Cassette tapes are really close now

Some more cassette equipment just landed at Mobineko HQ. We have been working on reverse engineering the Otari DP-8, DP4050 and digital master reproducers to develop a high quality short run tape duplication system. The idea is to connect a custom computer interface through the master reproducers which then connect on to the slave units. This way our setup and production times can be extremely short for low runs of under 300pcs, but still offering very nice quality.

We’re bringing tapes back to life

 

As promised we have finished the last stage of our new online apps with a brand new online ordering system. Once the updates are rolled out you will be able to proceed from the online quote section and order directly online. Features include a handy address book and automatic saving of partial orderforms. No more Google or Excel forms needed!

Some parts of mobineko.com will be down for brief periods today while the updates are installed.

Cassettes have always been something we’re interested in at Mobineko even though it’s a pretty small market. It’s recently come to our attention that most of the serious cassette duplicators and printers in Europe have shut up shop so the tape market is now in need of some high quality options.

We are working on a full cassette duplicating service but in the meantime we are offering super high quality offset printing for all your cassette packaging and label needs.

This is a ‘soft opening’ for our existing customers so you won’t find the pricelist or online quotes on our website yet, but you can check out this secret link for pricing: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheet/pub?key=0App0Yd_mwXV7dEdZLS1BY3ktQjlMdDRnYmNNWjR5alE&output=pdf

Orders should be placed by email and for the time being to clients@mobineko.com including the following details:
- Item being ordered
- Quantity
- Complete mailing and billing addresses
- Artwork completed on our templates: http://www.mobineko.com/support/index.php?go=templates#cassette

Mention the code ‘mnblogoffer’ when ordering for free shipping this month.

So you’ve chosen your format, finished your artwork, tweaked it another ten times, got everything signed off with the artists.. and now there’s another choice to make?!

It can be hard to decide which stock and coating to choose for printed packaging, especially if you don’t have much experience with printing. And there can be a huge difference just with how the coatings work.

Here are some tips to help you work out what will look best on your release.

Matt laminated artboard is the ‘go to’ choice for 70% of printed cardboard packaging like sleeves (jackets), Superpacks (digipacks) etc.

‘Artboard’ refers to a type of cardboard we have imported from Japan and Korea. It’s especially made for printing high quality images (hence the ‘art’ part) because it has a very high density compared with other board. High density makes a very smooth, flat surface which prints detail very well and makes laminated coatings look particularly good. The only drawback is that the density makes it appear a little thinner than cheaper boards in a similar weight that have more air inside them.

Matt lamination is a film applied after printing that protects the item from minor scuffs and scratches. Most importantly it gives your print the really classy, expensive look that our sleeves are famous for! Just watch out for artwork with fine nuances in contrast, or certain bright colors such as oranges, reds, greens and yellows which will look darker underneath the matt film.

High gloss laminated artboard is the same high quality imported board used for matt laminated prints, but of course a different lamination is used. It’s more expensive than matt lamination simply because we don’t make as many orders in gloss so it’s harder to consolidate for lower pricing.

High gloss lamination offers the same protective qualities as matt, but it’s useful when you need to preserve bright colors or photos that would look subdued under matt film. A well designed colorful LP sleeve can really ‘pop’ under high gloss film. A downside to high gloss is that it can really pick up fingerprints which is something to watch for when handling dark artwork.

If you want the classy look of matt lamination but need some parts of your artwork to ‘pop’ with a glossy look, you could consider UV spot gloss which can be applied to matt laminated prints for an extra charge.

Kraft recycled eco-stock and its sort-of-related cousin reverse print on cosmetic board involve printing on paper without the usual clay-based printable surface.

Uncoated board can impart some interesting texture with the right design. If you are planning to use completely unbleached stock then kraft eco-stock really works best with one or two color stamp-like designs that combine to give a raw and natural feel.

Reverse print on cosmetic board (not shown) works better for slightly more colorful images because it’s bleached and slightly denser than kraft eco-stock.

Aqueous semigloss is quite different from high gloss lamination and imparts a very low gloss shine while protecting the print from rubbing off. Instead of using a film like matt or gloss lamination a liquid (aqueous) varnish is sprayed through a nozzle after printing.

Many plants use aqueous varnish as the standard finish for record sleeves but we consider this to be a poor substitute for lamination. It does have its uses, though. For example, a lot of throwback/re-release records have been using this finish for a more retro look. Also sometimes high gloss lamination is just TOO glossy but aqueous varnish doesn’t suffer the same darkening effect that matt film does.

If you are planning to use this finish on LP sleeves then you need to expect some possible damage during the packing and shipping process, since there is no plastic film protecting the delicate paper board.

We get asked daily how much music can fit on vinyl, and the answer is always ‘it depends’. You see, vinyl isn’t a digital medium like a CD where it’s a simple case of how many bits can be stored. Vinyl is a living, breathing analog medium with many nuances and shades of gray between a good and bad cut.

That’s why we just released this new online tool that will not only advise what is physically possible for your project, but also give a general idea about how cutting time directly affects quality. It will also tell you which cutting speed (rpm) will offer the best quality.

We hope you can make use of this tool to optimize the running time of your productions – you might be surprised that a minute cropped here or there can make a huge difference to quality, or that you may have been given the wrong information about which cutting speed (rpm) to choose for best results.

Check it out here!

We have been working hard here at Mobineko to drastically reduce the cost of all-cardboard packaging and in turn reduce the amount of polypropylene plastic used in CD trays. Using some new consolidation techniques we have reduced pricing on inside pocket gatefolds and other cardboard packaging by up to £225!

Of course as usual we don’t compromise on quality and you get one of the finest 4pp gatefolds in Europe combined with the great new price! 350gsm board and silky matt lamination is standard here.

Check out pricing on our CD quote machine or online pricelist.

In some other news we also finally have the updated Google Apps version of our CD orderform available worldwide for CD customers. Take a look here.

Before starting we strongly recommend that all audio files (wav or aiff) are packed in a zip or rar archive before uploading!

Please note very old versions of Internet Explorer (version 8 or lower) are not supported. If for some reason it’s impossible to update your browser (due to company rules, etc.) please use the traditional FTP transfer.

Step 1: login at http://www.mobineko.com/support and click the button to Select Files

 

Step 2: select your file(s) to upload (hold Ctrl, command key or shift to select multiple files)

 

Step 3: when ready click Start Upload to start the upload. You can pause and resume uploads whenever you like. If you accidentally leave the page or your computer crashes, just follow steps 1-2 again and any partial uploads will be automatically resumed from where they were stopped.

 

Step 4: the upload bars will turn green when each file is completed. You can refresh the page to confirm your files were successfully uploaded in the View & Download Production Files panel

Howdy, folks!

Usually we don’t talk about upcoming new features on our site but we are really excited about an ongoing project that’s very close and will make a huge change to the whole order process.

We know that the number one difficulty people complain about is understanding and using FTP. It’s not that we haven’t listened, rather that there was really no good substitute for transferring the very large files used in quality vinyl pressing.

During the past few years we have monitored the progress made in browser technology and now we feel it’s advanced enough that we can offer the smooth online ordering with point & click uploading that we always hoped for.

Here is the road map for these important three new features which will work together as our new intuitive online order system:

• 1. intelligent multi-currency multi-country quote engine – you can already find this running in the vinyl & CD sections of mobineko.com! When we are confident that all the bugs are ironed out we will be able to link this smoothly to the online ordering features below.
• 2. resumable large file uploader with pause/resume functions – this is the biggie that we are sure will make life easier for a lot of frustrated customers. Our new app lets you click a single button to upload one or more huge (up to 4GB) files and there’s even a pause/resume feature in case you lose internet connection or your browser crashes during upload. We are currently running a closed beta with some of our customers and the feedback is great so far.
• 3. custom online ordering app – this is also in a closed beta and we plan to start rolling out in a few weeks. It uses the same engine and interface as our quote machine so you don’t have to relearn how anything works. Finally no more Google Sheets forms, just point and click to save order templates with your favorite options already selected!

We always appreciate any feedback – let us know through Facebook, Twitter or email when you try the new features or new site and let us know what you love or hate. It’s your chance to change how we work.

Don’t worry, folks. We haven’t gone anywhere! We’re just installing our new website.

We’re sure you all miss the 13 year old design and dodgy quote machine but we hope the brand new visual quote machine and fresh design from La Casa de los Pixeles can make up for your loss.