Friday, August 12, 2022
MoFi speaks..sort of..
There's a short interview in The Absolute Sound editor Robert Harley's blog with MoFi president Davis over what will always be known as 'The Debacle'. You can read it here. It's not exactly an exploration of the major question concerning MoFi's misleading marketing. Is this what real journalism looks like?
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5 comments:
Journalism at its worst.
TAS - what a schill !
The Absolute Sound ceased to be a serious hi-fi journal a long time ago: too many equipment reviews without listing associated components and no measurements.
I was livid when I read Harley's post; I could barely contain myself. It's difficult to discern whether Harley's interview was a totally a obsequious surrender to assist a paying advertiser in covering up years of falsehoods or covering up for the years that he and other audio "journalists" failed to ask MoFi the most basic of questions. Perhaps it's both.
My question is: has Robert Harley no shame? Instead of asking MoFi's Jim Davis why MoFi had fostered the impression--implicitly and explicitly (their inserts)--for years that their LPs were mastered from analog sources, he pitches him a total softball and has Davis describe MoFi's DSD process. I ask you: is this journalism--audio or otherwise? The fact is that MoFi's current problem is only partially a function of their mastering technology; it's mostly a function of a total lack of honesty. How can you trust what MoFi says going forward? Or audio journalists, for that matter? Inquiring minds want to know...
agree with all above - the TAS blog 'response' smacks of a form of insider treatment that colors much of audio reporting. Missed opportunity for more than MoFi there.
It's a mess. Good case study in crisis communications and management. I think MoFi is actually doing a good job of trying to address the issue, but the "original sin" is going to stain their reputation for a long time. I don't fault the TAS interviewer, everybody knows what the problem is and there's no point in him being combative...just my opinion, but I'm a digital guy so I don't have anything invested in this fight.
I'm sorry that the analog crowd is so hostile to DSD. I think it's absolutely brilliant tech. I also don't get why such incredible care in transfering the master is so upsetting to people who are fine with a copy of a copy of a copy going on their turntables. There is no such thing as "pure analog" in the consumer realm, and I'm a former audio mixer and engineer who loved nothing more than 30ips 1/2 inch for dance and hip-hop mixing.
Still, I'm on the customers' side here--no question, MoFi might have inflicted a fatal self-inflicted wound. Personally I think the hatred of DSD is beyond silly and borders on fundamentalist lunacy, but if that's what you thought you were buying, MoFi is 100% in the wrong here, and I'm sorry for those customers.
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