Re: The Dreaming Plug

[Bryan Dongray <btd@cray.com>]

heisjohn@juno.com on Sun Sep 14 14:44:17 1997 wrote:
> 
> Chris wrote:
> >   Also, I suggest you experiment with "The Dreaming Plug" to discover
> >even more. All you need is an ordinary pair of headphones with the
> >ground wire cut. You can also use any home theater system in "Dolby
> >Surround" mode with the front speakers disabled.
> 
> You lost me on this one.  What is "The Dreaming Plug"?

It's probably in various FAQ lists.
BUT....

It's a way of hearing just the differences between the two channels of a
stereo signal. You get to hear a whole new area of sound missed by
removing the signal that is the same on both channels (ie much of the
vocals and hearing much more of the background) and is particularly
interesting on the tracks of the album "The Dreaming", hence the name.

You can do this by no having the ground signal on headphones, so forcing
your headphone circuit to complete by the common ground wire, ie:
	L signal ---------------------- Left
				/------ Headphone
	Ground ----X cut X-----+
				\------ Right
	R signal ---------------------- Headphone

So instead of two signals with a common ground, the two signals are
joined and you have two headphones in line.
You have to be careful where and what you cut though!

This can also be done with normal speakers if you have the type with
bare wires into two red/black connectors. Just remove the two black wires
of the speakers from the black output of your amplifier/unit and join
them together (but do not put them back into the black output connector).

Apparently this is harmless to your amplifier, but I'll make a disclaimer
that anything you do is at your own risk to you or your equipment.

			Bryan Dongray