Pre-delay

What it changes in the music

Pre-delay can separate the dry onset from the developing reverberant field. This may preserve a note’s identity while retaining a longer surrounding tail. A large setting can sound like a distinct gap or echo. The useful choice relates to source articulation and rhythm, not only the imagined room’s name or size preset.

A small experiment

Send a short chord to a fixed reverb and vary only pre-delay. Listen to whether its beginning becomes clearer before the space arrives.

Keep this distinction clear

Pre-delay does not determine the entire tail length. It changes the response’s initial offset, while decay and other reverb controls shape later behavior.

Related sound terms