Audio Systems: deaf with headphones, mono signal, signal changes

Question
I am deaf and one ear and was wondering if there were a way to "rig" a pair of headphones to make all the sound go to the right side.

- Andrea

Answer
Dear Andrea,

If you're plugging your 'phones in to a conventional receiver, just change your playback from "stereo" to "mono" (with some units it's a switch on the front panel, with others, it's a setting embedded in the DSP menu--check your user's manual).

With portable units, it's a bit trickier since they don't have stereo/mono switches. What you do is insert the mini jack half way into the headphone slot. Only one channel makes contact with the 'phones and returns a mono signal to both sides of the 'phones.

The latter is pretty easy to test. Plug the mini jack all the way in, and you'll hear half of a stereo track in your good ear. Slowly pull the jack out until the signal changes. It should be a mono signal.

The only other method would be to have a technician rewire your 'phones for mono--which can be done, but it would probably be expensive.

Hope this helps. And thanks for choosing allexperts.com!

Kindest regards,

Kevin