Review of the Eric Clapton's album Unplugged with the MOFI Ultradisc One Step Vinyl and MOFI SACD

[Jean.Francois]

I have added the One Step vinyl version and the SACD to the 8 other versions (Vinyls, CDs, DVD stereo, DD 5.1, Streaming).
This album is not affected by the DSD MOFI problem because it is based on a digital recording.

MOFI does a great job on the mastering, that's what brings the difference in sound between the original versions and the MOFI version.

For the mastering, the graph below compares the spectrum of the original CD version and the SACD MOFI version.We can see corrections in the treble with more than 5 dB difference (yellow zone) and in the bass (green zone).Both versions cut at 22 kHz, which indicates the use of a master with a sampling rate of 44.1 kHz.

Mofi SACD (white) vs Original CD (Blue)

Between the MOFI vinyl and SACD versions, the master between the two versions is not identical.The graph below compares the spectrum of MOFI vinyl and Mofi SACD.There is a small difference in the low frequencies mainly below 100 Hz (green area) and a peak in the high frequencies above 15 kHz of more than 5 dB (yellow area).The yellow arrow also shows the cut-off at 22 kHz.

MOFI Vinyl (white) vs MOFI SACD (Blue)

You will find the samples to listen to in order to get an idea of the differences between the 10 versions and all the measurements (DR, Spectrum, waveform, ...) here

 

[RammisFrammis]

That's a lot of work. Thanks.

 

[Marc v E]

Thank you for your effort and sharing! I noticed you said in the mofi sacd review something that I have experienced on several sacd/cd remasters. That they sound somewhat softer and warmer.

Looking at the graphs does that seem to be a delibirate mastering choice?

 

[DVDdoug]

There is a small difference in the low frequencies mainly below 100 Hz (green area) and a peak in the high frequencies above 15 kHz of more than 5 dB (yellow area).

Overall a pretty good match.

I never expect a phono cartridge to be perfectly flat and the high-end peak could be resonance with the load capacitance. Higher capacitance can lower the resonance, bringing it down toward the "audio range" and making a peak. Back in the vinyl days I used to think more capacitance would roll-off the highs, but that would be an RC filter not LC resonant circuit.

I doubt the cutting head and overall cutting process are "perfectly flat" either.

 

[Jean.Francois]

Overall a pretty good match.

I never expect a phono cartridge to be perfectly flat and the high-end peak could be resonance with the load capacitance. Higher capacitance can lower the resonance, bringing it down toward the "audio range" and making a peak. Back in the vinyl days I used to think more capacitance would roll-off the highs, but that would be an RC filter not LC resonant circuit.

I doubt the cutting head and overall cutting process are "perfectly flat" either.

the frequency response of the cartridge is linear, I worked on this before measuring the vinyls ( cf https://httmv.blogspot.com/2020/11/preampli-riaa-xono-adaptation-des.html ), the peak above 15 kHz is due to the mastering of the vinyl by MOFI.

The graph below represents the comparison between the original vinyl (blue) and the MOFI vinyl (white)
The coloured area shows the differences between these two mastering and pressing processes. The yellow area shows the specificity of the MOFI master with the attenuation and the rise above 10 kHz.

 

[Suffolkhifinut]

Thank you for your effort and sharing! I noticed you said in the mofi sacd review something that I have experienced on several sacd/cd remasters. That they sound somewhat softer and warmer.

Looking at the graphs does that seem to be a delibirate mastering choice?

Found the softer and warmer sound that occurs on some SACDs is more pronounced on some players than in others. Playing them on my Denon DVD-A11 it isn’t noticeable. Had a Sony SACD player years back, sorry can’t remember which model and on that particular player it was very noticeable.

 

[Jean.Francois]

Thank you for your effort and sharing! I noticed you said in the mofi sacd review something that I have experienced on several sacd/cd remasters. That they sound somewhat softer and warmer.

Looking at the graphs does that seem to be a delibirate mastering choice?

Thanks Marc,

As Suffolkhifinut says, SACD players can have more or less soft rendering, which impacts the final sound. The curve shows an attenuation of the treble during mastering, it is the SACD disc that contains this modification, so it is indeed a choice of mastering to give this sound rendering.
Afterwards, depending on your listening system, it can give a better rendering or not.

 

[Snoopy]

Crazy amount of work. Respect!

I wish more people would care about master's and different versions of songs.
All I read on ASR is sinad numbers.. 120..121.. 125.. at lower prices etc.
Yet people listen to a compressed tidal track with a DR of 5. But it's on Qobuz in 192khz or 384khz MQA ..

 

[spiral scratch]

Thanks for sharing your work here. It's really great to see the breakdown of the various formats along with your own impressions of presentation. It's helping me to understand what I perceive to be hearing. I think it also helps to explain the vinyl bias with the digital trend for compression but also clearly shows that not all digital is compressed and when digital bandwidth is properly utilized makes for excellent sound. I love the album too.

It's something that's been of interest to me for a while now. Since I've been able to capture vinyl digitally I've been comparing various pressings and formats of recordings. I don't have the capacity to analyze things to your level, I'm just using my ears to make comparisons. It definitely changed my vinyl bias towards embracing digital again. On the other hand when I looked at your breakdown of "Oxygen" it appears to me that there hasn't been a really properly translated digital version yet.