Origins and Legacy

The UHQR concept originated in the early 1980s with Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab (MoFi), which produced a small series of premium LPs pressed on perfectly flat-profile vinyl with unmatched attention to groove geometry and surface noise. These original UHQRs included albums such as The Beatles’ Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band, Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side of the Moon, Supertramp’s Crime of the Century, and Cat Stevens’ Tea for the Tillerman. Limited to just a few thousand copies each, these records quickly became legendary for their sonic precision and collectability.

Decades later, Chad Kassem — founder of Analogue Productions and Quality Record Pressings (QRP) — revived the UHQR name, determined to elevate it even further. Having built one of the most respected pressing plants in the world, Kassem sought to create records that would not only rival the best of the past but also set a new modern benchmark.

The Analogue Productions UHQR

Launched in 2019, the new Analogue Productions UHQR series retained the spirit of the original MoFi releases but incorporated major technological advancements. Every UHQR begins with the original master tapes wherever possible, mastered by some of the world’s most respected engineers, including Bernie Grundman and Ryan K. Smith. The goal is absolute fidelity — to reproduce the music exactly as it exists on the master, with zero compromise.

The pressing process takes place at Quality Record Pressings in Salina, Kansas, a facility built to maintain total control over temperature, pressure, and vinyl formulation. The modern UHQRs are pressed on 200-gram Clarity Vinyl, a proprietary compound free of carbon black. This translucent vinyl eliminates microscopic contaminants that can add noise or distortion, resulting in a quieter and more transparent playback surface. The special stampers produce a flat profile vinyl disc for improved tracking and geometry stability.

Each record is pressed with extreme precision for perfect flatness and consistency. After pressing, every disc undergoes hand inspection before being packaged in an oversized deluxe box featuring a Stoughton tip-on gatefold jacket, detailed booklets, and numbered certificates. Every UHQR is both a listening experience and a collectible artifact.

Titles and Reception

Since its relaunch, the UHQR series has included some of the most celebrated titles in music history, such as Jimi Hendrix – Axis: Bold as Love, Miles Davis – Kind of Blue, Jethro Tull – Aqualung, and multiple Steely Dan albums including Can’t Buy a Thrill, Countdown to Ecstasy, Aja, and Pretzel Logic. Each title has been issued in strictly limited, numbered editions that often sell out quickly and become prized collector’s items.

Audiophiles consistently praise the UHQR line for its deep dynamics, immense clarity, and exceptionally silent surfaces. Many listeners describe them as the closest one can get to hearing the original master tape in their own home.

The Pursuit of Perfection

The modern UHQR series stands as a statement of what vinyl can achieve when every detail is treated with respect and precision. By reviving and redefining a format once thought to be an artifact of the past, Analogue Productions has demonstrated that analog sound still has the power to astonish. The UHQR name, once a symbol of cutting-edge fidelity in the 1980s, now represents the ultimate expression of vinyl art in the 21st century — timeless, tactile, and sonically transcendent.