Stereo / Mono output from iPods

[Martial_Dragon]

Much of the time I listen to my iPod, it is with a friend and we are each listening with one ear. Many songs are completely useless to listen to with just the one earbud, because they are stereo sound (e.g. many jazz tunes the brass will be one ear, the sax's the other)

How hard would it be to either convert the songs to a mono output, or write something for the iPod so in the settings menu there is "Audio output - Stereo/Mono"

I don't know much about programming so I don't know how hard (if possible at all) this would be. Maybe I should just suggest something to Apple?

[bored28]

Go grab a Stereo Output Splitter. It splits one stereo output to two stereo outputs. This way, you can use two sets of headphones for one iPod. Or you can just get a stereo to mono adapter.

If thats not sufficient, you can import songs as mono from the Preferences>Advanced>Importing tab. You need to select "Custom" under the Setting dropdown menu.

[Martial_Dragon]

I know that there is always the solution of using a splitter, (and i also believe there is a simple stereo to mono attachment) but I was hoping for a more elegant approach.
I don't want to always carry 2 sets of headphones and a splitter with me every time I take my iPod somewhere :(.

[solipsism]

I can't think of anything less elegant than recopying your music in Mono and sharing a headphone with another person. Definitely go with what bored28 said. Assuming you use the white headphones, check out the white Belkins for $1.29 (http://froogle.google.com/froogle?hl=en&safe=off&resnum=0&q=stereo+headphone+splitter&spell=1&lmode=online&price1=&price2=40.00&scoring=p).

[trevor]

If you want to continue with only a single set of headphones and a single ear for two people, you can also use a eighth inch stereo to mono adapter. This would give both ears a mono signal, and is a very small part.

Here's one example available at Radio Shack (but there's a bajillion of these available):
http://www.radioshack.com/product/index.jsp?productId=2102669&cp=&origkw=stereo+to+mono+adapter&kw=stereo+to+mono+adapter&parentPage=search

Trevor

[pjwsax]

Like others, I mostly listen to my iPod with only 1 earbud in so I can still be aware of the outside world. It seems like the simplest solution is to use a stereo-to-mono adapter, but I have a rev 2 iPod (firewire, 20GB) and most discussions that I've read are talking about newer iPods like the nano. Has anyone successfully used a stereo-to-mono adapter with a rev 2 (or even rev 1) iPod (and not had it get damaged)?

Thanks!
-peter

[trevor]

A stereo to mono adapter cannot damage anything, and works with any headphone output, no matter what the device.

Trevor