Inside California's new vinyl maker (and every audiophile's dream)

“I don't know if there's ever an ideal time to open something like this,” he says Jim Davis with a laugh.

Davis, president of headphone retailer Music Direct, stands at the front of the recently unveiled Fidelity Record Pressing, a state-of-the-art vinyl pressing facility in Oxnard, California. And while he doesn't think there can be a 'perfect' time to open a new pressing plant, he does believe in the 'right' time, adding: 'Our position in this industry is high quality and there's always room for someone to a better quality product. So I'd like to think it's the correctly time because we have the right people bringing this plant together and it will make all the difference in the world.” Plus, as he admits while scanning the state-of-the-art facility during an invitation-only preview, it's “very encouraging that people wanted to see what's going on here.”

Davis co-founded Fidelity with his father and son team Stack and Edward Hashimoto; both have over seven decades of combined factory pressing experience and have emerged as leaders in quality and efficiency. Rick sees Fidelity as an opportunity to bring premium vinyl back into the limelight. “I think commercial records have kind of been pushed back [lately]and I think it's important for the vinyl industry to maintain a high-quality presence,” says Rick.

One way Fidelity's practices help distinguish its products is the glossy edges, which Edward says is an “extra hassle” but worth the quality. “Whether you realize it or not, [the edges of vinyl are] one of the first things people notice,” he says. Another way is through the factory's record cooling process, in which only five vinyls are stacked on aluminum plates (as shown above) to help maintain the integrity of the record by slowly drying it. Specially designed axles also run through the center to hold each disc and prevent warping.

But perhaps Fidelity's biggest differentiator is that the plant presses vinyl and SuperVinyl, a proprietary compound developed by PVC manufacturer Neotech and Record Technology Inc. (RTI) exclusively for Mobile Fidelity Sound Labs (MoFi). The formulation features carbon-free paint, resulting in a quieter surface that reduces the noise floor and enhances groove definition. (Manufacturing costs for SuperVinyl can be eight times that of regular vinyl.)

After two years of construction, Fidelity officially opened in early 2024 as the pressure plant for MoFi. He soon began accepting vinyl orders from outside customers. There are currently six presses (built in Nashville by Record Pressing Machines LLC) capable of churning out an estimated annual capacity of about 1 million records. Four more presses are on the way (the plant can accommodate a total of 12). Currently, one employee operates up to three machines, with additional employees focusing full-time on quality control, which includes spot listening every 40-50 records for approximately 30 minutes.

“If you have a defective record, you can also stream it on Spotify,” says Rick. “But if you have a great record, you're going to want to play that record over and over again, and that's what keeps people coming back to vinyl. It has to be great — and I think that's what we're doing here.”