Test Pressings/Promo Copy LPs

Last month, some records arrived and among them are 'promotional' and 'demonstration' copies of albums that I already have. Reason is I am just curious to find out if I can hear differences between these and the commercial or regular pressings. A minor variable would be the element of groove wear but since both copies have 'near mint' spindle holes and impeccable shiny vinyl, I figure I can write that variable off.

Here's a Columbia 360 Stereo demonstration copy of an album I know so well, Brothers Four Sings Lennon McCartney.



Back cover has the 'demostration copy' stamp.



Another title is Tony Mottola's Tony and Strings album, this one has a pure white label with words 'promotional copy' printed on it.



On the Brothers Four LP, the demo copy was totally grainless and very smooth, specially on the voices of the 4 singers. I thought my regular copy was smooth already by comparing them, the regular copy does not have the smoothness of the demo copy. By and large, the instruments sounded pretty much the same to me. On the Tony Mottola album, the regular copy sounded thin and wiry, particularly on the guitar and violins. There is almost a glare and brightness on the entire sound spectrum but when I put on the promo copy, the guitar sounded 'thick' and the strings were smoother. No glare or brightness present. These 2 are by far my most telling experiences with promo or demo pressings. Whether they are consistent on all titles, that remains to be seen or heard. Problem is, these kinds of pressings are not really easy to come by, specially in NM fashion. But at least I get to hear what others have been talking about.

garylkoh said:

Thanks, Phil. I've found that promo copies are almost always much better than the run-of-the-press copies. Sometimes these are just the first run out of the presses and are sent out to radio station DJs to start promotion of the album going.

However, test pressings can be hit or miss. Most of the test pressings I have are better, but some test pressings have tracks in different order, or problems with mastering that are fixed later. Other times, they are just made so that the manufacturer can make more money from audiophiles.

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My pleasure, Gary. And thanks for your insights as well. Fully agree with them, they can be hit or miss.

I now feel there is a distinction between test pressings and promo (demonstration) copies.Test pressings are mostly white labels with no commercial markings and have plain white jackets and sometimes are sealed like those being sold on acoustic sounds. like Classic Records and RTI pressings. As sealed, they have not been 'tested', and can be hit or miss. Demonstration or promo copies, otoh, mostly have commercial prints on labels and jackets and are just stamped demo copy on the cover or label. Though I only have a handful of these, I have yet to hear a demo copy sounding worse than my regular copy. I have them on labels from Concord, Columbia, and Project 3, these are older labels from the 60s and 70s.

Orb said:

Quite a few years ago, a relative worked in the marketing dept of one of the large record companies and I was lucky to receive many 1st run promos that varied from Prince to classical.
In all cases these were incredible LPs and really shows the wear that goes on with mass producing LPs; due to the mother-daughter plating process for replicating the master, and also the stamper itself, along with the process of reduced cooling times once the production line is up to full speed manufacturing.
These days though with mass producing out of the window for LPs, and possibly greater care and time in creation of the master at the studio (in general as there were some great LP mastering studios), and with less demands-better servicing of the cutter, quality is more consistent from 1st to last pressing.

Cheers
Orb

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Thanks for the insights, Orb. Agreed too on your 2nd point.