Audio Fidelity Target series - a new low!

Troubled "audiophile" label Audio Fidelity have announced a new series of vinyl and CD releases, supposedly at lower prices, manipulatively called the "Target" series.



Here's a new low, for a label renowned for screwed up mastering, production mistakes, hit and miss repertoire choices, and often sound that is really not much of an upgrade. A low, because AF have now made clear that they are full of shit and aiming straight at the Hoffman cultites. the 'Target' moniker was created solely by Hoffman wankers, and supposedly is the mark of an early 80's European CD with mythical, holy grail sonic qualities. like most other inventions of the Hoffman board, their purported qualities are massively exaggerated or simply non-existent. Target CD's are simply early digital - never taken from original sources, offering muddy, low level sonics that those with marginal systems and/or hard, bright sounding digital players prefer becuase their frequency limitations and mud mistaken for warmth fit right in with their warped world view.



Damn, I could get a good mastering to sound just like a Target - put a resistor across my tweeter to kill the top end, lower the bottom to have no presence, and put a blanket over my speakers to lose the detail - and there you have it, the Target sound.



One Hoffman lemming, a real loser 'Tootull', even complains that Toronto record stores wouldn't take his Targets off his hands, apparently not having got the memo that these are uber-collectable. I can just see this douche going to the used record stores telling them 'but..it's a Target!! They're worth BUCKS!! Steve Hoffman says so...don't you know who Steve Hoffman is??' and being laughed right out of the store. They are early digital, dude. Only valuable to collectors who buy into snakeoil generally.



The real hilarious, gut splitting post on the Hoffman board is from a guy who is looking forward to this series, particularly if they are "flat transfers". He didn't read the "Adventures in Mastering" vomit inducing self aggrandizing promo pieces by Hoffman himself, wherein he declares that "At no time do we just do a flat transfer and call it "mastered"" also saying he uses "equalization equipment and other signal processing gear" - I guess it's hard for the acolytes to keep up with whatever is the dogma of the month.



So why is Marshall Blonstein doing this? Remember, Marshall has no reluctance to take the low road in marketing his wares - his recent Huffington Post 'interview' shows he has a high propensity for, shall we say, 'gilding the lily' - and that he takes himself very seriously. Marshall did the respected DCC label, a knockoff of Mobile Fidelity, true. His ventures since have been rather variable, including Audio Fidelity.



Marshall is doing this to tap into that myth on the Hoffman board, to jack up his cred and sales among Hoffmanites. Pure and simple.



Among more knowing audio folks - Target means early, shitty digital from late generation sources. I wouldn't go near it if he was giving them away.



Already, the Hoffmanites are salivating at the propspect of getting their faves on this new series. Some great titles are being proposed!



Melissa Manchester! Yes! That will sell a bundle, guys. Hey- are Hoffmanites not past puberty yet?



Pablo Cruise!! Laura Branigan! Shiela E!! Wow-ee!! These guys are so lame.



Worse - they have no clue about rights, licensing, or indeed their host's issues with many labels.



Oasis, Pink Floyd, Led Zeppelin - these bands own the right to their recordings. They will not be licensed out - extremely unlikely. Even if they were, Hoffman is barred from touching anything from EMI, MCA, most Universal...in fact, it seems pretty much only WEA still allow him to touch their stuff (and doubtful they let him near a master). Gray has no such limitations I understand.



Even so, there are label restrictions are ownership matters that HUffers just don't understand in the slightest. It's sad to see these people pump their own narrow wet dream without the slightest inkling of what might be commercially viable or even obtainable.



Sadder - left to his own, Marshall comes up with two titles to launch this misguided affair - a record by Riot (yeah- Riot!! WTF??) and a 10,000 Maniacs titles that is ok, but MOFI have already done the gem of the Maniacs catalog - In My Tribe, and AF can't approach the sonics of MOFI, even on a rare bad day for MOFI.



Like I said, a new low for Marshall Blonstein and Audio Fidelity. I think I'll stay away just on principle. I hate being manipulated, and I hate even worse being sold to as if I were a moron.