XPRTNovice Posted January 23, 2014 Share Posted January 23, 2014 Hey guys, I'm having an issue with a sound system I am trying to set up. I am using the H2N zoom mic (via line out) that goes to the WMS40 wireless transmitter/receiver. When I plug headphones into the back of the receiver, sound only comes out my left ear. I know the receiver is the issue because I've tested several configurations with different inputs and headphones, and when the WMS40 gets involved all of a sudden I only get output on the left ear. I called AKG support and they said that the WMS only outputs in mono. That's fine, I don't care about the L/R balance in this instance. I just want sound to come out of both ears of my headphones. Is there an adapter that will take the signal and duplicate L/R so that I get the mono, but I get it in both of my freaking ears? Barring that, is there a wireless system that WILL allow me to do this? I'm tearing out my hair, here. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Petitpas Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Absolutely.. now I dunno what size your I/O need to be but here's an example: http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-1-8-3-5mm-TRS-Stereo-Female-to-1-4-TS-Mono-Male-Adapter-GPM-179-Adaptor-/390734662414 That's considering the output for the headphones is 1/4 and your headphones are 1/8 (most high end have that plus a screwable 1/4 adapter). I wouldn't order on Ebay tho.. given that's what you need you just ask for a "1/4 TS male to 1/8 TRS female" adapter in any average music store. It's like 3$ All the other configurations/sizes exist too. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshaggyfreak Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yeah, you're going to need an adapter of some sort. Most likely you'll need a mono to stereo adapter. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiesty Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm not to sure about this one to be honest. Your device is only sending mono so the only way to to turn that into a fake stereo would be to send two of the same mono channel out...so you'd essentially need two cables coming from your receiver into your headphones...somehow. You'd need a third device somewhere in the middle of that chain that could take two mono signals and pan them left and right. From there it could send stereo to your headphones. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MindWanderer Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 If Metal Man's suggested hardware doesn't work, you could use: 1) A 3.5mm headphone splitter (intended to use two headphones on one jack, chained to: 2) Two 3.5mm to RCA stereo adapters, resulting in two Left ends with sound and two Right ends without, chained to: 3) An RCA to 3.5mm adapter, taking the two Left RCA's as input. Stupid, and will result in the volume being halved, but it would absolutely work. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Frederic Petitpas Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I'm not to sure about this one to be honest. Your device is only sending mono so the only way to to turn that into a fake stereo would be to send two of the same mono channel out...so you'd essentially need two cables coming from your receiver into your headphones...somehow. You'd need a third device somewhere in the middle of that chain that could take two mono signals and pan them left and right. From there it could send stereo to your headphones. You're seeing that a little too complicated. Signal goes "I" and then it'll go "Y". It remains mono but takes two paths... That small adapter does it I sold many of those when I was working at the guitar store. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Wiesty Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Yes but the male 1/8'' mini or 1/4'' plug on the end of his headphones is already a stereo plug, so that adapter would be doing the same job twice. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Absolutely.. now I dunno what size your I/O need to be but here's an example:http://www.ebay.com/itm/Hosa-1-8-3-5mm-TRS-Stereo-Female-to-1-4-TS-Mono-Male-Adapter-GPM-179-Adaptor-/390734662414 That's considering the output for the headphones is 1/4 and your headphones are 1/8 (most high end have that plus a screwable 1/4 adapter). I definitely already have one of these hooked up to the headphones, as the receiver outputs at 1/4" and the headphones are 3.5mm. Is it possible I am using the wrong type of adapter to do this? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ivan Hakštok Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I definitely already have one of these hooked up to the headphones, as the receiver outputs at 1/4" and the headphones are 3.5mm. Is it possible I am using the wrong type of adapter to do this? I had a similar problem, I was using one of those 1/8" to 1/4" adapters to plug my headphones into my audio interface, and the sound would output in my left ear only. I bought another adapter and now it works completely fine Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Is there a reason why you'd want to plug your headphones directly into the receiver? Why would you want to mic something just to hear it in your headphones? What does the rest of your setup look like? Mics being in mono is a standard thing, so I'm betting that plugging headphones into the receiver is either temporary (eg. "There's a problem with this system, or I'm checking component by component to make sure everything works") or that there's some other problem down the line (eg. you're trying to record a band or a singer into a stereo audio track using a mono signal, so you're only getting their voice in the left channel when you listen from your audio interface, so you've gone back to check the receiver and are hearing the same thing). What are you actually trying to accomplish here? The adapter MetalMan posted is exactly what you want, unless you have headphones that are 1/4" only. You connect the 1/4" mono male end to your receiver and plug a 1/8" stereo male end into the female end of the adapter. Incidentally, I should get one of these, since I'm often plugging my headphones into a mono line mixer at church (to give me independant control over my keyboard volume and my monitor mix); I should start listening in stereo again. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 What are you actually trying to accomplish here? It's a high quality observation system for students of clinical psychology. It's a favor for a friend (this isn't my field). I need a way to wirelessly output high-quality audio to an observer not in the same room, and I need it to be portable and small. So in one room you have a session going on (consented by the patient to be recorded/observed) and in another room somewhere close by you have a student listening wirelessly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Kanthos Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 Ah, cool, that makes a lot of sense then. In that case, yes, the right adapter will do the trick. If your headphones naturally are 1/8" inch and you're using a 1/8" female to 1/4" male adapter, that adapter is almost certainly stereo to stereo (especially if it came with your headphones), but you're feeding it only a mono signal and it's not designed to convert mono to stereo. At least the adapter you'll need to buy is really cheap Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
XPRTNovice Posted January 24, 2014 Author Share Posted January 24, 2014 Here's what I did to solve the problem: From the receiver, I plugged in a stereo splitter (single 1/4" mono went to 2x1/4"). Then I plugged in the reverse, so that it went back down to a single mono out. Then I plugged a 1/4 adapter onto the headphones and plugged them in. It's convoluted as shit, but it works. Thanks for all the suggestions. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
theshaggyfreak Posted January 24, 2014 Share Posted January 24, 2014 I might be able to build you a custom cable to make it a bit less confusing if there's nothing on the market that fits your needs. It can be a pain to use several adapters to achieve a single goal. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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