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I could be wrong but usually I am not as I am highly perceptive to pitch but the tempo on “All Along the Watchtower” seems a hair slow Mikey. Can you throw a strobe on your turntable to confirm? If you don’t agree and/or don’t hear it then please skip my humble suggestion. But I won’t lie, I am terribly curious ;-)

About the business of the blemish in between the tracks, yeah, I’d call it a “nothingburger” as well. Having said that, if there is enough of a backlash and Analog Productions ends up offering a replacement on a future repress for the one disc, I’d accept a replacement if offered. Why wouldn’t I want a disc without the pressing flaw?

Non issue.

There are actually 2 or 3 visual issues on that side in and around All Along The Watchtower as an Amazon reviewer observed. He claimed it made it skip or something to that effect so it concerned me. I have since listened to that side twice and have heard no such ill effects. I made sure to add a comment to that review on Amazon since if that person was having those types of issues it wasn’t the record but probably the man’s turntable.

There is no defect on the EU pressing. Neither visual nor audible.

We all have LPs where the quality is all over the place, some a 5 and some close to a 10. I remember the issues with the Steely Dan pressing of 2VNature where jitter was a problem with the first test CD pressings and it came down to a defect in the master run where the clock was messed up. ON a $5,000 CD player that rechecked the stream it sounded fine, but on a portable player it was murky. You can find the story on late Roger Nichol's site and worth a read. QC IS everything and why the quality of the vinyl material critical. Buying parts from the lowest bidder and posed big problems for the auto industry and those who buy cars. Of course profits are high and that is what rules these days. Sorry to hear about this, but at the prices of vinyl these days no one should accept less than the best. Science reigns.

At these prices? Yes, that's what we want. What makes it worse is, you can't go back to the store, with your receipt in hand, and deal with it with an actual human being. Buying new vinyl is a financial and psychological commitment these days.

Would a Sweet Vinyl Sugar Cube be able to 'fix' this issue?

I have many records that I can identify purely by hearing the lead-in groove noise before the music starts on a record or by groove noise between tracks....put this down as a vinyl nothing burger from me, as well.

....Should get rid of the dam terrier.

Terrier hair is like foxtails for record grooves.

Anathema.

premium QC? That seems to be what you've wrote. If, as you proffer, this is/was a plating issue, shouldn't that have been picked up in test pressings and corrected? Instead, your column on this intimates us lowly consumers who pay AP a premium for their product should move along as there is nothing to see here? I'm not surprised by the shilling for AP, but it does disappoint me to not back the customer over an obvious flaw in the pressings, regardless of how small or large.

I stick with original pressings myself, but this sort of thing is found there as well. A single tick is a nothingburger. Hell, if you have a single tick on a whole record then you have the holy grail! I feel the same that this is much ado about nothing. We need to remember that forums are nothing but battlefields. We should also remember the Amazon reviews should be taken with much scrutiny and a salt lick.That is not saying the defect doesn't exist or anything like that. It is just saying "making mountains out of mole hills".

I agree though that if one is paying $30+ for a new record, it better be near perfect as possible, but again we are talking vinyl records here. (I never buy new records myself, partly because much of the music I listen to has never been repressed and with original pressings I can at least get some clue as to provenance). CDs are not perfect either. No media is perfect. Perfect simply does not exist in audio. I say of you can't hear it or it is nearly a non-event, live with it and enjoy the music or forget it.

The defect is multiple ridges you can easily feel. When played it isn't a "tic" on my system, more of a significant "thump". I returned my copy.

longlivevinyl said above that there is no defect on the EU pressing. Does AP have European presses/plates? I would pay an additional $30 to Amazon.co.uk to get a defect free copy of this release.

I live in France. I was waiting for the US pressing of the box set, because I knew it was pressed at QRP.
I paid 109.99€ and now I too have these obvious flaws on my brand new lps...
Now I'm gonna have to return the box and buy the EU pressing!
Very disappointed by Analogue Productions quality control.

if AP offered a replacement, 90% would take it. that in it self kills the argument on letting it go, besides seeing and feeling it really sucks on the QC issue. Chad have you ever heard of,"once bitten, twice shy"? That would kill any business. i try and always buy first nm pressings, for this reason, plus it saves 2/3rd the price and sounds the best.

Rabbi Mickey:
This scratch is causing me to reevaluate my purchasing of new vinyl as well as renewing my Xanax prescription!

Mikey I agree not gonna force me to go nuts...lets be real this is a fantastic pressing and overall well designed box set. A tick here or there not a problem for me. 99% of the time Analogue Productions do a super job and in this case still a super job. I do understand the complaints though. One question, do we know the range of #'s that are in question. I have a mid 5k. I also have one sealed that in the 700's. Thanks and Chad, if your reading, keep up the good work and good talking to you at the NYC Audio Show last month....

What I wanted to ask Michael is when will the review be posted?
Hopefully the all analogue process will make this the best sounding version of this LP aside from the small blip on the AP pressing.

SACD
or super hi resolution lossless files, preferably the files used to cut the vinyl

It's not a tick but a sort of thunk / plop. How annoying will depend how system deals with vinyl flaws (headroom). Personally I would not be returning it. So often I get records with several small flaws or a series of repeating ticks and pops. However AP should get a kicking because I'm sure if this is plating it likely was spotted but passed QC due to cost of a repress. Anyhow I will not be buying this set as I have the previous excellent (2010) pressing and no desire for the extras in this box.

When humans are involved, there will be imperfections.

I bought the CD box set and on the red book CD for the album there’s a big flaw about halfway through “And The Gods Made Love”. Here the sounds get real choppy like they crinkles up the master tape or something. I returned the set and exchanged for another to find the same issue o. That sets red book cd. The high resolution blue ray disc sounds perfect however.

I went through 3 pressings of the latest that Ben Harper did with Charlie Musslewhite (No Mercy In This Land) pressed at QRP and couldn't get a copy that wasn't trash. You can hear all of the issues when compared to a streamed version. I wrote them about it to politely share my discovery...crickets. Bummed, love their music.

Yes I have bought a lot of QRP issues. But, for the money, I will pass on this one. Thanks to Mickey for saving me some bucks!

Yes I have bought a lot of QRP issues. But, for the money, I will pass on this one. Thanks to Mickey for saving me some bucks!

Amazon currently offering the LP set for $66.31, down from $93 just a week ago. That's a great deal IMO.

Meanwhile Analogue Productions/Acoustic Sounds is listing it at $110

If you are paying full price you should get the product without flaws. If the flaw won;t be corrected then the price should be reduced accordingly and people notified BEFORE purchasing of the potential issue.

That's what a company with integrity would do.

Bought the box, if only to hear Jimi Live at the Hollywood Bowl. If they reissue, this could be a collector's item! LOL. Now, if they could just release Jimi Live in San Diego, that would really be something.

At least you didn't get a large piece of extra vinyl cupped over a record like I did on Tom Petty's "An American Treasure" which rendered disc 3's 1st songs (both sides) unplayable. Excellent album set otherwise and I am looking into seeing if they will send me another #3 instead of having to return this massive 6 record set...

IMO this is the best sounding Electric Ladyland I've heard to date including recent remasters by Eddie Kramer and original British and US pressings.

... flat and quiet except for one little pop. Holding it up to a bright light to see if it was something my brush missed, I was disappointed to see the defect. Upon a second play, the volume of the pop seemed to lessen and didn't bother me as much. Six sides with no other problems. This one's a keeper. The best Electric Ladyland I've heard on vinyl. I even like the soft touch album covers.
Then from reading the forums, I saw the problem was pressing wide. Oh well, we may never get another AAA of this title again. I think I'll buy another box if the price comes down a little more. It's worth it for the 5.1 mix alone.

Correction for my last post. That should read six records not six sides.

Fremer, I have a very simple question, so I hope you will also be able to give a very simple answer:
What, if anything, would be able to make you change your mind about vinyl being better than digital?

Just received the disc boxed release (extra nice), but will wait until the flawed vinyl issue is resolved and verified by pundits. Meanwhile, where can someone purchase the european vinyl pressing version of deluxe boxed release?

Cheers,

Bleusy

*******

I read the reviews posted here and, the negatives were so great that I almost passed on buying the boxed set. Fortunately, I listened to Mike's audio clip of the imperfection and decided, given the Amazon discounted price on the set, I would give it a shot. Having now listened to the 4 sides of the original album, my conclusions are (i) I am delighted that I followed Mike's recommendation, as the the vinyl sounds great, the imperfection is a single pop and (ii) QRP should be ashamed of themselves and, even though the audio impact is slight, the imperfection is so obvious, yet they let it go out to the public, I will never again buy an album pressed at their plan until I have seen reviews of people who acquired pressings and confirmed they are okay. Is the Electric Ladyland worth buying? Absolutely, if you can get it for $50 or so. Has QRP trashed its reputation? I would say no, but it has lost the benefit of the doubt -- it has gone from a presumption of impeccable quality to a possibility of impeccable quality. That is an unfortunate difference.