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Odd request: Single side, mono headphone help

post #1 of 7
10/21/09 at 1:28pm
Thread Starter 
I have one ear that is, for some odd reason, extremely sensitive. Just minutes of listening to headphones at very low levels will cause fatigue and tinnitus. I've been listening with a driver set off one ear for a while but I know I'm missing 1/2 the music. Is there any reason not to wire one speaker in mono by attaching both leads to the terminals? That would probably be the easier way and I could just pack the other cup with sound deadening foam.
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post #2 of 7
10/21/09 at 2:07pm
Have you tried using a balance control to lower the signal level to the sensitive ear?
I am unsure what your using but a volume control for each channle may be better then a single channel amplifier. Just a thought..
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post #3 of 7
10/21/09 at 2:12pm
Thread Starter 
Quote:
Originally Posted by ROBSCIX View Post
Have you tried using a balance control to lower the signal level to the sensitive ear?
I am unsure what your using but a volume control for each channle may be better then a single channel amplifier. Just a thought..
The problem is I listen to a lot of older jazz that has almost zero crossfade: The bass and piano in the left ear and the sax and drum kit in the right. Really stark differences if I listen to only one channel.
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post #4 of 7
10/22/09 at 12:11am
If you can find one of these, it will solve your problem - stereo adjust each channel and a mono switch ..dB



it is a sennheiser HZR6 ( the newer HZR62 does not have the mono switch )
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post #5 of 7
10/22/09 at 12:25am
You likely want something like this (just the first Google hit):

Stereo to Mono Converter Based on FET | FREE Electronics Circuit Schematics Diagrams

Once it is mono, you can get then get it to the appropriate ear...
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post #6 of 7
10/22/09 at 2:26am
Beyerdynamic makes a number of professional headphones with just one driver. One of those might work for you.
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post #7 of 7
10/23/09 at 11:17am
The problem with just connecting both sets of output wires to just one of the headphone sides is that the amplifiers will "fight" with each other. The amp for the right channel might want to output 1 volt, and the amp for the left channel might want to output 0 volts, so whichever one can output more current will win.

If you want to do something DIY, you might make a summing amplifier out of op-amps and add the two channels that way.
Op Amp Summing Amplifier
Summing Op Amp - Learning Activity
Operational amplifier applications - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
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