Worth it? Carole King Ultradisc One-Step Super Vinyl Pressing (Only 10,000 copies made)

Growing up in an audio shop, Carole King was a constant customer favorite to listen to as a test recording for our sound systems or just general listening. Naturally, my father has quite a few of these recordings, and so do many long term customers. In fact we had a previous shootout here. You can read all about it here to check out our notes on the vinyl recordings. 

Carole King’s Tapestry album debuted almost in 1970’s. It’s one of the best selling albums of all time and gained 4 Grammy Awards in 1972 including Album of the Year. It also features evergreen tracks like “It’s Too Late” and “I Feel the Earth Move”. 

It’s been a staple of many vinyl collectors over the years, so when Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab released an Ultra Disc On Step Super Vinyl Pressing, we jumped at the chance to listen to it, after having tested the different recordings of the same album to figure out which was best. 

The Ultradisc One-Step by Mobile Fidelity comes in a high quality box, featuring 2 lps and sealed in plastic wrap. There's a paper gatefold booklet featuring information about the album, along with credits to the instruments players. Black paper printed sleeves are provided to sheath the records. 

Once unboxed, we put the records through Kirmuss Ultrasonic Clean to pull the plasticiser off the vinyl. Then we played it through a showroom system using the Audio Physic Codex, powered by the Soulution 330 Integrated Amplifier. For the source, we were using a TW-Acustic Raven GT Turntable with Graham Arm, feeding into an AIME SEP-7 Phonostage. Burmester cables were used in the mix as well.

I’m delighted to say that the Ultradisc One-Step by Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs ranks as one of the best recordings of Carole King’s Tapestry! The recordings are dynamic with significant lows as well.