Up For Auction: Super Half Speed Mastered / Audiophile LP ~ In MINT Condition!!!

Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MFSL) Records, 12 inch, 33 1/3 RPM Half Speed Mastered Stereo LP, Pressed on High Definition Super Vinyl (Victor of Japan, LTD), Cat. #1-209, Audiophile Pressing. Featuring: Traffic. Titled: "The Low Spark Of High Heeled Boys".

Song Titles Include: 1 Hidden Treasure // 2 The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys // 3 Rock and Roll Stew // 4 Many a Mile to Freedom // 5 Light Up or Leave Me Alone // 6 Rainmaker.

If you are not familiar with this release, here's some additional information: "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys marked the commercial and artistic apex of the second coming of Traffic, which had commenced in 1970 with John Barleycorn Must Die. The trio that made that album had been augmented by three others (Ric Grech, Jim Gordon, and "Reebop" Kwaku Baah) in the interim, though apparently the Low Spark sessions featured varying combinations of these musicians, plus some guests. But where their previous album had grown out of sessions for a Steve Winwood solo album and retained that focus, Low Spark pointedly contained changes of pace from his usual contributions of midtempo, introspective jam tunes. "Rock & Roll Stew" was an uptempo treatise on life on the road, while Jim Capaldi's "Light up or Leave Me Alone" was another more aggressive number with an unusually emphatic Capaldi vocal that perked things up on side two. The other four tracks were Winwood/Capaldi compositions more in the band's familiar style. "Hidden Treasure" and "Rainmaker" bookended the disc with acoustic treatments of nature themes that were particularly concerned with water, and "Many a Mile to Freedom" also employed water imagery. But the standout was the 12-minute title track, with its distinctive piano riff and its lyrics of weary disillusionment with the music business. The band had only just fulfilled a contractual commitment by releasing the live album Welcome to the Canteen, and they had in their past the embarrassing Last Exit album thrown together as a commercial stopgap during a temporary breakup in 1969. But that anger had proven inspirational, and "The Low Spark of High Heeled Boys" was one of Traffic's greatest songs as well as its longest so far. The result was an album that quickly went gold (and eventually platinum) in the U.S., where the group toured frequently".

Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab has been the undisputed pioneer and leader in audiophile recordings since the company's inception in 1977. Established by dedicated audiophiles, Mobile Fidelity's first and foremost goal was to offer faithfully reproduced high fidelity recordings that would compliment the numerous advances occurring in audio delivery systems. Throughout its history, Mobile Fidelity has remained true to this goal, pioneering state-of-the-art technologies and setting audiophile standards that remain in place today

If you're not familiar with Mobile Fidelity LP's and the painstaking process of making these incredible records, here's some additional information:

"Commercial record companies are in the business of providing a vast amount of music to tremendous numbers of people. In order to do this economically they take as little as an hour to cut a master lacquer disc, which is the first step toward ultimately producing the record you buy in the store.

We require a minimum of three months to make an Original Master Recording available to you. The difference is that we take the time necessary to achieve the kind of sound that not only lets you hear four clarinets, but hear the space between them.

To accomplish this we employ our exclusive "half-speed mastering" method. Normally, master lacquer discs are cut at 33 1/3 rpm (real time), the same speed at which you play a record on your turntable. Our master lacquer discs, however, are cut at half speed, or 16 6/7 rpm, while the master tape also plays at half speed. This allows us twice as much time to get every detail, every nuance of sound out of the stereo master tape and into the groove. It also allows the cutting stylus twice as much time to cut the groove accurately. And we always work from the original stereo master tape, never a second or third generation copy. MFSL's exclusive "half-speed mastering" also allows us to use only one-fourth the power that real time cutting takes. So we never have to push our cutting head amplifiers to their limits. This gives us much more head room for far superior dynamic range, top-end and overall frequency response, along with better stereo separation. And we don't use transformers or employ limiting in our cutting process. Nothing is introduced that will cause distortion or squeeze the life out of an Original Master Recording.

After our master lacquer disc is cut, it is carefully refrigerated and sent abroad, where the metal masters and stampers are made to produce the final pressings. Another long and painstaking process. It takes more than a month before we can hear the results of the metal masters alone.

Then, the pressings are made. And not on just vinyl, but on a material known as Super Vinyl. This, too, must be done abroad, in Japan at JVC. It is the only place in the world where such high quality vinyl is made. Super Vinyl gives us an ultra quiet playing surface. It's a vinyl that is heavier and harder than ordinary vinyl. And it has no "memory"... you can play an Original Master Recording over and over again, without having to let it rest after each play. When an ordinary, soft vinyl record is played repeatedly, the groove walls tend to stretch and distort and the sound deteriorates.

MFSL's exclusive process forces us to restrict the number of pressings we make. Commercial pressings by a top name artist number anywhere from three to ten million. There are never more than 200,000 copies made of an Original Master Recording, so the last pressing is as clear and accurate as the first. With time consuming "half-speed mastering" and our preoccupation with an exact sonic replica of the original master stereo tape, we'll never make all the music in the world. So we just make the best of it. We cut no corners. We make no compromises. What we do make is a record that is as close to handmade as you'll ever find. With us, it's a labor of love. We design every Original Master Recording to challenge your equipment and your listening ability.".

The Vinyl is MINT - (I literally played this LP once!). With Original Inserts and Anti-Static Inner Sleeves. The gatefold cover is very nice. The issues to report: some very minor wear of the top seam - Good Luck finding another copy of this LP in this condition!!

***Please Note***

All winners pay calculated shipping based their choice of service and location.

All of our packages are shipped via The United States Postal Service [USPS]. Domestic Mail includes delivery confirmation. Customs declaration #'s will be provided for International Packages (upon request).

We will be happy to combine shipping on multiple items purchased from our store, won in our auctions or purchased from our website [BackInTheDayRecords.com]. Just request a total and we will send you an invoice with combined shipping costs.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

**WE SHIP DAILY**

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Thanks For Looking and Good Luck!!