Is it possible to simulate stereo audio in one channel?

Question

Becoming (recently) deaf in one ear, I really miss listening to stereo music properly.

So my question is, is it is possible to listen to 2 channel (stereo) music, with an effect reasonably similar stereo, in one channel?

By my understanding, the stereo effect is a matter of phase shifting the second channel, but I have never heard of such an application (though I hadn't reason to consider such a thing until recently).

So I am looking for an electronics design or method where I can input stereo audio and get a similar sounding output in one channel.

Answer 1

You can easily deliver stereo-like effect on a mono channel by pan-pot, but then you'd face two major problems:

• The result is reasonable with non-rhythmic tracks, e.g., recording of talks, but it is quite poor when it comes to music, particularly when the music's beat is highly accented.

• You'd probably still need directionality in order for the brain to interpret the sensory input as stereophonic, and that might a problem in the case of a single-sided impairment.

What you might want to try instead is to use a bone conductive transducer such as SoundBite, its applicability though in your specific case needs to be consulted with a relevant practitioner.