Best Product Review and a warning to all musicians:-)

[jancivil]

On a serious note, I don't know what the L and R markers are good for on headphones that are totally symmetrical, anyway...

It makes sense if you pan something left and you hear it on the left... Or right as the case may be.

Well, there is no label on the sound which says "I belong on the right side" The listener doesn't know whether the producer wanted a sound to be on the left or right side. It's not like with writing in the wrong direction

No, the cord is on the left; there is a left side and a right side and any stereo mix is dealing with it. You can be assured this is real. For instance, let's take orchestra seating as a model. Typically the violins are on our left as audience and the contrabasses on the right. Celli on our right but closer to center. Sometimes this varies, but in every case the recording shows what the positioning is. For the majority of productions using a drum kit, the hihat is at the drummer's left and audience's right. In all probability, the toms go from high to low, audiences's R to L. For instance BFD has a toggle, do you want drummer's perspective or not. Genre has nothing to do with this, that's how the drum kit is set up. Even for a left-hander, in all likelihood.

[fluffy_little_something]

Just zapped through a dozen or so songs in Winamp, sometimes the HH is on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes in the center...
It seems that percussion such as bongos is often panned very far to either side.

I deliberately put on my headphones the wrong way around, didn't sound strange or anything to me

[thecontrolcentre]

Just zapped through a dozen or so songs in Winamp, sometimes the HH is on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes in the center...

I deliberately put on my headphones the wrong way around, didn't sound strange or anything to me

Try it while setting up pan positions in your DAW (unless you are just being awkward).

[fmr]

Just zapped through a dozen or so songs in Winamp, sometimes the HH is on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes in the center...
It seems that percussion such as bongos is often panned very far to either side.

I deliberately put on my headphones the wrong way around, didn't sound strange or anything to me

I can't exactly tell you why, but it happened to me that I started to listen to some songs and felt something wasn't right. Last time was when I was being shown a new monitor model. I asked the guy to check if the left and right were playing as supposed. He checked, and it happened that the left was playing in the right and vice versa. He exchanged cables, and things started to to make sens in my head. I must say that I don't hear exactly the same on my left and right hears, and I suppose nobody does.

[Lejurai]

Just zapped through a dozen or so songs in Winamp, sometimes the HH is on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes in the center...
It seems that percussion such as bongos is often panned very far to either side.

I deliberately put on my headphones the wrong way around, didn't sound strange or anything to me

I can't exactly tell you why, but it happened to me that I started to listen to some songs and felt something wasn't right. Last time was when I was being shown a new monitor model. I asked the guy to check if the left and right were playing as supposed. He checked, and it happened that the left was playing in the right and vice versa. He exchanged cables, and things started to to make sens in my head. I must say that I don't hear exactly the same on my left and right hears, and I suppose nobody does.

Tell me about it. Funniest thing is that when I remove the whole headphones, I hear the voices between the ears!

[jancivil]

Just zapped through a dozen or so songs in Winamp, sometimes the HH is on the right, sometimes on the left, and sometimes in the center...
It seems that percussion such as bongos is often panned very far to either side.

I deliberately put on my headphones the wrong way around, didn't sound strange or anything to me

That doesn't change the fact. If it appears on the left, that's unusual. That's the drummer's perspective, or the drummer has set it up backwards. But let's take Ringo Starr, left handed and his tom fills are affected by that a lot of the time (his R to L, low to high, inverted), but the placement was normal. I mix the hat closer to center, I like a lot of bleed with the snare anyway. Earlier stereo product tends to more hard left and hard right choices. If you're good with this being of no use to you, fine, I don't care. But there are norms.

[Jace-BeOS]

Putting headphones on the wrong ears causes phase inversion, aliasing, vignetting, erectile dysfunction, and hemorrhoids. I thought everybody knew that.

(out loud)

You forgot "Dutch elm disease"

[Jace-BeOS]

On a serious note, I don't know what the L and R markers are good for on headphones that are totally symmetrical, anyway...

OMFG

This also made me laugh out loud

[Jace-BeOS]

...and I really notice when L and R are reversed in music in familiar with.

Also, would anyone suggest that a surround sound system's arrangement is effectively arbitrary?