6 ms·

A case for physically engraved L/R markings on headphones

7 points by mrvista 14y ago

arrrg 14y ago
My Beyerdynamic headphones (DT770 Pro) have an engraved L and R, as well as l and r in Braille. All that's a bit overkill sine the cable only attaches on one side (the left) anyway, so that's the most immediate indicator – but it does make for a good experience during the first few uses. All proper headphones I have seen have some sort of feel-able indicator (if not as explicit as Beyerdynamic's), showing that at least those manufacturers know what they do.
ozgung 14y ago
Maybe I should apply for a patent for earphones that detect left/right ears from orientation (or a predefined wearing order) and swap stereo channels accordingly.
jeffehobbs 14y ago
"because it simply ruins the overall musical experience when an earpiece is in the wrong place" I've long wondered: Is this true? It seems to me that the stereo field would simply be reversed, which apart from some hard-panning SFX on old Pink Floyd albums, I'm not sure that would affect the music in any tremendously meaningful way. I suppose instruments slightly panned to the left or right in the stereo field would be mirror imaged, but I'm still not certain if that really "ruins" the sound.
- deleted 14y ago
  [deleted]
- tresta 14y ago
  While I don't agree that it would "ruin" the music I find it a bit disconcerting if I'm listening to something I am used to hear the "right way" reversed. But that's obviously only for music I already know.
  - mdpye 14y ago
    There are certain conventions on instrument location which are very rarely broken. Drum kits are an easy example to examine, almost always panned so that the individual pieces match their positions relative to the drummer: for a right handed kit setup, hi-hit usually to the left of centre, ride cymbal to the right, toms high-low left-right. Another comment mentions orchestral layout for classical music. You would probably notice something was different even on pieces you'd never heard before. I'd find it pretty disconcerting, or mistake it for a deliberate departure on the part of the producer. But then I don't have any symmetrical headphones, so it's never been a problem.
- johnlensonni 14y ago
  If you are listening to orchestral music it's going to sound very bizarre to have the orchestra reversed.
- ot 14y ago
  It is not just about the stereo effect: often, headphones are subtly asymmetric. If you reverse them, the speaker is in the wrong direction and the sound is significantly worse/softened.
ignotion 14y ago
... If you take a look to the headphones shape, they only fit in your ears one way. So no need of L/R engraving...
vasco 14y ago
My sennheiser ones have a small raised dot on the left one, similar to Braille. Works very well.
kunil 14y ago
So why don't you swap them when you noticed the difference? If you can't what is the problem?
- Argorak 14y ago
  Because if you put them on and off multiple times a day, that becomes annoying?
  - kunil 14y ago
    Annoying enough to ruining your experience? A little exaggeration maybe?
    - Argorak 14y ago
      Yes and no. Because a song is a thing that should be experienced front to end. So either your choice is missing a few seconds (which sucks) or switching back to your audio program and restarting the song, which sucks as well. Also, reversing during the song _is_ odd (you turn the world around - literally). Why? Because some lazy headphone producer didn't bother putting labels on their not-so-cheap headphones phones, a thing that any proper company in the market does. As mentioned above, Sennheiser even puts little marks on the headphone so that you _feel_ that it is wrong.
adamlindsay 14y ago
"Being quite the audiophile, I prize myself with high-quality audio." So why do you even care about the Apple headphones? Mine have never even made it out of the box from the various iDevices I have owned.
- rsanchez1 14y ago
  I think when you buy Apple products expecting the quality you get from Apple products, wanting the headphones to be high-quality is not unreasonable. Why does he even care about the Apple headphones? Because he wants them to be better, and one of the more important aspects for a headphone in his opinion is physically embedded markings.
kristaps 14y ago
If the new headphones still have the remote then I don't see the problem identifying which headphone is which.
ajanuary 14y ago
If it's coming with the new iphone surely it will have a mic/remote? That's what I use on the current headphones to tell left/right, it's a lot easier than looking for markings, engraved or otherwise.
tjoff 14y ago
... but still lacks the only feature I wanted to come with high-end earphones, physically-etched L/R markings. Being quite the audiophile, I prize myself with high-quality audio If you care anything at all about quality you do not, under any circumstance, ever, use the bundled earphones. Also, if anything the portrayed earphones seemed quite asymmetrical. You'd probably quickly learn which goes where. But again, if you care the slightest about quality you won't even unpack those.
mjwalshe 14y ago
And blind or visualy impaired people would find it usefull as well
josscrowcroft 14y ago
Dude... just make a scratch on the right-hand one (or left-hand, if you prefer) and feel for it? I call First World Problems
epo 14y ago
FFS! If you notice, swap them round. If the original author is using bundled earbuds for critical listening then he is not the audiophile he flatters himself to be. Rather, I suspect this is some kind of ODCish reaction to being uncertain whether things are the way he thinks they are supposed to be.
antihero 14y ago
Um, they're asymmetrical. Look at that video, you can see that the flat bit on one side is at the front, so it's impossible to put them in the wrong way.
jentulman 14y ago
This seems like a problem in search of a problem. They have L & R printed on them, if you've not managed to learn which is which using the shape or a physical landmark like the mic or remote by the time the markings get worn off then there's a bigger problem occurring. Surely an audiophile is going to be substituting the earbuds for cans straight away anyway.
yanyan 14y ago
Apple earbuds are anything but audiophile quality. Pointless article from a pretentious "audiophile."
taligent 14y ago
I have never understand why the L/R marking have persisted. Why not just have one braille dot for left, two for right ?
Djonckheere 14y ago
I have a pair of Sennheheizer HD555's, no L/R engraving but there are 3 raised dots to denote the left side. Fantastic sound quality, open-ear design, very comfortable wearing for long periods of time.
bunderbunder 14y ago
Considering the shape of these headphones, I can't imagine needing a physically-etched L/R label in order to figure out which ear they need to go in. It would be less embarrassing to need labels to figure out which foot each shoe goes on.
rsanchez1 14y ago
I have to agree. If they're not physically engraved, eventually the markings will blur out. Then I'll be lost until I listen to something and find that it's off. It's better to have physically engraved markings and avoid that hassle.

7 points by mrvista 14y ago

arrrg 14y ago

My Beyerdynamic headphones (DT770 Pro) have an engraved L and R, as well as l and r in Braille. All that's a bit overkill sine the cable only attaches on one side (the left) anyway, so that's the most immediate indicator – but it does make for a good experience during the first few uses. All proper headphones I have seen have some sort of feel-able indicator (if not as explicit as Beyerdynamic's), showing that at least those manufacturers know what they do.

ozgung 14y ago

Maybe I should apply for a patent for earphones that detect left/right ears from orientation (or a predefined wearing order) and swap stereo channels accordingly.

jeffehobbs 14y ago

"because it simply ruins the overall musical experience when an earpiece is in the wrong place" I've long wondered: Is this true? It seems to me that the stereo field would simply be reversed, which apart from some hard-panning SFX on old Pink Floyd albums, I'm not sure that would affect the music in any tremendously meaningful way. I suppose instruments slightly panned to the left or right in the stereo field would be mirror imaged, but I'm still not certain if that really "ruins" the sound.

deleted 14y ago
[deleted]
tresta 14y ago
While I don't agree that it would "ruin" the music I find it a bit disconcerting if I'm listening to something I am used to hear the "right way" reversed. But that's obviously only for music I already know.
- mdpye 14y ago
  There are certain conventions on instrument location which are very rarely broken. Drum kits are an easy example to examine, almost always panned so that the individual pieces match their positions relative to the drummer: for a right handed kit setup, hi-hit usually to the left of centre, ride cymbal to the right, toms high-low left-right. Another comment mentions orchestral layout for classical music. You would probably notice something was different even on pieces you'd never heard before. I'd find it pretty disconcerting, or mistake it for a deliberate departure on the part of the producer. But then I don't have any symmetrical headphones, so it's never been a problem.
johnlensonni 14y ago
If you are listening to orchestral music it's going to sound very bizarre to have the orchestra reversed.
ot 14y ago
It is not just about the stereo effect: often, headphones are subtly asymmetric. If you reverse them, the speaker is in the wrong direction and the sound is significantly worse/softened.

ignotion 14y ago

... If you take a look to the headphones shape, they only fit in your ears one way. So no need of L/R engraving...

vasco 14y ago

My sennheiser ones have a small raised dot on the left one, similar to Braille. Works very well.

kunil 14y ago

So why don't you swap them when you noticed the difference? If you can't what is the problem?

Argorak 14y ago
Because if you put them on and off multiple times a day, that becomes annoying?
- kunil 14y ago
  Annoying enough to ruining your experience? A little exaggeration maybe?
  - Argorak 14y ago
    Yes and no. Because a song is a thing that should be experienced front to end. So either your choice is missing a few seconds (which sucks) or switching back to your audio program and restarting the song, which sucks as well. Also, reversing during the song _is_ odd (you turn the world around - literally). Why? Because some lazy headphone producer didn't bother putting labels on their not-so-cheap headphones phones, a thing that any proper company in the market does. As mentioned above, Sennheiser even puts little marks on the headphone so that you _feel_ that it is wrong.

adamlindsay 14y ago

"Being quite the audiophile, I prize myself with high-quality audio." So why do you even care about the Apple headphones? Mine have never even made it out of the box from the various iDevices I have owned.

rsanchez1 14y ago
I think when you buy Apple products expecting the quality you get from Apple products, wanting the headphones to be high-quality is not unreasonable. Why does he even care about the Apple headphones? Because he wants them to be better, and one of the more important aspects for a headphone in his opinion is physically embedded markings.

kristaps 14y ago

If the new headphones still have the remote then I don't see the problem identifying which headphone is which.

ajanuary 14y ago

If it's coming with the new iphone surely it will have a mic/remote? That's what I use on the current headphones to tell left/right, it's a lot easier than looking for markings, engraved or otherwise.

tjoff 14y ago

... but still lacks the only feature I wanted to come with high-end earphones, physically-etched L/R markings. Being quite the audiophile, I prize myself with high-quality audio If you care anything at all about quality you do not, under any circumstance, ever, use the bundled earphones. Also, if anything the portrayed earphones seemed quite asymmetrical. You'd probably quickly learn which goes where. But again, if you care the slightest about quality you won't even unpack those.

mjwalshe 14y ago

And blind or visualy impaired people would find it usefull as well

josscrowcroft 14y ago

Dude... just make a scratch on the right-hand one (or left-hand, if you prefer) and feel for it? I call First World Problems

epo 14y ago

FFS! If you notice, swap them round. If the original author is using bundled earbuds for critical listening then he is not the audiophile he flatters himself to be. Rather, I suspect this is some kind of ODCish reaction to being uncertain whether things are the way he thinks they are supposed to be.

antihero 14y ago

Um, they're asymmetrical. Look at that video, you can see that the flat bit on one side is at the front, so it's impossible to put them in the wrong way.

jentulman 14y ago

This seems like a problem in search of a problem. They have L & R printed on them, if you've not managed to learn which is which using the shape or a physical landmark like the mic or remote by the time the markings get worn off then there's a bigger problem occurring. Surely an audiophile is going to be substituting the earbuds for cans straight away anyway.

yanyan 14y ago

Apple earbuds are anything but audiophile quality. Pointless article from a pretentious "audiophile."

taligent 14y ago

I have never understand why the L/R marking have persisted. Why not just have one braille dot for left, two for right ?

Djonckheere 14y ago

I have a pair of Sennheheizer HD555's, no L/R engraving but there are 3 raised dots to denote the left side. Fantastic sound quality, open-ear design, very comfortable wearing for long periods of time.

bunderbunder 14y ago

Considering the shape of these headphones, I can't imagine needing a physically-etched L/R label in order to figure out which ear they need to go in. It would be less embarrassing to need labels to figure out which foot each shoe goes on.

rsanchez1 14y ago

I have to agree. If they're not physically engraved, eventually the markings will blur out. Then I'll be lost until I listen to something and find that it's off. It's better to have physically engraved markings and avoid that hassle.