How do speakers split the incoming bytes

Question

How is it that there is a Single Input to a headphone but the headphone is able to split the signals as per the channels. How is this splitting happening? To be more specific how is surround sound created by headphones with same single input ?

Answer 1

If you look at the TRS (Tip, Ring, Sleeve) connector jack on the end of your headphone cable, you'll see it is comprised of different sections, as so:

The input will normally be a stereo signal, with the left and right channels carried separately. From memory, I think the tip picks up the left channel and the ring picks up the right but that doesn't matter so much with regard to your question.

As for surround sound, any "surround sound" from headphones is simulated as part of the stereo image. "Surround sound" is usually achieved via a surrounding array of speakers, rather than via headphones.

I should also add that the above processes are analogue and have nothing whatsoever to do with bytes; any digital signal sent from your computer is converted to analogue before it reaches the headphone socket.