I got my "Sophisticated Boom Box" today! Having heard here in advance about the errors with several of the discs, I was already mentally prepared for it and did not have a complete meltdown. Yes, the errors are aplenty and unfortunate, but it appears that Edsel are quickly acting to acknowledge and correct the mistakes. I've already had a response from the CD manufacturers and hope to have the replacement discs in a few weeks time.
In the mean time I can comment on a few things for those who may be curious. First of the all, the packaging is GORGEOUS. A truly top notch design. The inner booklet has great liner notes from Pete, gloriously colorful photos for each album and comprehensive credits and discography. Kudos to those involved in the design - I couldn't have asked for a more beautifully packaged set.
I am a stickler for audio quality and am happy to say that while I have not listened to EVERYTHING from start to finish, so far I am extremely pleased. Errors aside, the tracks I've sampled certainly appear to be from high quality masters. The Up Ducky and Dust Monkey's Love Bubble mixes of "Brand New Lover" sound clearer than any previous version I have in my CD collection. I've compared some of the new discs to the original CD releases in my library and they are (somewhat) louder, and generally seem to have much better EQ - brighter high end and deeper low end. Even the mono "Youthquake" CDs sound promising - can't wait to actually get the corrected discs!! Audio-wise, I think it's safe to say the quality here is on par with the recent Bananarama releases from Edsel.
So far there are only two things I've noticed that kind of confuse me. On "Nukleopatra", they used the shorter version of the title track instead of the 7:04 version on the original Japanese CD. And the version of "Unhappy Birthday" (6:14) on the same Japanese CD of "Nukleopatra" is omitted. So far I don't see those two versions elsewhere. But I'll live lol.
I have not bothered with the DVD's yet as those are not my main interest in this collection, though I'm sure I will watch them at some point.
It's gonna take a while to truly take this all in that's for sure. Once the corrected discs are in place, this will absolutely stand as the ultimate Dead Or Alive collection.