What exactly is "print through" when referring to analog tape?

I have a commercial pre-recorded cassette of the Police's 'Zenyatta Mondatta' that was made on BASF Chrome tape. I was listening to it this afternoon and I noticed that before the songs actually start, I can hear them faintly playing before they start at normal volume. Is this what is known as "print through"?

Come to think of it, I also have another pre-recorded Chrome cassette of the Animals that exibits the same issue.

 

Hi alan909,

Yes, that is a perfect example of print through.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Another good example:

Listen to any cd version of Kool & The Gang's "Jungle Boogie" and listen to the end of the song.

 

I, too, have always wanted to know why tapes do this...

 

I think that this is an artifact from the mixing/mastering stage. The reason is that it happens on lps too. To me that means that the flaw is independent of the final product.

 

Actually its caused by one layer of tape being next to another layer of tape on the reel. So it could happen on a master tape, but also to a cassette or reel to reel tape that you own. It's more common on thinner tapes as used for longer playing time.

 

According to Techniques of Magnetic Recording by Joel Tall, 1950, there are several main factors that increase the level of print through, as follows:
1. high temperature; 1dB increase in the level of print through for each 10 degrees F of storage temperature
2. High recording levels
3. tight spooling
4. thinner base material
5. type of coatings used (some tapes were made for low print through)

 

Video tapes do it too. I think if tapes sit too long it happens. Tapes need to be played.

 

Many may not realize that these types of audio tapes have magnetic particles adhered to the "tape". The sound is "encoded" by way of a recording head inducing the magnetic particles to take on certain properties. "Print through" is when the magnetic properties of one layer of a reel rearrange the magnetic particles on another layer, in essence "copying", if at a much lower level, what was recorded.

 

Hi Dave,

The reason you can hear it on many LPs is because it is on the tapes from which they are sourced.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Even if it's not on the master tape, you can still hear the same effect on albums as groove echo.

http://members.tripod.com/~Vinylville/groove-echo.html for more information.

My copy of Pink Floyd's "The Wall" has no less than FIVE pre-echoes before the first note hits.

That's also why masters are stored tails-out, or not being rewound after playing. That puts the print-through at the end of the song rather than the beginning. It's not quite so noticeable there, since that's where you're fading the song, etc.

And you can tell by the timing whether it's on the master or on the album. On albums, it'll be around two seconds between echoes, if it's on the master, the echoes will be much quicker, depending on tape speed.

 

I thought it was intentional on Led Zep II

 

If it was on the Master with leaders inserted there would be no print through
It came from safety copies with no leaders.
Roger
Rewinding before play also helped to reduce PT
35mm 3 Track didnt suffer from PT so much cos of its thickness.
Roger

 

Good definition about print-through here on Wikipedia.

I agree 100% with Roger above. Most 35mm analog mag tracks are 3mils thick, and the print-through there is negligible. It was a real problem with 1/4" tape from the 1970s, especially with the hotter formulations like 3M 250.

We always stored analog tapes tails out, just so that the print through would be buried in the song, rather than appear in the silence prior to the start of the song. We also used the "library wind" mode on the Studers, just to pack the tape as evenly and smoothly as possible.

 

Hi Simon,

Groove echo is something different than print through, though the results can sound the same. Depending on how the mastering engineer sets up the groove geometry (for example, tightly spaced grooves for a longer LP side) and things that can occur in production of the pressing, the "echo" can be disk sourced, even if the tape is clean.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

How to tell if you are hearing groove echo or "print through" on an LP:

Groove echo usually (not always, but usually) occurs in one channel; i.e. the side of the groove closest to whatever is being echoed. Left channel if it is a pre-echo, right channel if it is a post-echo.

Print through happens in stereo.

 

I always stored master tapes "Tails-Out" because it was standard practice in studios when I owned and operated one. And it was a good idea to spool out tape at play speed for even packing, and good to rewind before playback or recording to "un-stick" and otherwise loosen-up the band.

But I never understood the explanation that it helps with print-through.

Am I nuts, or is the wind of tape sitting exactly the same whether tape is stored on the take-up reel or the supply reel? The start of a song is just as close to the adjacent layer of tape whether wound and stored on the take-up or supply reel, or am I crazy?

It seems that the position of song start is in the same position to other sections of the tape-band either way... Is it not? About 1.5 mils away from it's neighbor emulsion of magnetic material in either case. So why would producing print-through be less with tails-out? Is it really?

Can someone please explain this to me? Wondering always, R.E.

 

Hi Rolf,

It isn't so much being on the take up or supply reel as it is a matter of not rewinding the tape after playback. (This of course would result in the tape being tails out.)

The thinking, I suppose, is that a fast wind would leave the tape under greater tension (i.e. the wind would be tighter) than tape loaded to a reel at playback speed. This of course assumed properly adjusted tensioning on the machine.

I don't know if anyone has ever made a comparison of play speed loaded tension vs. wind speed loaded tension or if anyone has compared differences in susceptibility to print through between the two.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Hmmm..I'll try that. All I ever noticed was a strong reverberant tail.

 

I was thinking that it was because, the reverb tails, or sustained notes partially cover up the print-through effects. m If the tape is stored lead out, which is not industry standard, the print through happens before the attack, and therefore more noticable.

What I'm wondering is if certain brands/formulas were more succeptable to print-through, or if the storage conditions have something to do with it.

 

It's particularly noticeable with headphones on. It sounds pretty messy. I don't know if the quick fade of the final note matches the original vinyl or if this has simply been done for cd reissues in an attempt to cover up the print through.

 

I always thought the reason for hearing a faint intro of audio on an Lp was due to the stylus being just on the other side of the wall of the adjacent beginning track.

I thought the stylus was picking up the track ahead of it. If it's due to the tape itself, I can understand that this is the true case though.

I guess I never remembered hearing this issue on tape. I only noticed it on vinyl.

 

Hi P2CH,

It could be in the vinyl itself but this usually occurs only on long sides where the groove pitch (i.e. spacing) is tighter. In my experience, more often than not, it is on the tapes.

Best regards,
Barry
www.soundkeeperrecordings.com
www.barrydiamentaudio.com

 

Here are samples of groove echo and print-through. The groove echo is on the opening track of the Wall, level was increased greatly to make it more noticeable. Terrible terrible pressing, this was.

http://www.desideratijams.com/floydecho.wav

And here is tape print-through, again the first few seconds brought up loud enough to hear it.

http://www.desideratijams.com/floydecho.wav

(He said it was the original master, but it's not, it's an Arista safety copy. Obviously.)