MA Recordings Inner Record Sleeves
Wednesday, 19th July 2023
How important is a record inner sleeve? Paul Rigby (theaudiophileman) thinks "very" and takes a deep dive into the alternatives, with some surprising results...
The Audiophile Man's YouTube video showing the man behind MA Recordings, Todd Garfinkle
It’s sometimes easy to focus so much on the hardware and infrastructure that is used to play music that we can easily forget about keeping the actual media we play in tip top condition. This is especially true when it comes to vinyl and Paul is, to my knowledge, the first person to take a deep look into this particular aspect of vinyl storage.
The review of the MA Recordings inner sleeves forms the middle of a trio of YouTube videos on LP inner sleeves: the first looks at the history, good and bad examples and some tips for use, whilst the third looks at the MoFi inner sleeves – probably the best known and most popular amongst audiophiles – and a number of ‘clones’ which have recently come to market.
As far as Paul is concerned, the MA Recordings sleeves sit head and shoulders above the rest.
At first glance, this may not be obvious, as the design looks less complex than the multi-ply MoFi examples and their derivatives. Instead, the 'MAs' are made from two soft synthetic microfibres randomly woven together which are commonly used in Japanese Shoji window treatments.
The key feature of this construction, and the one which really sets these sleeves apart, is the fact that the material is permeable, allowing moisture to escape, thus reducing the risk of mould or residue buildup on vinyl records.
Paul addresses some potential issues with other sleeves, such as those from MoFi, where users have reported residue on their records. They’ve speculated that this residue could be caused by trapped moisture which fails to escape due to the plastic lining of those sleeves. In contrast, the MA sleeves' permeable nature allows excess moisture to escape, preventing any bonding or residue issues.
Paul observes that the sleeves are also very practical and easy to use. He notes the sensible use of a ‘stepped’ entry-point design to the top of the sleeve, making it easy to insert LP’s, and the size being just about right; big enough to easily drop in a record but snug enough to fit in the outer sleeve.
In conclusion, he finds the sleeves tough, non-abrasive, anti-static, permeable, good value-for-money and easy to use. In fact, everything you would want a record inner sleeve to be.
Hence, he says:
"to my mind the MA Recordings sleeves move the whole notion of the inner sleeve into a new bracket: they are, in their own quiet way, revolutionary and that is why I'm going to give them a super-rare Golden Groovy, 10 out of 10 rating"
Media: theaudiophileman.com, online magazinePublication date: June 2023
Verdict: Deeply Groovy, 10/10
Click here to buy the inner sleeves
Click here to view the video
Written By Simon Dalton
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