Dec 28 2010

Audio Mono

By admin

Audio Mono

How do you explain the difference in audio perception of Mono vs. Stereo sounds?

I just noticed the difference in mono and stereo sounds the other day while borrowing a buddies headphones. I have no idea why but they had a switch that changed the sound from stereo to mono or vice versa... seems odd but was very interesting to hear the difference.
While listening to stereo the sounds seemed external to my body and were perceived in my ears. But while listening to mono, the sound seemed to be perceived or heard in the center of my brain.
Can anyone explain why this happens??

stereo perception involves two things:

difference in volume across ears
(whether one side is louder than the other)

difference in phase across ears
(whether one sound arrives at one side before the other)

Your brain does the math from both these data, and computes where in space a sound is coming from.

Mono sound has equal volume on both sides, and no phase differences, so everything always sounds like it's directly in front of you. It never sounds like it's "all around" you.

Stereo sound will always sound "wider" than mono, even on recordings of a single instrument.

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