silent preview...

Posted by: ken c on 18 February 2002

when playing vinyl, i often "hear" a very faint beginning of the track (2 seconds or so) before it actually starts, as if there is a part of the stylus tracking "ahead". i am sure you understand what i mean??

whats the explanation for this phenomenon?

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 18 February 2002 by Paul Ranson

If it's advanced about a revolution of the turntable then it's a vinyl effect, I'm not sure of the technicalities, perhaps the laquer contracts slightly after being cut and if the grooves are too close then a pre or post echo can be caused.

Otherwise it's tape print-through, where the closely packed layers of tape on a reel have affected one another. You might well hear this off CD, unless it's been fixed in the mix....

Paul

Posted on: 18 February 2002 by ken c

paul ranson, many thanks.

enjoy

ken

Posted on: 19 February 2002 by Chris Murphy

Often this can occur with an analogue master tape where the tape has been stored a particular way. I believe the industry standard is to store the tape tail out so they need to be rewound prior to use. This means the tape ends up with 'post print' which generally is not heard. If this isn't done then 'pre print' occurs which can be heard as a pre echo. It is because the magnetic tape bleeches the sound imprint onto the layers on top and underneath it.....

Chris

Posted on: 20 February 2002 by ken c

chris, many thanks. learnt a few things from your and paul's replies.

enjoy

ken