Queen A Day at the Races Original US Mobile Fidelity Sound CD Edition

Mobile Fidelity is a brand that audiophiles around the world trust. A series of masterpieces created with passion by masters of sound is set to be released. This work contains the CD “UDCD 668” released in April 1996. Queen’s “A Day at the Races” digitized by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL), a manufacturer specializing in analog masters. Mobile Fidelity places the utmost importance on master tape sound. In the 1990s, when analog works were at their peak in the CD market, many high-quality CDs appeared, but MFSL was in a class of its own. Other high-quality CDs are based on the idea of ​​”suppressing digital degradation” by using new technology to reduce the discomfort of compression or reduce reading errors in the material. In contrast, MFSL’s policy is to “faithfully reproduce the sound engraved on the master tape and not add anything extra.” They place the utmost importance on the “analog recorded sound itself,” developing their own “half-speed mastering” technology that also focuses on the stage of extracting sound from magnetic tape. Since 1987, MFSL has borrowed original master tapes from record companies and meticulously digitized many masterpieces one by one. They released the “Ultradisc” series, which transfers the sound of the master tape to CD. Currently, they have expanded into the fields of SACD and LP, but the point is that this work was released on CD in the 1990s. Magnetic tape masters are vulnerable to deterioration over time, and the more time passes, the more the sound at the time of recording is lost. There are cases where the tape is distorted or stuck, but even if it is stored carefully, it cannot prevent the loss of magnetism. Nowadays, it is becoming the case that LPs recorded with physical grooves sound better than the master tape itself. In that respect, the “Ultradisc” series was a great achievement. It started in the 1980s when CDs were widespread, and the sound of the master tape was preserved in digital form before the emergence of the new technology CD, which boasts high sound quality. MF sealed the master sound that was extracted in this way in a 24-karat gold CD. The gold-plated coating, which is over 99% pure, has a higher reflectivity than the metal thin film of regular CDs, and can reduce errors. Although that aim was important, what is now considered even more important is preservation. The polycarbonate of CDs has water retention, which corrodes the internal metal thin film (aluminum) (i.e., rusts). When you hold an old CD up to the light, you may see small dots, which are holes caused by corrosion, and it is said that this is one of the causes of reading errors. In contrast, gold is the most stable metal and does not rust in nature. Of course, since it is only a coating, there are limitations, but it has a preservation ability that is incomparable to regular CDs. “The Magnificent Lace” is clear and natural even down to the subtleties. “The Magnificent Lace” of this work conveys the master sound “20 years after recording”. The sound is extremely delicate and natural. At first listen, the analog feeling is mellow, but the more you listen, the more you notice that the fine details are vividly alive. The difference is clear from the beginning of the first song, “Tie Your Mother Down.” It opens with Brian May’s guitar orchestration, which is synonymous with QUEEN, but in fact, this multi-track recording has a subtle difference in each take, which makes it thick. In this work, even this very slight difference is clearly noticeable. In the current remastered CD, the multi-track recording is treated as a mass, and only the rise of the sound is raised on a phrase-by-phrase basis. However, in this work, the way each take is shifted and overlapped is carefully preserved, and the original heavy feeling of multi-track recording is amazing. Of course, it’s not just the guitar. For example, the piano in “The Millionaire Waltz”. Just listening to this work makes it seem like a light piano is dancing normally, but when I went back to the current remastered CD after experiencing this work, I was surprised. The attack sound of the piano is strangely emphasized, and it is extremely blunt…or even violent. The kindness and joy of the song, as well as the sadness that seeps out, are ruined by the spiky piano. Furthermore, the drums of “You And I” are captured with a powerful force that is just about to vibrate in the original recording, but in the current remastered CD, they are completely over-peaked. This work is just on the verge of that, so you can enjoy the sound that QUEEN intended at the time. Furthermore, in “Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together)”, you can feel the freshness of the master tape itself. In this work, the soft piano and singing voice sound natural, but in the current remastered CD (perhaps because the digitalization was late), the sound is unstable, with uneven onset and unstable sound. The master sound of this great masterpiece has been preserved until the present day because it is a CD by “Mobile Fidelity”. Even if you want to get the actual thing now, it is difficult because it was originally produced in limited quantities. Taken from the original US Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab CD (UDCD 668) Ultradisc II CD from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab “Original Master Recording” collection 1. Tie Your Mother Down *Orchestration is out of sync 2. You Take My Breath Away 3. Long Away 4. The Millionaire Waltz *The piano is rough on the current remastered CD 5. You And I *The drums are beautiful (the current remastered CD is completely over the top and over-peaks) 6. Somebody To Love 7. White Man 8. Good Old-Fashioned Lover Boy 9. Drowse 10. Teo Torriatte (Let Us Cling Together) *The current remastered CD (perhaps because the digitization was late) has sound fluctuations, uneven attack, and an unstable sound. No problems with the original disc