[78-L] What off the press?

[Alan Bunting]

Can't provide a definitive answer for this but I do know from my experiences with many of UK Decca's MW Music While You Work series from the 1940s that the test pressings always sounded better and had noticeably less surface noise than the released version.
 
I assume that this was because they were pressed on a higher grade of shellac i.e. less filler so that, although they would wear quicker, it enabled a more accurate assessment of the recorded sound.
 
Alan Bunting


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>Just been browsing through the October 1939 issue of "The Gramophone" 
>and the jazz reviews. At the end there is an indication of reproduction 
>quality. For some it says: "Reviewed from test pressing, so little 
>indication of surface was available."
>
>So what was different about the test pressings?
>
>      Julian Vein
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