Steely Dan Gaucho Original US Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab

The latest release of the popular “Mobile Fidelity” CD reissue series has been confirmed. Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL), a manufacturer specializing in analog masters, is a trusted brand that is supported by audiophiles around the world. With the utmost passion, sound masters have digitized many great albums from master tapes. Among the series, this work includes the CD “UDCD 545” released in 1991. It is the masterpiece “GAUCHO”, which was made with a huge amount of time and production costs. In the 1990s, when the CD conversion of Mobile Fidelity analog works, which placed the utmost importance on master tape sound, reached its peak, 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 have developed their own “half-speed mastering” technology that focuses on the stage of extracting sound from magnetic tape, placing the utmost importance on “the analog recorded sound itself”. 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 are also expanding into the fields of SACD and LP, but the point is that this work was made into a CD in the early 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 digitally recorded before the arrival of the new technology CD, which boasted high sound quality. The original “GAUCHO” is not poisoned by the image of “how it should be.” This work “GAUCHO” conveys the master sound “11 years after recording.” The sound is truly original. The design at the time of production flows beautifully from the speakers. The difference from the current remastered CD is immediately clear at the beginning. The first song “Babylon Sisters” is led by vivid drums, and various instruments intertwine to create a fantastic sound space. There is no mistake in that image, but the current CD is too caught up in that impression. In the first place, the echo feeling that is overlaid is even thicker, making it half like a bathroom, and each beat of the drums stands out as if they are breaking through the sound. This is already in the realm of deformation. The image of the song is certainly the same in this work that reproduces the master tape, but it is not so contrived. Each instrument feels natural, and you can feel the breathing of the instruments responding to each other’s sounds. Rather than listening to “Babylon Sisters” itself, the current remastered CD feels like listening to a preconceived notion of what the song should be like. And this preconceived notion doesn’t just apply to a single song. The second song, “Hey Nineteen,” is a song that is driven by a tight beat, but the current remastered CD changes it too drastically. The bathroom echo from before is wiped away in an instant, and the peaks of the sounds are emphasized as if they were being hit one by one. To exaggerate a little, it’s like a CD of a completely different band was suddenly played. In this respect, this work is natural. Of course, the idea of ​​the song has changed from “Babylon Sisters,” but the feeling that the same band is playing has not changed at all, and the ups and downs of the work as a whole create a “flow.” This is also the result of the current CD being swept away by the image of “Hey Nineteen should be like this.” Remastered CDs are the product of an era when every detail was already famous, and they have been repainted by engineers who say, “This is the song it was,” or “We have to make a big impact here.” However, this work has no such consciousness at all, and whether it is a single song or the entire album, it is depicted as it was when it was first released, as if it were being introduced to listeners. The master sound of a great album that has been preserved to this 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. This release is to allow as many people as possible to experience that beautiful sound. “Gaucho” is released on the high-quality CD label “Mobile Fidelity.” Unlike the current remastered CDs that have been altered with a later image of “how it should be,” this is the best sound album with the original natural feel intact. Taken from the original US Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab CD(UDCD 545) Ultradisc II CD from Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab “Original Master Recording” Collection (38:15) 1. Babylon Sisters 2. Hey Nineteen 3. Glamor Profession 4. Gaucho 5. Time Out Of Mind 6. My Rival 7. Third World Man