Mono v. Stereo

[vorpal blade]

I was wondering... does stereo make a differrence? I suppose it does if the speakers are near your head on either side, but what about when it's coming from the TV in front of you? Or your computer, gameboy, etc. that have stereo speakers but are always plaved in front of you?

Being hard of hearing, I wear hearing aids, which means that all sounds I hear are monoural, and stereo sounds are somethiong I can ony experience with my hearing aids off (in which case I can barely hear the sound unless it's really loud).

So, does stereo sound make a difference?

[Nominus Experse]

Yes:

Stereophonic sound allows more depth in its sound due to the fact that it is being put through two channels, whereas monophonic sound is processed by only one channel.

Monaural sound is lacking in the sense that it causes the sound to seem "centrallized", or centered in the sound field of the projected sound area. In contrast, stereophonic sound allows the sound to seem much more natural because of the multiple channels.


In short, sterophonic sound allows sound to have more complexity and, more importantly, more depth.

[crono_logical]

Stereo music sounds much nicer, it's interesting to hear different instruments/voices seeming to sound coming from different places around you :p Even with the TV/PC where the speakers are in front of you but apart from each other, it's enough to tell different sound effects are from different directions so you can tell where certain things are happenning within the scene on the TV, or within a game you're immersed in so know which way to turn :p

[Mirage]

Yes, I find that there is a very big difference between mono and stereo. Stereo allows you to tell precisely where the sound is coming from, rather than not just "from the TV", which again makes the sounds resemble more what it is like in the real world, allowing for better immersion.
Isn't is possible to get hearing aids with two separate microphones, allowing for stereo sound?

[Samuraid]

Stereo is better than mono because we hear in stereo naturally, so we can perceive a stereo sound field and our brain can interpret spatially. :)

Same reason why Red-Green-Blue displays (like a TV or computer monitor) produce a strong visual image: the cone cells in the human eye see in Red, Green, and Blue. :)

Things that are tuned toward specific human perceptions often render the best results. :)

[vorpal blade]

Wow, such a difference apparently. So I guess... it sucks having mono? heheheh... sex jokes...


Same reason why Red-Green-Blue displays (like a TV or computer monitor) produce a strong visual image: the cone cells in the human eye see in Red, Green, and Blue.


I always wondered about that.


Isn't is possible to get hearing aids with two separate microphones, allowing for stereo sound?

I suppose... I don't see why not. But due to a contition I was born with, I have no ear canals (and the nerves are in the way so doctor's can't make them) so I might be different. My hearing aids are just a headband with two boxes on each end: one has a microphone to pick up sounds, the other vibrates and transmits the sounds to the ear bones, thus negating the need for ear canals.

And for some reason, I always put my games and TV and such on stereo (except for headphones; as I only have one microphone, I put those on mono).