On July 3, 2025, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (affectionately known as MoFi) issued their fourth in-line of their tributes to the queen of folk / folk-rock, Joni Mitchell, when they released one of Mitchell's most revered studio recordings, Hejira, via the company's most prized audiophile album series - the Ultradisc One-Step. MoFi followed this up almost two months later, giving digital audiophiles their own revered version on Ultradisc UHR (Ultra-High Resolution) hybrid super audio compact disc. According to label sources, this might not be where it ends for MoFi and Joni Mitchell, and as well, this is definitely not where it began.

In January of 2024, MoFi inaugurated their pristine homage-series to Mitchell's music with a top-of-the-line One-Step release of quite possibly the artist's most artistically revered album ever - 1971's Blue - with their hybrid SACD variant making itself available to collectors less than a month later. The release stirred up the dedicated MoFi fandom, who seemed to wait anxiously for every new Mobile Fidelity release - and even more so for each new One-Step effort; however, Blue was something extra special. No one at the time was sure if anymore 'MoFi-Mitchell-magic' would follow, as the label hadn't yet released any information with regard to this; nevertheless, it wasn't too far in the future that the audiophile giant, MoFi, would confirm a follow-up to the Blue One-Step.

Almost eight months subsequent to the release of Blue, Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab teleported back to 1970, and accomplished their follow-up by issuing one of Mitchell's biggest commercial successes when they released Ladies of the Canyon on August 1, 2024. Just four months later, on December 6, 2024, they would give birth to Joni Mitchell's most commercial contribution to music - 1974's Court and Spark - in likewise One-Step fashion. In the opinion of the many classic rock-era music fans who are dedicated to the artist, this was the One-Step that they'd hoped would make its way sooner than later. Regardless of the massive popularity of the Blue album, the music from Court and Spark very possibly remains the most nostalgic and memorable to the 'Gen X' generation who lived to experience the original release and its initial impact, and thus helped greatly to sustain the fervor for more MoFi Joni Mitchell.

There would be slightly more than a half-year break from the Court and Spark release until Mobile Fidelity would make their move to the next Mitchell masterpiece, continuing an unwavering dedication to their Joni Mitchell campaign and an even higher commitment to their loyal fanbase, releasing the next line of their homages to the artist's music. At the beginning of summer 2025, Mitchell's eighth studio album, Hejira, would finally come to fruition as a MoFi One-Step vinyl pressing, and again, just weeks later would their companion hybrid SACD format release would surface. With seasoned and discerning ears, Goldmine truly feels to have experienced the pinnacle of sound reached with regard to these four monumental albums juxtaposed to anything that we've heard to date; some by larger margins and some not as large, nonetheless, better in every way. We are not saying that there are no other variants of these albums (including the original pressings) that aren't worthy of accolades and attention; but what we have realized is that if you are searching for the zenith of sound with regard to these recordings, MoFi's One-Step and super audio compact disc variants will, without a doubt, be the end result. Let's take a look...

BLUE

(Original release: June 22, 1971 / MoFi One-Step: January 11, 2024 / MoFi SACD: February 1, 2024)

Joni Mitchell's Blue fell in line as the artist's fourth studio album and to this day is regarded as Mitchell's most introspective and personal of all her musical works, with critics and music journalists over the decades regarding it as one of the best albums of all time. Considered a true work of folk, the record is fully acoustic without extensive production, relying heavily on acoustic guitar and piano (and sporadic percussion) throughout the entirety of its orchestration. It was critically acclaimed for the depth of its songwriting and produced one of her most monumental compositions, "River." Additionally, her vocal performances over each selection are some of her most praised. The album would end up charting very high on the Billboard 200 and within the Top 10 on the UK charts during its initial run. As well, the original album release has never been negatively criticized for lack of sonic achievements; in fact, the original 1971 U.S. Reprise release (which we compared), for lack of more technical terms, has always sounded pretty damn great.

The Mobile Fidelity Ultradisc One-Step, however, has achieved an extremely noticeable sense of heightened pinpointedness that encompasses the overall feel of the recording. First, the album was remastered by the geniuses at Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab on their proprietary GAIN 2 system that is endemic to MoFi, solely for the label's own remastering applications. Second, the record manufacturing process - the One-Step - eliminates traditional manufacturing stages throughout the process, greatly assisting in minimizing generational sonic loss for the end product. Also, this particular One-Step was issued not only on heavyweight 180-gram vinyl, but even more, using NeoTech's SuperVinyl compound; an advanced vinyl compound developed by MoFi in conjunction with NeoTech and Record Technology Inc., proven to lower surface noise over traditional vinyl compounds. Lastly, the MoFi version was remastered at 45rpm as opposed to 33 ⅓, adding greatly to the album's heightened playback experience. Since most of the songs carry the same production and orchestration dynamics, we won't create exposés based on individual songs, but we will say this as a whole: With regard to the One-Step, this is an extremely quiet record, which is a very important factor when there isn't a lot of distinct instrumentation to drown out surface noise. In regard to tonality, there is a great and distinct difference against the compared version with considerably greater bass extension, toning down mid-range and low-end frequencies, which creates a rounder (less sharp) overall sound of each of the recordings (since there wasn't a lot there to begin with), making them resonate as more present and less thin. With regard to the hybrid SACD, much of the same applies; however, there is noticeably sharper and more detailed imaging than the 2011 Japanese SHM-CD that we compared it to, with the SACD's higher resolution and greater sampling rate.

LADIES OF THE CANYON

(Original release: April 6, 1970 / MoFi One-Step: August 1, 2024 / MoFi SACD: September 23, 2024)

Mitchell's, Ladies of the Canyon, preceded its subsequent Blue album, and focused itself as an homage and audible documentary to the Laurel Canyon music scene in Los Angeles, California, circa mid-60s through to early-70s. This musical movement focused on musicians and recording artists fusing folk-based lyrically in-depth songwriting with electric instrumentation, and soft-rock orchestrations and vocal arrangements ... essentially becoming referred to as folk rock. Making its appearance as Mitchell's third studio recording - 'Ladies...' was essentially her breakthrough commercial effort, housing selections such as "Woodstock," "The Circle Game," and "Big Yellow Taxi," all three becoming noted as some of her most important recordings, as well as all garnering significant radio play. And though the heavier folk-rock element is not drastically prevalent on this album, with contributions from Crosby, Stills and Nash, as well as Neil Young, it definitely serves as a pivotal point between her later more bona fide folk rock recordings versus her previous two rudimentary traditional folk offerings. As Goldmine considered a comparison to be put up against the One-Step, as with Blue, we chose a near-mint copy of the 1970 U.S. Reprise Records first pressing as our initial marker. And similar to Blue, it is not overproduced nor overtly driven by a conglomerate of instrumentation, but is heavily focused on the songwriting and her vocal performance. Again, because of this, there was not much to account for when mixing and mastering the original recording. Thus, like her previous effort, the original Ladies of the Canyon has always been regarded by discerning music fans and collectors for the honorable-sounding finished product that it is.

We also picked a modern 2009 Rhino Records 180-gram remaster to juxtapose against the MoFi, but to be brutally honest, as good as the original Reprise and the Rhino remaster are, there are truthfully no candles to hold up against the One-Step - it simply blows them away (no pun intended). The MoFi variant continues with the physical aspects common to their One-Step series, coming pressed standard on 180-gram heavyweight discs, utilizing the SuperVinyl compound, and presented over two vinyl records mastered for 45rpm playback. These post-production attributes are only the icing on the cake, as the unique mastering equipment and the skillset of Mobile Fidelity's engineers are the key to the album's premium-level audiophile sonics. As well, this was the first of the Mitchell One-Steps to be pressed at the label's sister company - the now world-renowned Fidelity Record Pressing. With a super quiet and unhindered extremely low-level noise floor as its foundation, there was, again, a noticeable amount of increased low-end frequency tonality blatantly evident, resulting in a much fuller sound over the comparative albums. There was an absolutely more distinctive separation between vocals and orchestration, as there is more instrumental accompaniment and vocal layers/harmonization over this album than in Blue. The hybrid SACD resembled the same intrinsic MoFi sonic characteristics of the Blue album disc, with an extremely detailed portrayal of the notes over every song, including vocals, thanks to the super-high DSD-256 sampling rate. If you want to get technical, it was 64 times better than that of the 2011 Japanese SHM-CD that we compared it to.

COURT AND SPARK

(Original release: January 17, 1974 / MoFi One-Step: December 6, 2024 / MoFi SACD: January 24, 2025)

The artist's sixth studio effort and her second after her move to Asylum Records, Court and Spark, would end up becoming Mitchell's most revered commercial success. At the time of its original release, the album was not only reflective of heavier folk-rock sonics with regard to Mitchell's musical approach, but it also began exemplifying more profoundly than before the artist's fascination with incorporating jazz elements and ideology into her compositions and productions. Embedded in selections such as "Freeman in Paris," "Down to You," and the insurmountably successful "Help Me," Mitchell's sixth would consume radio and record stores that year. Consumer arena feedback, as well as industry acknowledgment and achievements with regard to Court and Spark, were grandiose. "Help Me," to this day, is more than not the artist's most notable single release, and one that sparks heavy amounts of nostalgia for both her dedicated fanbase and general fans of the classic rock era equally. Ultimately, it peaked at No. 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 for 1974, and was nominated for several Grammy categories, with the album as a whole elected by The Recording Academy as Album of the Year. Fast forward almost 50 years, when Mobile Fidelity announced its upcoming release of the Blue One-Step, and even considering the fervent social media responses in anticipation, it was Court and Spark that we here at Goldmine anticipated most. Not knowing at the time if it would ever come to fruition or not, we knew that it would be sacrilege to negate ... thank heaven MoFi was like-minded. MoFi's release of the album came rather quickly after they issued Ladies of the Canyon, and Goldmine, along with many MoFi and Mitchell fanatics, were able to exhale upon its release.

With regard to analyzing Mobile Fidelity's outcome, once more, we reverted to an original, enlisting the 1974 U.S. first pressing of Court and Spark, coupled with the 2023 Asylum Records remaster, both of which we had on hand, and with which both were ironically originally mastered and then remastered by Bernie Grundman almost 50 years apart. With regard to MoFi's One-Step, different than its predecessors, this time the album was not pressed using the SuperVinyl compound, which was a calculated choice made by Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab engineers. The team at MoFi is more concerned with achieving the absolute premium audio playback over anything that might look good marketing-wise. According to lead engineer, Krieg Wunderlich, the album was press-tested on both 180 gram SuperVinyl as well as 180 grams of their more standard High-Definition compound, with the result being that Court and Spark registered better on the HD Vinyl. On the other hand, there is absolutely not one thing wrong with the iconic original Asylum recording. It is lush, warm, and inviting; however, sonic standards, protocols and equipment were different and more rudimentary in 1974, and so the original definitely resonates as a sign of the times. In 2023, when Grundman took on the challenge to give his self-mastered original studio tapes a facelift, he without a doubt accomplished it, paying homage to himself as well as to Mitchell in a glorious way. Within 'Court,' there is much more to dissect regarding the production and orchestration in juxtaposition to the Blue and Ladies of the Canyon One-Steps. Overall, Mobile Fidelity's Court and Spark immediately presents better imaging than both our comparisons via a noticeable distinction in separation of the various instruments and the vocals (i.e., a more life-like soundstage). Also, we feel that the dynamic range - the difference between the loudest and quietest parts of the recording - was not left untouched, but augmented just enough to provide a more detailed definition of sonic character over all of the album's selections, yet still warm, round, and completely analog in fingerprint. Moreover, this was all assisted with a 45rpm remaster as opposed to the competition's 33⅓ rpm. With regard to the SACD: This is an entirely different experience. There is an incredible amount of enhanced imaging, clarity and sharp detail over the best copy we had available to compare it to - yes, another 2009 Japanese SHM-CD by Asylum. Moreover, the MoFi compact disc is the only 'SACD format' variant of Court and Spark available in the world to date.

HEJIRA

(Original release: November 22, 1976 / MoFi One-Step: July 3, 2025 / MoFi SACD: August 29, 2025)

In 1976, when Hejira was released - two years subsequent to, and two albums post-Court and Spark - it was an immediately noticeable separation from all of her previous works, with 1975's The Hissing of Summer Lawns acting as the pivotal point. This was a clear and blatant shift into fusing her endemic folk, folk-rock and soft-rock sounds with jazz, resulting in her most experimental production up to that point. Within Hejira, she found a way to marry true folk and jazz vocal arrangements harmoniously, while seeming to purposely keep her focus out of the mainstream, ultimately releasing only one single from the album. The underlying contemporary jazz elements over the entirety of the album are evident not only in the music, but also within the personnel she chose, bringing in musicians such as jazz fusion bassist, Jaco Pastorius, straight ahead jazz bassist, Max Bennett, and guitarist, Larry Carlton. Though it was for the most part critically acclaimed, during its initial release, Hejira would end up being the least commercially successful album for Mitchell, and possibly by design, yet ironically is has become known as one of her most profound works ever.

The Mobile Fidelity One-Step came along after an eight-month-long pause post the Court and Spark release the previous year. Being such a shift in musical character from the previous albums, Goldmine eagerly chose comparative album pressings, going straight for an ultra-presentable copy of a 1976 original U.S. press, backed by yet another Bernie Grundman modern-day reissue - the 2014 Rhino Records 180-gram remaster. The original seems to have come along at a juncture where the industry's mixing and mastering protocols and styles were making a shift, making the original pressing the most modern-sounding out of all the aforementioned albums. It is not as involved or overtly produced as is Court and Spark, yet fuller in orchestration than Blue and Ladies of the Canyon; essentially a soft and quiet album with a lot of depth and layers, still a very '70s sounding album. There is not much to say about the differences between this and the 2014 remaster, other than it translates with less ambient noise and slightly better sonic separation, again, possibly this way by design, as Grundman may have been staying consciously closer to his original mastering thumbprint, and that is to be respected. The sonic scientists at Mobile Fidelity have only one thing to consider: Keep the original analog character of the album intact while simultaneously blowing your mind with regard to heightened dynamics, clarity and detail over the soundstage. With the One-Step, Mitchell returned to being pressed on 180-gram SuperVinyl, as well as remastered for 45rpm playback (as was protocol), resulting in an overtly quiet noise floor. In addition, the overall playback resounds even more holographically and present than the previous three MoFi remasters; not drastically, but just enough to call it that. One might even conclude that while listening to the Hejira One-Step, it is as if being present with the artist in-studio or during a performance at an intimate venue. Lastly, with more attention to detail in the tweaking of frequencies, the lead vocals are slightly isolated and not as embedded into the music as they were before, not in volume but in dynamics. The hybrid SACD actually holds a lot of the same qualities as the vinyl, but obviously more 'digital sounding' (which should always be expected) in the most welcomed way - sharp and full of incredible detail, pulling ahead of our previous favorite Hejira disc, the 2013 imported Japanese Asylum Records HDCD.

As the journey through Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab's Joni Mitchell One-Step and SACD campaign has come to a head for now, it has been told to us that it most likely won't end here. According to MoFi, there will be more to come; possibly another one or two of Mitchell's finest releases to round out the campaign. When they arrive, or what they might be still remains to be revealed. Be that as it may, with whatever will follow, if and when it will follow, we know this at least; if coming to us from Mobile Fidelity in the manner that these first four have, it won't matter what they are or when they arrive, just give us more. Truth be told, after re-experiencing these four Joni masterpieces via their truly definitive versions, there was nothing better that could be said than, "Help me, I think I'm falling in love again."