Vinyl Test Pressing Guide
What is a test pressing?
In vinyl record production, a test pressing is a set of multiple sample records, which are pressed from the same metal plates that will be used to press the full production run. Test pressings are made as a final check to make sure the record meets your full approval, before the run is manufactured.
Why should you review test pressings?
Manufacturing vinyl can be an expensive endeavor, and you don’t want to have to remake a pressing of 10,000 records because a mistake got made but wasn’t caught before manufacturing took place.
With many vinyl pressing providers, you waive your right to a refund if you don’t approve a test pressing before the production run. That means you’re on the hook for paying for another full production pressing if a mistake happens during manufacturing, and you chose not to review a test pressing to catch it first.
Reviewing your test pressings does take a little bit of extra time on your end. But, it’s time well spent compared to the months of time and potentially thousands of dollars lost, if you have to remake a manufacturing run to fix something.
Why are multiple copies of a test pressing made?
Because vinyl is an imperfect medium (that’s why we love it!), a certain amount of surface noise and random clicks/pops are to be expected, and these will all vary a little bit from disc to disc. That’s perfectly normal. One of the great things about vinyl is that each individual disc really is something unique and one-of-a-kind.
Multiple test copies are sent to you so that you can compare multiple discs to each other. If a potential sonic issue that you hear reoccurs in the same location across every test disc, that’s a clue that you might be dealing with a legitimate manufacturing issue, rather than the expected sonic variations that normally occur disc to disc.
How should I review my test pressings once I receive them?
Here’s the general method I like to use:
Pick one of your test copies at random.
Listen through that copy in its entirely, both sides, cataloging any potential issues as you go. I like to start a stopwatch when I drop the needle, so that I can note the timing of any potential issues.
If you find any sonic issues, cross-reference them with your other test copies (this is where the stopwatch comes in handy again). If an issue occurs on just one of your test copies, you can be confident that same issue won’t reoccur during the full production run. If an issue is present in the same place across all of the test copies, take note and contact your production manager: you may have a legitimate manufacturing issue.
What should I listen/look for?
I like to start out by making sure that all of the basics are covered:
Make sure all of the tracks are in the correct order, and are placed on the correct side of the disc.
Make sure that the test pressings contain the correct songs. This might sound obvious, but I’ve heard of mixups during production where the wrong audio accidentally got sent to the pressing plant somewhere along the line, and this was only caught when reviewing the test pressings.
Make sure that the test pressings contain the complete, finished versions of your audio. I’ve also heard of mixups where an early version or a rough mix of a song got sent out by mistake instead of the final version, and you’d want to catch that before the full production run takes place.
Check the gaps (or lack thereof) between songs, and make sure they’re playing back as intended.
If you’ve requested any special details like a locked groove or a parallel groove, make sure those are functioning as intended.
Make sure the catalog number you’ve chosen (e.g. “SIA-002-A”) has been correctly etched into the inner run-out area closest to the center label. The catalog number should have an A or B appended to it that correctly notes each side of the record.
What sonic issues can you safely ignore when checking test pressings?
Cold-pull
Because test pressings are produced in limited quantities, where the press hasn’t had sufficient time to reach its full operating temperature, they can sometimes be susceptible to a phenomenon called cold-pull.
Cold pull can cause excess pops, clicks, or surface noise to appear on a record, but as long as those issues don’t occur in the same place across all of your different test copies, they’re nothing to worry about.
Inner-groove distortion
It’s normal to hear small amounts of distortion on the last tracks of a side (the ones closest to the center label). This happens because audio wavelengths get compressed as the diameter of the disc gets smaller towards the center.
I wouldn’t worry too much about small amounts of distortion on the tracks closest to the center label, but if you hear distortion in other parts of the record, make a note and contact your account manager.
It’s important to note that inner-groove distortion can be mitigated to a significant degree by proper track sequencing, and using dedicated masters that are made specifically for vinyl, before the pressing takes place.
That’s one reason (of many) why I often recommend paying for dedicated vinyl masters that are separate from your digital masters, when producing a vinyl record.
Any qualified mastering engineer should be walking you through all of these potential sonic issues, and the steps that can be taken to mitigate them, during the mastering process and before you send your tracks off to your vinyl pressing provider.
What should you do if you find a potential mistake in your test pressing?
Check your turntable setup
First, make sure your turntable is correctly set up and calibrated. If the tracking force on your individual turntable is set too light, it can cause skipping or skating around the disc during playback. If the tracking force is set too heavy, it can cause excess surface noise to appear.
It’s easy to confuse these types of turntable setup problems with a production or pressing plant mistake when evaluating your test pressings.
Calibrating your turntable is pretty simple to do with a few basic tools, and many record stores and hifi audio shops offer affordable turntable setup services if you don’t want to do it yourself.
Check/clean your stylus
Make sure that your cartridge stylus isn’t too old or worn down, and gently clean any dust or dirt off of it if there’s any present.
Listen on multiple turntables
One easy way to isolate issues like this, if you don't know how to calibrate your turntable or change/clean your stylus, is to listen to your test pressings on multiple different turntables.
Just take your test pressings over to a friend’s house, use their turntable, and see if anything you’ve noticed reoccurs at the same spots across all of your different test copies, when played back on different gear.
Addressing issues
If you’ve discovered a legitimate manufacturing issue on your test pressings, communicate with your pressing provider! The whole point of doing test pressings is to make sure you’re completely satisfied with the end product, and we all want to make sure that the full production run works out great for you.
For any issues that you find, make sure that you catalog the character, time, and disc side where the issue is occurring (i.e. “Recurring skipping across multiple turntables and test copies: Side A at approx. 01:39”).
Most pressing providers will also ask for your catalog number for the project, so they can find the metal plates that were used to make the test pressing and check them.