Listening to a radio?

Question

For some time I have been listening to my radio through one only of its two speakers. I just haven't got around to having it repaired because it has not bothered me unduly. However for the past year or so I have noticed that when I listen to a singer, the voice is very often (not always) drowned to a certain extent by the instruments accompanying him/her. Is this poor balance to do with my not listening through two speakers, or is it a sign that there is a problem developing with my hearing? (I'm aged 67. )

Answer 1

Some radios have a stereo/mono switch, if yours has one try turning it to mono. That should give you the same signal to both speakers. If the singer becomes clearer then this backs up the theory that the cause is down to stereo separation.

You may get the same effect if you tune off station so that you don't get a stereo signal

Answer 2

there could be a problem with the sound balance on your speakers, although since one isn't working, it would be hard to tell. some radios have different sound settings, where you can change things such as bass. If the voice setting is low, and the instrumental settings high, it could be why you're struggling to here the singer, and why there is no problem on talk radio.

Answer 3

When songs are recorded in stereo, the sound in each speaker is different. That's what gives the impression, for instance, that the drums are in one place in your room and the singer in another.

With only one speaker some portions of the sound may be very hushed while others are too overpowering in the music.

Answer 4

Most likely the singer is recorded on one microphone, and that signal is mixed mostly into one channel and the instrumental accompaniment mostly into the other channel.  In stereo, that gives you a spatial realism.  See if your radio has a setting to combine the two channels into a mono signal.  It won't be stereo, but at least you'll get the content from both channels.