Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

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Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL, or MoFi) is a company that produces audiophile releases of classic CDs and vinyl records. In the past, MoFi has produced audiophile cassette tapes, and Ultra High Quality Records (UHQRs) that were thicker and higher quality than typical audiophile records.

Many commercial CDs undergo dynamic range compression in order to sound "louder" when played on radio or low-end systems. Some consider this detrimental to the sound quality when reproduced on high-quality equipment. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab releases are highly desirable due to their attention to detail concerning the audio mastering process. Some of the techniques used are half-speed mastering [vinyl] and pressing gold-plated CDs. MFSL also releases record albums meant to be played at 45 RPM instead of the standard 33⅓ RPM, for better sound quality. These albums must be released on two or three discs, as less music can be held at increased speed.

MFSL only acquires the license to reproduce releases for a specific time period, and because of the limited quantities produced, they are highly sought after.

MFSL became highly noticed in 1981 when they released The Beatles box set. The set comprised of all 13 of the original British versions of their albums pressed off the original Abbey Road Studio master tapes. With the high-density "virgin" vinyl and Half-Speed mastering used, these albums produced sonic nuance never previously heard on earlier Beatles releases. Each album cover had a picture of the actual studio tape in its box along with the engineer's log sheet. An album-sized booklet displaying the original album covers was also included. The box set was such a success that they followed up with a Rolling Stones set.

MFSL has had a small number (4) of excellent mastering engineers over the years. Engineers Stan Ricker and Jack Hunt mastered all of MoFi's half-speed vinyl releases in the 1970s and 1980s. Shawn R. Britton has mastered all the CD-format & variations product since their inception, and is coming up to speed on lacquer mastering under the guidance of S.Ricker as of this writing.

MFSL has been through two incarnations. The original company folded in November, 1999 when their main distributor went bankrupt, taking a large chunk of deliverable money with them. In 2002, the label was resurrected by Music Direct and has been producing well received Super Audio CDs, GAIN 2 Ultra Analog Limited Edition vinyl, Ultradisc II Gold CDs and Ultradisc CD-Rs since then.

Some of MFSL's other well known releases include: