I have nothing to compare with but on its own it sounds mostly all right. I have no idea if a first press is potentially better. Its not exactly a sonically impressive record despite being a 2X LP set, so dont go thinking that it means better quality necessarily. It does mean some great bonus material which just by itself is inticing as it is not found on the original. The packaging too is stunningly beautiful. One thing I didnt like is the tight spindle hole. Its the first time Ive had a record that needs to be pushed down on the platter and at first I didnt realize so the record was sort of off center and it gave a really muffled sound. I corrected the mistake on second listen and its now much better in the soundstage. Its also my first AKARMA release and you could say that while Im overall not exactly extatic it does leave me satisfyed considering the labels shady source rumors. If this was from CD it must have been worked on pretty well. Its not cut overly loud and its not completely flat. It favors the midrange mostly but there is some bass and treble to be had here still. Even if it was from tape I cant imagine the bands recordings were of world class to work with. Strangely enough the sound clarity worsens the further in you get on Side A, making The New World sound really recessed. I wonder if its because of the source, artistic choice or a cutting decision to make IGD less of a problem. If its the very latter then that is indeed a lazely done solution to degrade the whole track. But what I actually suspect has happened is that they just used multiple sources for different tracks. Besides all that the pressing is fairly quiet and clean as well.Its aesthetically pleasing but leaves a bit to be desired soundwise, if it was at all possible to achieve in the first place. I have never heard an original though so perhaps its not far off from the original sound and vision, except of course for a buzzing defect on side D, where it sounds like there is a fly in my left speaker.Perhaps Ill get an original to review some day.Sound quality of tracks:A1 - Good, just slightly muffled soundingA2 - GreatA3 - Decent, a little more enclosed, less separated instruments. Recorded or sourced badly?A4 - Bad, extremely recessed instrumentsB1 - Bad, better instruments but muffled vocalsB2 - DecentB3 - Great, nice bass, trebly strings and present vocalsC1 - Good, needs more bottom and top end. Confused sounding when it gets busy.C2 - Good, a little more dynamic extension than C1C3 - Good, but sibilant on vocalsC4 - Decent, with a tinny soundD1 - Decent to Good, dynamics sound prohobited. But with pressing defect on my copy.D2 - Good, much less pressing defects, of course, right after one of my favorite tracks ;^(D3 - Good, with great bass but tinny vocalsEquipment used:Rega RP1 with Nagaoka MP-110 cartridgeCyrus 2 Amplifier System Fidelity SF-3050 tower speakersCustom made HQ speaker cables

I have nothing to compare with but on its own it can sound great, to bad. I have no idea if a first press is potentially better. Its not exactly a sonically impressive record despite being a 2X LP set, so dont go thinking that it means better quality necessarily. It does mean some great bonus material which just by itself is inticing as it is not found on the original. The packaging too is stunningly beautiful. One thing I didnt like is the tight spindle hole. Its the first time Ive had a record that needs to be pushed down on the platter. Its also my first AKARMA release and you could say that while Im overall not exactly extatic it does leave me sort of content considering the labels shady source rumors. If this was all from CD some parts must have been worked on well. Its not cut overly loud and its not completely flat. It favors the midrange mostly but there is some bass and treble to be had here still. Even if it was from tape I cant imagine the bands recordings were of world class to work with. Strangely enough the sound clarity worsens the further in you get on Side A, making The New World sound really recessed. I wonder if its because of the source, artistic choice or a cutting decision to make IGD less of a problem. If its the very latter then that is indeed a lazely done solution to degrade the whole track. But what I actually suspect has happened is that they just used multiple sources for different tracks. Besides all that the pressing is fairly quiet and clean as well.Its aesthetically pleasing but leaves a bit to be desired soundwise, if it was at all possible to achieve in the first place. I have never heard an original though so perhaps its not far off from the original sound and vision, except of course for a buzzing defect on side D, where it sounds like there is a fly in my left speaker.Perhaps Ill get an original to review some day.Edit: One thing I find funny is that The Narrow Gate, the track with the best sound is written about in the gatefold as "Probably the most stunning track". Did someone at Akarma just completely fanboy out to get at the very least that track to sound good?Sound quality of tracks:A1 - Good, just slightly muffled soundingA2 - GreatA3 - Decent, a little more enclosed, less separated instruments. Recorded or sourced badly?A4 - Bad, extremely recessed instrumentsB1 - Bad, better instruments but muffled vocalsB2 - DecentB3 - Great, nice bass, trebly strings and present vocalsC1 - Good, needs more bottom and top end. Confused sounding when it gets busy.C2 - Good, a little more dynamic extension than C1C3 - Good, but sibilant on vocalsC4 - Decent, with a tinny soundD1 - Decent, but with lots of irritating pressing defect on my copy, on my favorite track too ;^(D2 - Good, much less pressing defects, of course, right after Family SongD3 - Good, with great bass but tinny vocalsEquipment used:Rega RP1 with Nagaoka MP-110 cartridgeCyrus 2 Amplifier System Fidelity SF-3050 tower speakersCustom made HQ speaker cables

If as a fan of music and a record collector you do not want to own the original Tripsichord Lp, you are twice cursed to not possess the Akarma version as well for the Bonus material and stunning sleeve.