This article is from the rec.arts.movies.tech FAQ, by Scott E. Norwood snorwood@nyx.nyx.net with numerous contributions by others.
While magnetic sound is of high quality, it can be expensive,
particularly for large print runs. For this reason, optical
soundtracks, of the type used for 16mm and 35mm prints, eventually
found their way onto some 8mm films (usually, commercially released
ones). Only a few models of projector could reproduce this type of
soundtrack, however, and quality is less than desirable, due to both
the relatively slow linear speed at which the film moves past the
soundhead, and the inherent limitations of frequency response and
noise on an optical track (see description for 16mm optical for more
details).
 
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