Although I know that at least for MMJ and Tone Poet series, rejected test pressings are destroyed. Probably same for any label that knows what they’re doing. They don’t want those in the wild. Blue Note now keeps very close tabs on the Tone Poet and BNC test pressings (for reasons I know but cannot say), and none are released to the wild anymore.
Ron would never have sent out a test pressing that didn’t pass muster in his (and Joe Harley’s) concern.
well apparently I am not the only who feels the same way. He also sent some to a friend of mine and they did their own comparison. Sometime Test Pressing did not sound as good as the commercial pressing.
The last test pressing he let me buy ( since it was out of stock ) was noisy. IIRC< it was Maiden Voyage I wanted to gift to a fried of mine. So I was kinda bummed because my regular pressing is perfect!
As for Tone Poet series, I feel that they do not sound as good as Music Matter releases. Just an impression cuz they do not have dupe titles.
I think we aren’t really on the same page sound-wise. I have all the MMJ45s about 2/3 of the MMJ 33s, and every one of the Tone Poets. In many cases the Tone Poets sound better where I sit. In some cases a whole lot better. Some of the very best sounding jazz titles in my collection are Tone Poets.
As for test pressings if Ron sent out rejected pressings then he was not being very wise about it. I only have the one. As for Blue Note in house series, there is no way they would let that happen. I have a few and they are outstanding.
OK, my wife and I just listened to the three versions we have of Undercurrents, just for “Ballade.”
The real problem is that the piano is rather out of tune. Of the three pressings the test pressing and 33 sound best, and the 45 is less good, but it’s (1) mastered in the old AcousTech studio before Kevin Gray did lots of major improvements and (2) includes Steve Hoffman as one of the mastering engineers, who – IMO – didn’t make great great choices on EQ, etc. But he disappeared from the MMJ team, and isn’t even mentioned as part of the team now on the MMJ website now. [I’m being polite about it, but wonder why…hmmm]
On all versions the piano is out of tune, but otherwise the 33 test pressing and release sound pretty much the same. They are probably from the same stampers. If anything, Freddie Hubbard’s trumpet and the cymbals maybe have a little more definition on the test pressing, but I cannot say for sure. I consider them pretty much the same. The 45 is soft and muted in places, and not better in any regard.
They have a lot character
Foot tapping.
Is this what we call thread drift?
I struggle to understand.
It’s all that really matters. 
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