[rapoon]

hi guys,

i recently purchased a 20 gig ipod. i've noticed on some songs the right side is fainter than the left side, or the right side sounds different. ive tested this with multiple headphones (the standard ones that come with ipod, the some sr-60 grados and some other plugs).

my question is, is this normal? are highs/mids/lows equally transfered to the left and right channels? it bothers me because its not like one side is completely inaudible, but that the two sides sound significantly different. ex. the left plug has more bass or the right has more treble, the singers voice is more clear on one side than the other.

Also, could someone briefly explain to me the fundamental concept behind l/r channels and why some sounds are only transferred to one channel? why not equally transfer the sound(s) to both channels?

 

[DeimosHG]

Is that true with all of your music or is this one song in particular? Some music is recorded so it sounds like you're standing in the performance space (with the piano over there and the singer over here and so on) but a lot of music (especially recent popular music) is practically recorded in mono with both channels being pretty much the same. If all of your music seems to have the same differences between the channels, perhaps you've accidently changed an equalizer setting, or else there's a problem with you Ipod. I'd contact Apple.

 

[rapoon]

most of the songs, but not all of them

 

[pedxing]

I would try to download a mono source mp3 into your ipod and check. If you still have the same problem, your ipod is probably borken or you have uneven hearing sensitivity between the left and right ears. Try flipping the headphone around your head and see if the louder side has swapped around. Again, try using a mono recording.

Just as a side note, many older recordings have a tendancy to have funny stereo mixing. For example, the early recordings of the Beatles had only vocals on one side which is really annoying for headphone users. I have also noticed that many of my pop music recording from the 70's and 80's have slight stereo imbalance problems.

 

[rapoon]

is there a way to convert an existing mp3 to mono? or rip a track from cd and convert into mono mp3? ive tried the earphone swapping you described, its usually always the "L" plug

 

[go_vtec]

Quote:

is there a way to convert an existing mp3 to mono?

Yes, you can use most of sound editing program to save as mono wave/mp3 file. Most computers I've seen come with at least one of these or comes with recording program (you can record your voice in mono and play back).

 

[lindrone]

BTW, have you tested other sources besides the iPod? It's very often that people hears differently out of their left and right ear. You could also have earwax build-up in your ear that might be blocking some of the sound.

We have "stereo" mixes for music, because it's a part of what the artists/producers use to produce positional cues. Just like our eyes, which sees slightly differently in combination to create and determine distance, our ears work the same way too. Feeding different signal to both ear will create positional cues as to how the sound is reproduced.

Depends on artists' original intent, they could offset the sound that comes to your L and R channel to produce distance and position, or they can simply put drums on one side and guitar on the other side and emulate a concert like feel where the guitarist is standing on one side of the stage and drummer on the other.

Mono music is always "flat". There's no distance or positional cues of any sort.

 

[rapoon]

ok then, whoever suggested I try with a mono song, thats the best start. its really bizzare, because a song (not all though) will have a more treble in one plug, and more bass in the other..... does this sound normal at all? i guess listening to a mono song is the only definitive test.. but ill swap out plugs, one ear to the other and the sound discrepency exists in the plug(s), not my ears. ill give it a shot once i get home

 

[DeimosHG]

Sounds like you should contact Apple. If the unbalance is that clear, you're entitled to an exchange.