Needles & Grooves

I think MoFi was around first actually. But no, they're different. I don't think criterion is remastering movies to make them look as good as possible (they don't release 4k UHD) where as mofi is trying to be the best sounding version of the album

No, I own/have owned criterion films from the 90s/00s

And Criterion is really a curator imo. Mofi not so much...

Very different...as @Ponman2003 said, Criterion curates and tries to introduce films to new audiences. MoFi just releases Dylan albums over and over again.

But then what is our prestigious label that produces amazing versions of classics with a lot of detail

Maybe Analog Productions?

There isn’t one. None of these audiophile labels curate or preserve on merit, they all produce ever fancier and more expensive versions of the same stale collection of 50s to 70s jazz, classic rock and prog artists.

That said they do beautiful jobs of those if one hits your taste, they’re just not comparable with people who look to curate definitive editions purely on artistic merit rather than taste or era preference.

I mean mofi curates, they just are not as broad in scope as criterion is.

@Joe Mac is right--there's no equivalent in vinyl now. There are companies that do really great reissues with packaging and extras, but none really curate + preserve. There are companies that reissue rare and OOP stuff like Numero Group, but they don't have the quality of CC. And you have MoFi and AP but they just kind of repress the same popular titles and artists over and over.

I’d also say that mofi actually diminishes the package unlike criterion. I’d say Craft is closer to criterion than any of the audiophile labels. Or I hate to say it VMP.

@Lee Newman you could make the argument that every reissue label "curates" though. You could say that Walmart curates with their reissues on colored vinyl haha. I think the argument is more about curating based on merit versus best-sellers and not really pressing a mix of out of left field titles along with popular ones.

I don’t think we are making different points at all @MikeH i mean given the sources, I’m not sure that numero isn’t exactly a direct equivalent.

I just want deep reissues and curation of important albums, especially hip hop, electronic, indie rock, etc

You’re best reading reading reading and finding trusted music authors/journalists/reviewers and then buying yourself. Getting these old men in corduroy to master and release anything anyway out of their comfort zone is just not happening.

Hey, I’m an old man and I own quite a bit of corduroy and I don’t like comfort zones in music.

You don’t work for MoFi or AP though. I mean I’m not that old, nor that young really, own no corduroy and am happy with my musical comfort zones but by their standards I’m far out...

@bdm105 Criterion absolutely put effort into releasing the best-looking available versions of the movies they offer, often featuring brand-new restorations. They don't do 4k because it's a fairly large investment on their part for a format that's even more niche than standard Blu-ray. But they have 4k source in most cases, if they change their mind down the line.

@kvetcha I disagree then. 4k is the current best looking especially for film that can be scanned at that resolution. Not putting out 4k uhd means they don't care care if the consumer can get the best looking

@bdm105 it only means they cannot justify the expense.