How do you tell right from left?

[Ciel_Rouge]

OK, so obviously there are those "L" and "R" letters on earbuds and speakers. And obviously, the information for the left ear is different from that for the right ear and this is why it is not a good idea to switch L with R. However, how can you tell which is which based on the sound alone and not the letters? How exactly is the signal for the right ear different from the signal for the left one? I strongly suspect that my desktop speakers have been assigned wrong letters. They actually sound better when I reverse them, unlike earbuds or anything else I used so far. Is it possible that the letters on my speakers were switched and wrongly assigned?

[Renfield]

They actually sound better when I reverse them, unlike earbuds or anything else I used so far.

Define "reverse".

[springrite]

Personally, I often like to listen to music with my back to the stereo system (thus the speakers also). So I was doing the reversing, as you term it. They sound just fine, maybe better.

Also, for two years I mistakenly thought the earpiece with the red dot was the left and listened that way, until one day I realised that it is the other way around. I did not notice much difference there either.

Maybe I am just not sensitive to these things like some people.

[Sorin Eushayson]

Interestingly enough, I was having a surprisingly heated discussion about this with a friend the other night.  I insisted you have to have the left earpiece in the left ear and the right in the right, but he asserted it made no difference.  I've always felt that if you listen with the ear pieces switched about that it would be like going to a concert and sitting facing away from the orchestra, but alas, when we put it to a blind test I could not discern which was which.     However, there are certain works in which might cue you in to which one is which, like in the finale of Beethoven's 7th, where the violins are split and create a great stereo effect.  In general, it just feels weird to me to have them reversed...

[drogulus]

     The best way for me to tell is to play an old rock song from a live album. I don't know why, but the lead guitar is almost always on the right.* This is easier than listening for the violins on a classical piece, which often sound like they are coming from the center. The harp is a good indicator, as it's usually on the left and easily located.

     _{*One of my old rock CDs had the channels reversed, so switched them in Audacity. This trick only works for bands which have the sound mixed to map the stage location, which is not always the case.}

[Florestan]

If you want to listen like you would in a concert hall, then you should hear cellos on the right and violins on the left.