Reverb Pre-Delay: How to Set It by Tempo

Reverb pre-delay is the short gap between the dry sound and the moment the reverb tail begins. Set it well and the attack of a vocal or snare stays clear before the ambience arrives, which keeps the mix open instead of washed out. A common starting point is 20–30 ms, or a 32nd-to-16th note at the track tempo.

What pre-delay does

Without pre-delay, the reverb starts the instant the sound does, so the tail smears over the attack and the source loses its edge. Add a small gap and the dry transient speaks first — the consonant of a word, the crack of a snare — and only then does the room bloom behind it. The ear reads that gap as distance and clarity at once.

Setting pre-delay from the tempo

Because pre-delay is just a short time value in milliseconds, you can tie it to the tempo the same way you sync a delay. A 32nd or 16th note keeps the gap musical, so the reverb breathes with the track rather than sitting at an arbitrary length.