MP3 Player And Swapped Audio Channels

[John]

Not a technical issue as such but it's really Peeing me off a bit.

I just purchased a brand new MP3 player and having never had
one of these its started peeing me off..

First off some songs I have have vocals recorded on certain
channels, ie: left channel has lead vocal and instruments on
right channel .....

On the computer they play fine and the sound comes out of
the correct channel but when using the mp3 player with these
songs I have to swap the earphones over from right to left
to get my songs to sound the way they are supposed to.

Is this kind of thing common for mp3 players?
I know I'm being a real tightarse complaining but had I known
this I would never have shelled out the $$ for the stupid thing.

The only nice thing is it has an OLED panel..... which is
good even outside.....

 

[Ghost in the machine]

Have you tried another pair of earphones with the MP3 player?

The earphones packaged with most MP3 players are cheap and nasty.

Maybe it's only the wiring in the earphones that is swapped.

 

[[email protected]]

Not a technical issue as such but it's really Peeing me off a bit.

I just purchased a brand new MP3 player and having never had
one of these its started peeing me off..

First off some songs I have have vocals recorded on certain
channels, ie: left channel has lead vocal and instruments on
right channel .....

Easy fixed.

(1) Remove headphones/earbuds.

(2) Rotate head 180 degrees.

(3) Reinstall headphones/earbuds.

 

[Damian]

What a great fix! Or he is simply bloody swap the PC speakers from left
to right to understand there is no problem there at all, just his
orientation of speaker setup and earphone setup.

 

[moby]

What a great fix! Or he is simply bloody swap the PC speakers from left
to right to understand there is no problem there at all, just his
orientation of speaker setup and earphone setup.

.....unless he's using cans with a boom mic attached, in which case he's
going to need to install his mouth on the other side of his head....
M

 

[Dave]

Not a technical issue as such but it's really Peeing me off a bit.

I just purchased a brand new MP3 player and having never had
one of these its started peeing me off..

First off some songs I have have vocals recorded on certain
channels, ie: left channel has lead vocal and instruments on
right channel .....

On the computer they play fine and the sound comes out of
the correct channel but when using the mp3 player with these
songs I have to swap the earphones over from right to left
to get my songs to sound the way they are supposed to.

I take it you have plugged the earphones into the pc to test whether the
output is the same as through the pc speakers?

Dave

 

[John]

I take it you have plugged the earphones into the pc to test whether the
output is the same as through the pc speakers?

Dave

Second thing I tried.... Seems reversed
wiring in the earphone socket or something
like that because the earphones worked when
hooked up to my PC speakers but worked in
reverse on the MP3 player.......

 

[Nicholas Sherlock]

Second thing I tried.... Seems reversed
wiring in the earphone socket or something
like that because the earphones worked when
hooked up to my PC speakers but worked in
reverse on the MP3 player.......

How do you know that it isn't reversed on your PC, and correct on the
MP3 player? Do you know which channel the vocals should be on from other
evidence?

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock

 

[John]

How do you know that it isn't reversed on your PC, and correct on the
MP3 player? Do you know which channel the vocals should be on from other
evidence?

Yes and Yes

Just to test things I ripped the channel check track from my Denon
Audio Test CD....

On the PC when the voice over says "Left Channel, left channel" it
plays through the left speaker which as it it should be....

I copied the mp3 of this audio test track to the player and connected
the earphones that came with the player and it played them reversed
again.... So I have ruled out that the earphones are wired wrong because
they work fine on both the PC and CD walkman........

And I have some audio recordings which have people talking on
either left or right as well as my audio test tracks which are channel
specific....

 

[Dave]

Yes and Yes

Just to test things I ripped the channel check track from my Denon
Audio Test CD....

On the PC when the voice over says "Left Channel, left channel" it
plays through the left speaker which as it it should be....

I copied the mp3 of this audio test track to the player and connected
the earphones that came with the player and it played them reversed
again.... So I have ruled out that the earphones are wired wrong because
they work fine on both the PC and CD walkman........

And I have some audio recordings which have people talking on
either left or right as well as my audio test tracks which are channel
specific....

Since you have absolute proof that it is faulty, take it back and get a
replacement.

If they can't come up with the same model that works correctly, you're
entitled to your money back.

Of course, they could try and fob you off by saying they'll send it back
to the factory for repair - but if all the others in the store operate
the same way (reversed) then point out that there is little point in
sending it back if their deaf QA people didn't catch it the first time.

Dave

 

[Lord-Data]

Or since your posting on an electronics group, pull it apart and swap the
channels .. wouldn't be hard .. cut the tracks and run short jumper wires to
the correct pins..

 

[Nicholas Sherlock]

Or since your posting on an electronics group, pull it apart and swap the
channels .. wouldn't be hard .. cut the tracks and run short jumper wires to
the correct pins..

Or less destructive, make a special pair of headphones for this player,
or even nicer, make a 3.5mm socket to 3.5mm plug which swaps the
channels internally. Then you can use it to fix the problem on any device.

Cheers,
Nicholas Sherlock

 

[John]

Or since your posting on an electronics group, pull it apart and swap the
channels .. wouldn't be hard .. cut the tracks and run short jumper wires to
the correct pins..

Cept' for the fact the player has very fine solder tracks
and I can't see the bloody things to do the soldering in
the first place without making a mess....

20 years ago I would have felt more confident doing this
kind of thing but I just can't do it now.. It's way too fiddly
and I've tried going back to kits but I just can't do stuff
like I used to without making big solder mess....

 

[John]

Or less destructive, make a special pair of headphones for this player,
or even nicer, make a 3.5mm socket to 3.5mm plug which swaps the
channels internally. Then you can use it to fix the problem on any device.

That is a much easier option... I actually asked someone to do this
for me because it seems a hell of a lot of players on the market are
wired this way......