Why do head phones always have only one side die?

The answer, I think, is that cheap headsets will (eventually) die on both sides, but you only hear it die on one side, because at that point you set it aside and replace it.

Of course, there’s always the headphone jack itself to consider. If the plug isn’t inserted to its “home” position, then one of the sides is going to be cut off. I’ll try to find a link that describes the jack / plug positioning. You may be able to test this yourself, though, if you have a functioning set of headphones (both sides working). Pull the plug out of the jack by even as little as 1/16” inch or so, and one of the sides will cut off.

Edit: Here is a view of a headphone plug (mini stereo plug, as found in most computers now). You can see from the diagram how little margin there is for error on the “left channel” plug here. If it doesn’t seat right in the jack, because of any interference from foreign material in the jack or damage to the plug (or the jack), then you simply won’t get any current to the left channel, and therefore no sound.

Could it be you are listening to music that was not recorded in stereo? Most mono songs come through both ears. Stereo recordings are a completely different ballgame. The recording engineer was responsible for you to be able music in each ear…equally.

I don’t believe it’s the headset, it’s the way the song(s) were recorded in the studio and how good the recording engineer’s hearing was at that time.

I think @CWOTUS is on to something, once one side dies you quit using the set. If you kept using it eventually the other side will die too.

Sounds to me like you have some cable handling issues, especially if you are having the same side die most of the time. Be more gentle with the cable, it’s just a little wire. And see if you are tugging one side more than the other because of the way you carry your player.

I always thought it was my imagination because I am deafer in one ear than the other. ;-)

It’s more likely that what failed is not the speaker / transducer that produces the actual sound, but rather a broken wire in or near the connector / plug, as already suggested by @dabbler. (If the problem is in the jack, as @CWOTUS described, the problem will immediately show up with replacement headphones as well.) Some users have a bad habit of tightly coiling up the cable when storing it between uses, which tends to break the thin stranded conductors inside the cable, or tightly wrapping the cable around the player while still plugged into the jack, which tends to over-strain the junction between cable and plug.

Headphone cables are cheaper and more fragile now than they were years ago.

Ahh, Saddly I do tend to coil my cables. I get annoyed when it dangles and gets caught in something or when I lay it out and it looks messy when not in use.
Well thanks for all the tips. I guess I have to play private eye now. I have 3 computers and they all do the same, and with stereo or non stereo songs, so I have to believe its not the setting or the plugs in my computers or I phone.

I saw a review for this product not long ago (not this source, but the same thing, I think), that might help to reduce some of the problems you have in this regard. I think it’s a winner.

@Pandora Not to worry – I like to coil up cables, too, for neatness and anti-tangling, but there’s a way to do it without killing the conductors. Here’s where one picture would be worth a thousand posts. (sigh)

First, leave a couple of inches of cable at the headphones (or earbuds) uncoiled and tension-free, then start coiling after that. Don’t wrap too tightly or make sharp turns by wrapping over the edge of anything. Don’t pull on the wire as you wrap, which one is tempted to do for neatness, as this adds tension. Leave the last inch or two at the plug end uncoiled as well. It’s okay to make a loose knot but don’t pull tight.

The same goes for large wires, too, such as the one on your vacuum cleaner. People make the mistake of coiling tightly because it looks better. In the end the wire gets curly and eventually breaks.