Hot Stamper Pressings of Classic Rock Albums Available Now
Sonic Grade: F
An audiophile hall of shame pressing and another MoFi LP reviewed and found to be tonally way off the mark.
The last time I played a copy of the MoFi pressing I could not believe how ridiculously bright it was.
It’s interesting to note that some of the brightest records this atrocious label ever released came out about the same time as this one.
Aja is number 033
Night Moves is number 034.
Tea for the Tillerman is number 035
Are you seeing a pattern here?
Three dogs in a row, all suffering from the same problem: they’re way too bright.
Did MoFi buy some dull studio monitors right before they mastered these awful pressings?
Did a tweeter or two blow and no one noticed?
Did Stan Ricker have wax buildup in his ears?
What could account for records that are bright enough to peel the paint?
Some mysteries will never be solved, and I would bet this is one of them.
But really, what difference does it make? We should all know to avoid this company’s products by now, and that includes all three eras of records produced by this label:
That should pretty much cover it.
Never buy any record on this label (except the one we sell) if you are interested in top quality sound, and if you own any, get rid of them and replace them with records that actually sound good (like the ones we sell).
Further Reading
- New to the Blog? Start here
- More on the subject of Half-Speed mastering
- Record collecting advice for audiophiles from A to Z
If you are still buying these remastered pressings, making the same mistakes that I was making before I knew better, take the advice of some of our customers and stop throwing your money away on Heavy Vinyl and Half-Speed mastered LPs.
At the very least let us send you a Hot Stamper pressing — of any album you choose — that can show you what is lacking on your copy of the album.
And if for some reason you disagree with us that our record sounds better than yours, we will happily give you all your money back and wish you the very best.