AAA 100% Analogue This LP was Remastered using Pure Analogue Components Only from the Master Tapes through to the Cutting Head

Mobile Fidelity - MFSL 2-424 - 180 Gram Virgin Vinyl - AAA 100% Analogue

Numbered Limited Edition - 45RPM - - Pressed at RTI  

Pure Analogue Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich from the Original Master Tape at MFSL

Half Speed Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity The Gain 2 Ultra Analog System

Mo-Fi's stereo Dylan reissues are models of transparency, detail, clarity and warm musicality. The early ones are from analog re-mixes of the 4 track masters that sound better than the originals in my opinion - Winner of a Gruvy Award, chosen by AnalogPlanet's editor, Michael Fremer, for vinyl records that are musically and sonically outstanding and are also well mastered and pressed. Analogplanet.com

MoFi’s remastering is exquisitely packaged in a heavy gatefold; pressing is by RTI, and the surfaces are immaculate. Compared with the veiled, compressed Legacy CD reissue a few years ago, the vinyl is brighter and faster, and there’s more room for the spare arrangements to breathe. While the recording isn’t a standout in terms of dimension and depth, there’s now far more atmosphere and sense of place and time. Vocal quarrels aside, Dylan’s Nashville persona worked, and the album became one of the Nobel Laureate’s best-selling efforts. The Absolute Sound

For an artist whose career is flush with enigma, myth, and disguise, Nashville Skyline still surprises more than almost any other Bob Dylan move more four decades after its original release. Distinguished from every other Dylan album by virtue of the smooth vocal performances and simple ease, the 1969 record witnesses the icon's full-on foray into country and trailblazing of the country-rock movement that followed.

Cozy, charming, and warm, the rustic set remains for many hardcore fans the Bard's most enjoyable effort. And most inimitable. The result of quitting smoking, Dylan's voice is in pristine shape, nearly unidentifiable from the nasal wheeze and folk accents displayed on prior records. Mastered on Mobile Fidelity’s world-renowned mastering system and pressed at RTI, this restored 45RPM analog version zeroes in on the shocking purity and never-again-replicated croon of Dylan’s vocals. Enhanced, too, are the images associated with the calmly strummed and picked acoustic guitars and decay connected to the fading notes.

The dimensions and ambience of the Columbia studio translate via subtle echoes and natural blend of instruments melding with one another, akin to honey integrating with tea. Providing comparably soothing effects, relaxing vibes pour forth from this reissue, which affords this masterpiece the fidelity it’s always deserved. Wider grooves mean more information reaches your ears. “Is it rolling, Bob?,” Dylan famously queries producer Bob Johnson at the beginning of “To Be Alone With You,” indicating the laissez-faire feelings that surrounded the sessions and helped yield the laidback, convivial music defining the album—arguably the most unique in the artist’s vast catalog. While he dipped his toes into country waters on the preceding John Wesley Harding,

Nashville Skyline throws its collective arms around the style in bear-hug fashion and drops any obvious folk references. Everything from the songs’ moods to the amicable arrangements reacts against the era’s turmoil and popular sounds. This beautiful and beautifully executed effort might stand as Dylan’s most effective protest ever, even if many missed the point upon original release. Advocating peace, love, and old-world allure without calling attention to any characteristic in an overly forward manner, Dylan frames the songs as ballads, rags, lullabies, and gentle honky-tonk dances. He adheres to expeditious brevity, keeping the arrangements tight and free of any filler, thus allowing the melodies to immediately work their magic and place hummable memories inside listeners’ heads.

1. Girl From the North Country
2. Nashville Skyline Rag
3. To Be Alone With You
4. I Threw It All Away
5. Peggy Day
6. Lay Lady Lay
7. One More Night
8. Tell Me That It Isn't True
9. Country Pie
10. Tonight I'll Be Staying Here With You

GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ is a proprietary cutting system built and designed by legendary design genius Tim De Paravicini, with consultation from one of MFSL’s founding fathers – Stan Ricker, an audio engineer responsible for many of MFSL’s most heralded past releases.

The GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system is comprised of a Studer™ tape machine with customized reproduction electronics* and handcrafted cutting amps that drive an Ortofon cutting head on a restored Neumann VMS-70 lathe. (*It is worth noting that independent studies have confirmed that the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system can unveil sonic information all the way up to 122kHz!)

First and foremost, we only utilize first generation original master recordings as source material for our releases. We then play back master tapes at half speed enabling the GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ system to fully extract the master’s sonic information. Our lacquers are then plated in a specialized process that protects transients in the musical signal. (Due to this process, there may be occasional pops or ticks inherent in initial play back, but as the disc is played more, a high quality stylus will actually polish the grooves and improve the sound). We further ensure optimum sound quality by strictly limiting the number of pressings printed for each release. These limited editions, in addition to being collectors’ items, ensure that the quality of the last pressing matches the quality of the first.

As you can imagine, all these efforts involve a tremendous amount of time, technology, cost and effort. The introduction of GAIN 2 Ultra Analog™ maintains Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab’s position as the world’s leading audiophile record label, where a passion for music with extraordinary sound quality matters most.

RTI HQ-180 Vinyl

Record Technology is a world class record pressing plant located in Camarillo, California. We have been operating since 1974, pressing for most audiophile record labels and for many quality minded independent and major record labels from around the world.