Sound right before song begins on vinyl, what is it?

Could be something called "Print through".

This happens when the signal on the master tape bleeds through to the layer of tape next to it - actually recording itself on another section of tape. the new signal is very low in strength so you can only hear it during silence (before music starts playing). Cool huh? 

or "tape bleed".

It is interesting. Thanks.

I believe this topic has been discussed in the past. If you search,  you may find it.

Here’s a relevant thread:  pre-echo

https://forum.audiogon.com/discussions/turntable-pre-echo-sound

@drbond 

Thanks for an interesting read. Seems that there can be a couple of reasons. I "think" most of what I hear is the tape bleed through type but who knows. I'll have to pay attention to when I hear it and try to observe what might be the cause. No reason other than curiosity. I had considered that it may go on through an entire album or entire song but it is lost as the "intended" music takes over. Kind of like overcoming a tape hiss, tube hiss or minor surface noise (noise floor, I guess). It's never been a bother, just a matter of curiosity. Thanks.

It’s called print-through and it’s a devilish problem when remastering older recordings.  The master tape is stored in less than ideal conditions (like metal shelving!) and the magnetic signal bleeds through from one layer to another.  Any LP that’s been mastered from older tapes can suffer from it.

The company I work for employs a brilliant technician who actually found a way to cancel out much of the problem.

I always thought this was mainly caused by the disc cutting process, where big modulations of the groove cause much smaller modulations of the adjacent, already cut, silent lead-in groove.  There is a trade-off in groove separation - too big and less music can be stored on a side, and too close where you get ... what you describe!  If it is from the record cutting process, expect the pre-echo to always be about 2 seconds ahead (at 33-rpm)

Audible pre echo, cool topic.

In the afore mentioned thread I was wondering how long it was going to be before somebody referenced "Whole Lotta Love?"  At this point it would seem artificial if we didn’t hear it. Less organic not authentic. Our brains and conscious would dismiss it. 

To answer the question of was the pre echo intentional or not on Whole Lotta Love? It’s a totally cool effect and it would seem that it was done on purpose. But if it wasn’t, all of the details that came together in that moment kind of reminds me of golf getting a hole in one; just perfect.

To me it’s as intrinsic to analog as the pops clicks and the sound of the stylus landing. 

Maybe it's the band warming up.

I don't believe this has anything to do tape bleed through explanation when applied to vinyl. Tape bleed-through usually causes a fixed delay 1.8 seconds for a 7.5 ips tape not the very short delay like the fractions of a second heard on vinyl. The ghost sound on vinyl mostly occurs just before the actual sound, almost like a preview of the track which surely indicates a vinyl specific artefact not tape bleed through. A more likely explanation Groove Pre-Echo which is a vinyl mastering artefact. These ghost sounds are often cut into the vinyl itself, especially in the lead-in groove or between tracks.

It’s kind of easy to understand how this happens; when a loud transient like a snare hit is cut into the groove, the vibrations can slightly modulate the adjacent groove wall — especially the one just before it. This causes a mechanical pre-echo: the stylus picks up a faint version of the sound one revolution earlier about 1.8 seconds at 33⅓ RPM.

Some of the causes of pre-echo can are “hot mastering” or cutting grooves very loud, soft lacquer or vinyl formulations, wear and tear on the stamper wear or even pressing equipment wear although the latter less likely as these machines are usually built like the proverbial brick Sh*thouse!

We store master tape with the tales out (ending of tape to the outside of the reel) to keep this effect to a minimum. It's unavoidable but this helps.  At least you know you are getting a 100% analog recording.  

I remember back in the tape days, a rule of thumb was to never use fast-forward or rewind before storing your just-played tape. just let it keep playing 'till the end. Don't remember why, exactly. But it was a rule for hard-cores.

I'm going to have to pay more attention the next time I hear this phenomenon to measure the duration etc. It makes the most sense to me to think that this is a tape related problem. I have trouble understanding how the vinyl flaws could sound the way this does. I'm not saying anything is wrong, I'm just trying to wrap my head around it. Interesting stuff. Thanks all.

Truth is that that "ghost" signal that is heard on some vinyl recordings can be easily removed during the editing process both in an analogue way [ splice a section of clean tape at that point ] or a digital way [ simply find the annoying section and hit delete]. It would be interesting to know the age of the recordings in question as editing techniques have changed and improved.  I would imagine that recordings made before the use of magnetic tape would not exhibit this characteristic ?  I'll pay more attention in my future listening sessions !

@nubiann    +1

I've heard this on d2d recordings as well. No tape involved. 

@tcutter 

It seems like the only explanation in that case is the vinyl flaw, which was explained by someone earlier. It is kind of hard to imagine that one sounding as an exact but faint replica of the song that is about to begin. Does it? I don't think I've ever heard it on a D2D but will pay close attention when I listen to one in the future. I have quite a few and they are among my favorites to demo something new in the system.

Thelma Houston SL – 2, side two.

Devil messages….

Sublingual programming….

Subliminal? Or is this tongue in cheek?

Under the tongue, apparently.