my knowledge the BOC King Biscuit is slated for sometime in the beginning of
=> next year, so I guess it's still going to be released, I think it will probably be
=> only one CD though, it's supposed to be a recording from '86 in Santa Monica
=> California, the one with "Wings of Mercury" on it. What they really need is a Live
=> album from this year, something with a bit of the HF material.

But, I presume, KBFH releases just KBFH material, so it is unlikely that
they'd release a '98 gig.

=> I think they will be, Mobile Fidelity did a great job with Agents of Fortune, and
=> from the other Gold albums I have seen from other groups, it seems that they do
=> really good work.

Yes, they do.  If nothing else, those lift-lock CD cases are to die for! :-)

=> > Quick question: How much better was the redone AoF soundwise? I was not
=> > around for that set of conversations.
=>
=> Quick answer: A bit ;-).
=>
=> The dynamics are definitely better, I don't  know much about why sound quality is
=> better on Gold discs than standard ones, I do know they cost more ;-). If you
=> listen to Agents quite a bit, it's definitely worth buying though.

Although, for pragmatic reasons, the "gold discs sound better" is
essentially bogus, the actual reason MoFi releases sound better is
painfully simple: they take due care with remastering their releases!
This means, amongst other things, that they seek out original master
tapes (not Nth generation safety masters), don't reprocess the shit out
of it, etc.  The result is a great transfer, with an eye on sound
quality at all times.

They press using a gold substrate to justify the higher release cost, I
reckon, i.e., to make Joe Public thing he's getting something tangible
for his extra bucks.  (Which, in fact, he is: better sound quality!)

=>  For Web Addresses, here's the KBFH site, and the Mobile Fidelity Site.
=>
=>  http://www.king-biscuit.com/
=>
=>  http://www.mofi.com/

And don't forget DCC Compact Classics (http://www.DCCcompact.com/), who
may be even more A.R. than MoFi when it comes to high-quality
remastering!  Their _Aqualung_ ist sehr gut.

Cheers,

Paul.

obCD: Shakti, _Shakti, with John McLaughlin_

e-mail: paul at gromit.dlib.vt.edu

"I didn't mean to take up all your sweet time"
        --- James Marshall Hendrix