Two spectral components of a binary system, like water and fat in proton magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) can be separated by adding two signals acquired with a different delay (the Dixon method). The same effect can be obtained in a single acquisition by interference of two shifted echoes. The standard multiecho imaging technique based on the Carr-Purcell-Meiboom-Gill (CPMG) sequence has been modified by adding a time shift of τ/2 after excitation. As a result, in the second and further periods of the sequence, the signal is a sum of two echoes which have opposite phases for this spectral component, which is off-resonance by 1/2τ. A magnitude image based on the first period of such nonsymmetric CPMG shows both components, whereas the second period gives an image of the on-resonance component only. The flip angle of the refocusing pulses must be adjusted to give equal amplitudes of the interfering echoes. A similar effect is obtained with the RARE sequence based on nonsymmetric CPMG with low-angle refocusing pulses.