Showcase

We have rolled out an update for our online order system to version 1.31.

The main change is that test pressings are now ordered through the billing/address section instead of the initial quote. This allows you to provide a separate address for TPs and also gives you the option of selecting 5, 10, 15 or 20pcs.

Additionally we have some bug fixes to the Copy from Billing / Load Saved Address functions during ordering.

Please note that recently Firefox and some other browsers introduced a warning and disabled saved passwords for sites that redirect to a secure (SSL) area after login. We have decided to maintain a balance of security and speed for customers just browsing our main site from slow connections. The risk posed by logging in from an insecure page to a secure one is quite low. Online ordering and our new support site forces SSL by default to protect your logins and data. Our entire site does support SSL so if you prefer maximum security or want to get rid of warning messages etc. you can just surf directly to https://www.mobineko.com

It’s time for another tape update!

We’ve custom made a bunch of new shells that just landed. We now have solid black, white, red, sky blue, turquoise, lime green, baby pink, orange, yellow along with transparent orange, blue, clear, clear w/black liner and neon green.

We see a lot of people have already been having fun with the new colors and playing with our exclusive UV onbody printing. Not everything works with UV printing but we are happy to advise on your design.

Here at Mobineko we are always working hard behind the scenes to improve everything from customer service to product quality. With that in mind we are just about ready to roll out a brand new Version 4 of our online Support site.

New features in Version 4:

• brand new responsive design for mobile devices, tables and desktops
• improvements and bug fixes to our web based uploader
• instantly update your file list after uploading
• brand new smart database engine to show you clearly what you need to know
• smart calculation and estimation of shipping dates
• new and improved proof viewing
• AJAX system for faster proof approval
• fully internationalized to support English, French, Japanese, Chinese Trad., Chinese Simpl. and Sweden with more languages to come
• new and expanded Artwork Templates section

Today is a very sad day for us at Mobineko.

Although Mobineko is a mainly Taiwan based business we have several British and ex-British people working here. So it made perfect sense for the UK to act as our EU base where we handle most of the English speaking customer service and imports/exports into and out of the EU. Just like several thousand other SMEs in a similar situation it was a win-win for both sides – the UK government received significant tax revenues and we got easy access into the whole EU market.

Now, of course, after almost two decades that has to end. Although we have long since had a loyal UK following – for which we are grateful – we are still a relatively small business and couldn’t afford to continue running a separate UK office when our main customer base is Europe and Asia. We will need to find a new EU home in mainland Europe.

On a personal level most of us are shocked that the UK people as a whole have decided to take this route. We think it will be disastrous long term for musicians and the British music scene, and the world always gets a little bit darker when a country decides to cut itself off from a friendly and worthwhile union.

On a practical level there are a few small changes that we will need to make very quickly. EUR will soon become the main currency for our CD pricing, and we are discussing whether to continue offering GBP pricing on CDs in future. We don’t currently have plans to remove GBP pricing for vinyl, but it depends on how volatile the exchange rates become. Our priority for UK customers at the moment is to try and maintain current vinyl pricing despite insane currency fluctuations. It will be difficult but we have a few ideas and don’t plan to make any rash price changes just yet.

Longer term our VAT registration, banking information etc. will change but we will of course give plenty of notice beforehand.

Good bye, UK. Sorry it had to end this way

As some of you already know we retired our old 16 speed and 8 speed duplicator systems last year and replaced them with one of the best high speed duplication systems available – Otari DP-75 slaves and a DP-203 digital 80x master. Unfortunately as it goes with these things we spent the best part of a year refurbishing the machines, obtaining new heads, relapping old heads, calibrating and aligning – then the digital master failed beyond repair.

After a lot of searching we found a broken DP-103 digital master that we got working, but the performance was hit and miss. So the last few months has been spent pulling out boards, painstakingly removing and testing components and replacing bad parts. So far, so good, but we realized that some digital-analog converter chips had overheated and blown themselves up.

This week we finally got our hands on some crucial and hard-to-find Sipex DAC chips and modified the DP-103 so the chips don’t get overheated any more. We’ve run some test tapes and they sound awesome as you might expect.

We have also tweaked cassette pricing so you can get a full package of 50 tapes with double sided full color UV printing (a Mobineko exclusive!), full color J-cards and qualty clear cases from EUR142 for 50pcs, EUR195 for 100pcs and EUR343 for 300pcs. Or super nice laminated full color O-cards for about the same price. Lots more shell colors are available now including low price clearance options from our old stock.

Actual ordering for tapes will resume shortly, thanks everyone for the interest and support!

Q. What are test pressings?

Test pressings (TPs) are a very small run of vinyl (usually 5pcs) pressed with white labels and send to the customer for approval. They can help to check there are no flaws in the cutting or metalwork before pressing your full quantity of records.

Q. What happens if I don’t like the TPs?

This depends. If there is a technical flaw, then we would offer to make a new cut and/or metalwork. If you just don’t like the cut or you made a mistake then it’s possible to order a new set of cutting+metalwork at our cost price.

For the purposes of avoiding any doubt these are issues we could consider a technical flaw:

1. skip caused by mechanical defect
2. audio cut in wrong order contrary to customer supplied files
3. one or both sides severely off-center
4. extreme surface noise caused by bad metalwork

Here are some examples of problems that would require you to order new cutting if you want them changed:

1. sound is “distorted”, “muddy” etc. and the mastering is found to have clipping and/or excessive compression
2. sound is “too quiet”, “distorted”, “missing high frequencies” but the time per side is considered too long according to our Time Per Side Wizard
3. customer sent files in the wrong order
4. generally just not liking the “feel” of a cut

These are some examples of issues that we are just flat out unable to fix:

1. minor surface noise apparent due to quiet passages of music
2. low volume and/or poor sound quality on very long sides
3. low volume and/or poor sound quality on 33rpm 7″

Q. What if I like the sound but the A and B sides or flipped, or the center engraving is wrong/missing?

This can be corrected easily before pressing, but make sure to tell us before approving TPs. Otherwise records will be pressed exactly as the TPs.

Q. Do I need test pressings?

Generally if your order is more than 500pcs and/or you live in an area that makes shipping the main quantity very expensive then you should absolutely get test pressings. If you have a relatively simple order of, say, 200pcs then it’s up to you to decide if TPs are necessary based on the value of your order.

Q. I want to press only 100pcs, but I really need TPs!

That’s OK, we generally encourage production of TPs for all orders where possible.

Q. What happens if I don’t order TPs and there is a problem with my records?

If you didn’t order TPs and there is a technical flaw we treat this as fairly as possible on a case by case basis. Generally we will cover the cost of work that would have been covered anyway (e.g. cutting / metalwork) but we would not cover the pressing cost unless there is an extremely serious flaw that has slipped past QC.

Mobineko is currently installing a custom made large format direct UV printer. We believe this will make us the first to offer direct on shell printing for cassettes in full color with white and spot gloss/matt options. The effect is very cool and looks extremely professional compared with stick-on labels or single/dual color pad printing.

To sweeten the deal pricing is going to be lower than our current charges for full color labels.. watch this space!

We finally received our long awaited shipment of full transparent, black, smoked clear and white shells to put cassette production into full swing next week.

Next on order by popular demand will be colored shells such as red, green, yellow, blue, pink etc. Let us know your favorite color and we’ll try to source it!