Mobile Fidelity - UDSACD 2042 - SACD Hybrid Stereo 

Numbered Limited  Edition - Plays On All CD Players 

Half-Speed Mastered by Kreig Wunderlich from the Original Master Tape

Mastered on the Mobile Fidelity GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc  SACD

Taking off on the commercial success of Toulouse Street, the Doobie Brothers’ The Captain and Me propelled the group to superstar status. Having spent an entire year on the charts after its March 1973 release, the band’s third record features one classic tune after another, including the mega-hits “China Grove” and “Long Train Runnin’.”

 

To many, The Captain and Me remains the feel-good California quintet’s best work. Balanced between Tom Johnston’s harder-rocking contributions and Patrick Simmons’ mellower country-laced ballads, the album satisfies all tastes and displays a stunning array of high harmonies and interlocking rhythms.

 

Mastered from the original master tapes and loaded with detail, MoFi’s Hybrid stereo SACD glows with radiant warmth, organic tones, and acoustic presence. You have never heard the familiar chorus of “China Grove” or romance of “South City Midnight Lady” with such clarity, soul, or immediacy

 

. This is 70s rock at its best!

 

Bass – Tiran Porter
Congas – Michael Hossack
Drums – John Hartman, Michael Hossack
Engineer – Donn Landee
Guitar – Patrick Simmons
Harmonica – Tom Johnston
Lead Guitar – Tom Johnston
Organ – Bill Payne
Pedal Steel Guitar – Jeff “Skunk” Baxter
Percussion – John Hartman
Piano – Bill Payne
Producer – Ted Templeman
Strings – Nick DeCaro
Synthesizer – Patrick Simmons, Tom Johnston
Timbales – Michael Hossack
Vocals – John Hartman, Patrick Simmons, Tiran Porter, Tom Johnston

 

1. Natural Thing  
2. Long Train Runnin'  
3. China Grove  
4. Dark Eyed Cajun Woman  
5. Clear as the Driven Snow  
6. Without You  
7. South City Midnight Lady  
8. Evil Woman  
9. Busted Down Around O'Connelly Corners  
10. Ukiah
11. Captain and Me 

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.

 

Mobile Fidelity believes that mastering systems should be neutral and transparent. The essential idea is to unveil all the detailed musical information on the original master recording without adding deterioration, coloration or other sonic artifacts. 

It is worth noting that Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab stands out as one of few record labels that independently invests in research and development of audio technology. With proprietary innovations such as GAIN 2™, general music enthusiasts and audiophiles alike have reaped the benefit of a higher consumer audio standard without investing in costly new hardware. Mobile Fidelity is pleased to work with a variety of engineering legends and companies including Tim de Paravicini, Ed Meitner, Pass Labs, Theta Digital and Sony Electronics. 

Our joint efforts to seek out the ultimate audio experience, has resulted in significant advances for the technology of music reproduction. 

GAIN 2™ Mastering Technology for Ultradisc UHR™ Hybrid SACD and Ultradisc II™ 24kt Gold CDs 

For over twenty years, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has continually searched for the ultimate audio experience. During this search MFSL engineers and associates created The GAIN™ System, a proprietary mastering technology which brought warmth and ambience to the compact disc format. A few years ago - with higher resolution formats on the horizon - the vision of GAIN 2™ began. As it stands today, GAIN 2™ is one of the greatest technical advancements in analogue and digital technology in the last ten years. It consists of a series of critical modifications and new components to Mobile Fidelity's proprietary mastering chain. 

We feel that GAIN 2™ has come extremely close to meeting this goal. The key accomplishments of GAIN 2™ System are 1) the ability to extract all the musical information as possible through the Ultra High bandwidth analogue tape playback system with proprietary custom tape playback heads, reproducer electronics and 2) transparently capturing and storing that information with the Direct Stream Digital recording system.