4 ms·
"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 stere
by 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 agoWhile 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 agoThere 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 agoIf you are listening to orchestral music it's going to sound very bizarre to have the orchestra reversed.
- ot 14y agoIt 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.