http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mobile_Fidelity_Sound_Lab#Compact_Disc_Releases_-_1985_to_1999
Compact Disc Releases - 1985 to 1999
While continuing to sell LP product, MFSL first entered the CD market with its line of aluminum CDs in the mid 1980s. MFSL located the master tape for each title, and the tape was digitally transferred then copied directly to the CD master. The aluminum CD line continued into 1987, when the first disc in the "Ultradisc" series was released. The Ultradisc was a gold plated disc. MFSL claims that the gold surface is more reflective than that of other CD's and that Ultradisc titles sound superior to the standard release counterparts. However, the company has never pressed both aluminum and gold versions of the same title to allow for direct comparison.
Prior to the release of Queen's A Night at the Opera in October 1992 each Ultradisc branded CD release was manufactured in Japan. At this point, discs were made exclusively in the US and given the Ultradisc II designation. Many of the early Ultradisc titles were re-pressed in the US, and given the Ultradisc II designation.
As with the company's record pressings, no dynamic range compression was used in the production of the CDs. For the most part, no equalization was used either, so CDs are essentially straight transfers of the original master tape.
The late 1980s and early 1990s was the most successful period for MFSL. In the 1988 the company headquarters moved to Sebastopol, California. Sometime in the late 80s or early 90s JVC closed its LP manufacturing plant in Japan. MFSL then built its own LP manufacturing plant in the United States. Belkin retired from MFSL in 1994.
