Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MFSL) is a California-based company that specializes in high quality reissues of key, often highly successful, popular albums. MFSL was still in business until 1999.

MFSL began issuing albums in 1977, during the height of the dissatisfaction over the sound of (mainly US) pressings of albums. Most of the decade had been spent by collectors decrying how poor the album pressings had become in the 1970s. There were several reasons contributing to this sense that sound quality had gone downhill.

First, collectors noticed that the Japanese pressings, and in many cases the UK pressings, of albums were quieter than US pressings. This was mainly due to better vinyl quality. Many US albums at the time were pressed using recycled vinyl to some extent, as opposed to "virgin vinyl" which had never been recycled. Second, many of the highly successful albums were being mastered from "master tapes" which were second, third, or higher generation copies of the mixdown masters, not the original mixdown masters themselves. Third, mass production in the 1970s, especially in the US where record sales were at an almost undreamed-of height, had certainly resulted in a drop in quality control. Defects such as warpage were much more common than had previously been tolerated.

MFSL tried to answer these problems in the marketplace with a high-quality reissue that, although priced at about double the price of a standard album, would appeal to those buyers who were quality-conscious about the factors which led to high sound quality. From MFSL's catalogs, the way they put it was as follows:

What distinguishes an Original master Recording LP from any other record?

1. Original Master Recordings are exclusively transferred from the original stereo master tape that the musicians recorded in the studio (not from a second, third, or fourth generation copy of that master tape).

2. Each Original Master Recording employs Mobile Fidelity Sound lab's exclusive half-speed mastering process, thus capturing every nuance of sound from the master tape.

3. Quality, not quantity, is the overwhelming consideration in the creation of each Original Master Recording. The number of pressings is strictly controlled. These limited editions assure you that the quality of the last pressing matches the quality of the first.

4. Original Master recordings are custom pressed overseas by the Victor Company of Japan (JVC). Super Vinyl, an exclusive compound far superior to even so-called 100% virgin vinyl, is utilized to achieve maximum clarity and startling quietness.... Super Vinyl also bestows unsurpassed durability to each Original Master Recording LP, achieving a "playing lifespan" at least five times longer than mass- produced records.

5. Each Original Master Recording is ultra-packaged to maintain flatness and prevent warpage.

MFSL became well known for quality vinyl pressings. With the advent of compact discs in the mid- 1980s, MFSL moved to the issue of "high quality compact discs," many with a gold strike on the disc as opposed to the aluminum surface of regular discs. The "gold disc" was meant to answer another of the concerns of audiophiles, this time the new CD buyers. Rumors in the mid-1980s had it that the lifetime of a normal CD may be as short as 10 years before the aluminum oxidized and the disc became unplayable. This has widely been discredited as a theory, and most people in the business now view regular, defect-free, CDs as potentially lasting decades to centuries.

Nevertheless, the MFSL "gold disc" led the way for many of the other record companies to issue their own "gold discs." Although MFSL seemed to be a stickler for noise reduction, many of the other "gold discs" had little to recommend them over their regular counterparts other than the snobbishness of a higher list price and a gold color. Both Sides Now has done listening tests on various "gold discs" over the years, with the conclusion that the sound quality difference with CDs is much more related to the quality of the master tape than anything else, and in many cases the exact same master tape is used for regular and "gold discs." In any case, the difference that an MFSL compact disc makes, due to the current technology being what it is, is less than the difference that a MFSL vinyl record made when vinyl was king.

Mobile Fidelity went bankrupt in 1999. They sent the following letter to their customers:

November 19, 1999

Dear Friend;

It is with incredible sadness that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab announces its closure after more than 22 years in business. This announcement was made today after extreme, but unsuccessful, efforts were made to overcome the financial blow dealt by the events leading up to the abrupt closure of M.S. Distributing's music division.

Mobile Fidelity has remained a small, fiercely independent audiophile label since its inception in 1977. The company was able to weather and withstand several economic and industry upheavals throughout the years. As you know, for the past three or four years, much of the high-end audio industry has suffered through a recession. Mobile Fidelity, once again, undertook the necessary measures to ride out the downturn - especially with the anxiously-awaited new SACDs and DVDs with video soon to be in the marketplace.

However, in September of 1999, the closure of M.S. Distributing's music division resulted in a substantial percentage of uncollectable receivables for MFSL, plus the inventory it represented. Without access to the funds or the availability of inventory for re-sale, the financial devastation was more than our small company could overcome. Therefore, as of November 19, 1999, the company that changed the way the world listened to music, itself has closed its doors.

Herb Belkin was a co-founder of Mobile Fidelity and a co-owner until his retirement nearly five years ago made this statement when contacted: "I am deeply saddened with the knowledge that the employee-owned Mobile Fidelity - which for so many years represented a major symbol of quality in the field of pre-recorded music - was in the end a victim of bigness and mediocrity. I, along with all audiophiles every - where will deeply miss the musical efforts of MoFi."

Herb and the loyal employees of Mobile Fidelity wish to thank all of our friends and supporters throughout the years. Without everyone's belief in our efforts to make the very best audio reproductions possible, our star wouldn't have shone so bright for so long. We offer our best wishes to those companies that remain and hope they survive this most challenging era of high-end audio.

We sincerely hope that our memory and legacy will continued to be enjoyed for many years to come through the hundreds of classic LPs, aluminum and gold CDs, and even cassettes, that Mobile Fidelity has lovingly remastered for the enjoyment of music lovers, and for ourselves. It was a wonderful ride while it lasted.

Because almost all of the MFSL issues are well-known albums, we have just listed the titles and artists below, and not the individual tracks.

We would appreciate any additions or corrections to this discography. Just send them to us via e-mail. Both Sides Now Publications is an information web page. We are not a catalog, nor can we provide the records listed below. We have no association with Mobile Fidelity or MFSL Records. Should you be interested in acquiring albums listed in this discography (which are all out of print), we suggest you see our Frequently Asked Questions page and follow the instructions found there. This story and discography are copyright 1998, 2002 by Mike Callahan.