How Do I Change My Headset Audio From Mono to Stereo Using Windows Vista?
By Ken Burnside
Hardware configuration is largely automatic in Windows, but not always. Microsoft Windows Vista will sometimes be preconfigured for mono sound, rather than breaking the audio to your headset into two channels, left and right. The configuration is changed through Control Panel.
Click on the "Start" menu and select "Control Panel."
Double-click on the "Sound" icon to bring up its dialog box. Select the "Playback" tab if it's not already chosen.
Select your headphones. Click the "Configure" button, which pulls up the Speaker Setup dialog box. Click "Stereo" from the "Audio Channels" menu.
Put on your headphones, and click the "L" and "R" speaker icons. Make sure that the sound is coming to the appropriate ear.
Click "OK" to save the changes.
Tips
The Control Panel's Sound section works identically in Windows 7 and Windows 8.
References
Writer Bio
Ken Burnside has been writing freelance since 1990, contributing to publications as diverse as "Pyramid" and "Training & Simulations Journal." A Microsoft MVP in Excel, he holds a Bachelor of Arts in English from the University of Alaska. He won the Origins Award for Attack Vector: Tactical, a board game about space combat.