Open theremin v3: timbres and headphones

First of - to any moderator reading this, any chance for a folder dedicated to the open theremin v3? Lots of post disseminated across the website  . (I hope this isn’t a duplicate of another post!)

So. I built my first v3 using the arduino uno, the 3.1 update from Thierry, and the kit shield from our friends in Switzerland. Despite my complete lack of soldering experience, it worked first time around. So yay - those are foolproof instructions! 

2x Questions:
- The timbre options sound pretty poor. Apart from the first one and the last one, the others 6 are pretty much all a live reenactment of the ‘flight of the bumblebee’ (or given my current skills, the ‘endless crash and painfully slow death of the bumblebee; poor soul’). I am using an Adam T5v speaker. Is there anything I can do to ‘update’ the sounds to be slightly more melodious/richer?

- When I plug headphones, only one of the sides work which gives me headache (I hear with both ears, generally speaking). I’ve tried two different headsets, same for both. I know the instrument is monophonic, but is there anything I can do for the sound to be duplicated to both ears?

Many thanks to the community for any thoughts and advice!

1. You are free to calculate your own sounds/wavetables and to update the corresponding sintable_n.c files before you recompile the code and upload it again to your Arduino. On top of that, there are links on the Gaudi.ch - open.theremin website which point you towards tools which allow you to create and to export wavetables in case you aren’t comfortable with writing your own algorithm.
2. The 3.5mm audio output is mono. Thus, when connecting a stereo plug, you’ll only have the left channel. That’s by design. You should not connect headphones directly. You risk to overload the output filter/buffer op-amp of the theremin shield. Better connect the output of the open.theremin to a mono input of your mixing table, pan it into the center and then listen over the headphones output of the mixer, where both channels will be fed.

Fab, many thanks Thierry. Super helpful - I’ll try your trick with a mixing table!