By: Yuer Li

On July 14, 2022, Mike Esposito, a Phoenix record store owner, went public in an explosive claim. In a YouTube video, he explained how the company MoFi (Mobile Fidelity), while priding itself on making original tapes, had actually been using digital files instead. Many audiophiles consider digital unholy, and it is frowned upon. It might be because they prefer the older way (like vinyl records and cassette tapes), rather than the newer digital way.

Immediately, there was criticism about Esposito’s video, especially from bigger names in the audio community.

Shane Buettner, who is the owner of Intervention Records, said MoFi could not have been using digital, because he had seen their process and knows it’s legit. On the other hand, Michael Fremer, a popular audiophile writer, was less polite in his answer. He criticized Esposito for spreading rumors and said that he was wrong.

“Will speculative click bait YouTube videos claiming otherwise be taken down after reading this?” he tweeted.

Both of those people were wrong. At MoFi’s headquarters, John Wood, the executive vice president of product development, knew Esposito was spot on. When he saw Esposito’s video, he was crushed. He’s worked at the company for more than 26 years and is proud of its direct-from-the-master creation chain. Some of the albums Esposito criticized included some of his favorite albums. So, Woods invited Esposito to fly to headquarters. He would later regret that decision.

After that visit, a second video was released, and this time MoFi’s engineers sheepishly confirmed that Esposito was correct. They had lied about the company’s practices.

This video brought shock to audiophiles.

“They were completely deceitful,” Richard Drutman, a New York City filmmaker, and longtime MoFi customer said. “I would have never ordered a single MoFi product if I had known it came from a digital master.”

Article Link: MoFi Records has been using digital all along, a scandal in the audio community – The Washington Post.pdf