Here is an odd one.
Why is it when you buy headphones for music they always have Left and Right on them, when both sides are identical in
shape?
It makes no sense. Is it a brain thing for certain tones. All I know is I have no flaming idea, just odd.
33 years young and it just dawned on me![]()
And no I'm not drunk or flying.
stuffs recorded/mixed in stereo, so some sounds are designed to be heard from the left speaker, and others from the right, so if u plugem into your correct holes, you hear the recording as the author intended ![]()
and if you buy 2 more pairs of headphones, you can plug them into the rest of your holes for 5.1 surround pleasure
or 7.1 if you're extreme
I like to listen to the with the left speaker on my right ear.and vice versa its a bit of a spin to hear it cause the sound the same you just absorb it different
Sure, recordings are set up with spatial separation to create a sound stage, but apart from knowing that an orchestra always has clarinets on the right, etc., or if you are playing a computer game, why does it matter which is left and which is right? It's not like our ears work differently.
As someone that makes a living from mixing sound for TV, I /we go to huge effort to get the left / right orientation correct.
To get the crowd FX, field SFX going left to right.
Have a watch of Bathurst this weekend with headphones and watch the cars go around there is nothing worse than seeing the car on the screen go opposite direction to the sound.
Most 'drama' TV series has quite good stereo in it, movies will have good L/R content.
To get the crowd FX, field SFX going left to right.
When you are matching to video content, of course it matters. But Haircut's reply was inferring that even pure audio, was intended to be a particular way around. That was what I was wondering about?
Agreed for 'modern' music created electronically there seems to be no defined L/R but often it will try and give the layout of a live stage act, Classical music is quite structured.
The headphones for my I phone and I pad are not identical.
They are the same in appearance but are on the opposite hand.
ET.![]()
As someone that makes a living from mixing sound for TV, I /we go to huge effort to get the left / right orientation correct.
To get the crowd FX, field SFX going left to right.
Have a watch of Bathurst this weekend with headphones and watch the cars go around there is nothing worse than seeing the car on the screen go opposite direction to the sound.
Most 'drama' TV series has quite good stereo in it, movies will have good L/R content.
Yes it is just not right if the car/bike goes left to right but the sound goes r to l partic if using headphones in wrong ear
Most 60's music (in stereophonic!) had A very distinct L/R balance
Hygiene.
You shouldn't put something from your left ear to your right as if you have an infection in one, you will transfer it to the other.
But also the sound balance.
Some funny reply's yet still not the right one. I'm sure a few misunderstood the music part of the question...and the headphone, however music on the radio does have left and right but is swapping the L/R wires going to change the sound, apart from the obvious its on the other side and will still have the same stereo effect regardless.
My best guess would be there is no reason for it. Funny how many people including my wife do not actually read the main question properly.
Harrow seems to understand the gist of it.
Yes you can swap the L+ wire with the R+ wire going to the speakers / headphones no problem...... all that will happen is the signals are swapped.
Yes you can swap L+ with L- and on the other side R+ with R- all this will do is the speakers operate in a 'reverse phase mode' which is a little less efficent but most people wont pick it.
The L- and R- are normally connected together at a common point, (in the amplifier or headphone plug)
Now if you want to try something tricky get another speaker from somewhere and connect from that extra speaker the + connection to L+ of the amplifier and the - of the extra speaker to the R+ of the amplifier...... What the extra speaker has in it is the 'difference' between L and R, so a mono signal like voice will not be in that extra speaker but in wide stereo there will be quite a lot of info there...
It's a 'cheap mans surround sound' set up..... Dolby surround it's not but its great to watch movies and listen to music with.
Yes you can swap L+ with L- and on the other side R+ with R- all this will do is the speakers operate in a 'reverse phase mode' which is a little less efficent but most people wont pick it.
.
And then one side is reversed and the other normal and you stick a bit of plywood up the middle of your brain you'd have a bandpass sub box
sik mate sik subwooffaaaaaa
Thankyou Youngbull, nice post.
This is a pretty misunderstood aspect of our brains L/R cognition.
So far nobody has taken into account the L and R handedness of the brain. What the composer intended for each hemisphere of the brain will indeed be "heard" by our brain (irregardless of our conscious deciphering) differently according to which hemisphere receives which intended stereoscopic band. Your R handed "logical" hemisphere will hear/interpret a L handed "creative" track differently and vice versa.
Obviously as the posts so far imply it is extremely subtle so the only way I can foresee out of the turgid miasma is to conduct further studies with partially deaf people AND Pink Floyd.....
My guess is that bass is obviously logical so ergo R and solo's are creative and L?????
Don't believe me? For instance the brains hemispheres are so subtle, they even affect smell.
www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/267236
Obviously as the posts so far imply it is extremely subtle so the only way I can foresee out of the turgid miasma is to conduct further studies with partially deaf people AND Pink Floyd.....
I think most of their fans are, so not hard to find the target group ![]()
![]()
Total coincidence, but I bought a digital piano yesterday so that I can play late at night after the kids are asleep. As I plugged the head phones I had to laugh when I found myself making sure the L and R earbuds were the right way round.
^^Neural pathway damage for some reason (injury/stroke/etc)? Nerves not connecting one ear to speech processing centre.
Here's an interesting left right one. Is it going left or right - you can change it's direction by thinking 'LEFT' or 'RIGHT'!
Here is an odd one.
Why is it when you buy headphones for music they always have Left and Right on them, when both sides are identical in
shape?
It makes no sense. Is it a brain thing for certain tones. All I know is I have no flaming idea, just odd.
33 years young and it just dawned on me![]()
And no I'm not drunk or flying.
Try playing Battlefield with ur LR mixed up.
left handed people were deprived of oxygen at birth and suffered subtle brain damage.
Hey - I resemble that!

Saw this on the telly a little while ago, which way is the bus going to go if it drives off forwards?
In opposite directions obviously.