Pre-Echo

(Also called “Forward Echo”) A compression artifact that often occurs in digital audio in which an “echo” of a sound (or part of a sound) is heard ahead of the sound itself, often due to the data inconsistencies in certain compressed digital formats. A type of pre-echo can also sometimes occur in the end product of a recording, occurring on tape as a result of low-level leakage caused by print-through, and also on vinyl records due to physical differences and/or deformities in the grooves between silence and a loud transient. In digital formats, pre-echo is generally an unwanted problem that requires additional signal processing to resolve—but in some cases it can also be used on purpose as a sound effect (not to be confused with “Reverse Echo”).