So if I have something with 1/4" L/R output can I plug this in and use headphones to listen? Kind of confused by the description.

This adapter makes a connection between a device with two Mono 1/4 inch female outputs and a 1/8 inch stereo plug like a headphones. 1/4 inch "TS" means T = Tip: signal; S = Sleeve: ground. Besides 1/8 inch "TRS" means: T = Tip: right signal; R = Ring: Left signal and S = Sleeve: ground. So if you connects only one 1/4 inch plug you will get a mono signal in your headphones, left or right.

Why are the connections not common grounded? I tried connecting a stereo device to two inputs on my Focusrite Saffire Pro 40, but the audio was mono.

I obviously can't identify a specific problem without knowing the configuration, but I can make a general comment. This adapter should take a 1/8" stereo plug and split it into two mono 1/4" TS plugs - Left and Right. The example is a 1/8" cable from a mobile phone to two inputs on the Pro 40. This should give you a stereo signal split between L & R. My adapters work fine. One problem I have had is with the 1/8" cable going into the adapter - Sometimes it is not inserted far enough to get both channels - it may require an extra push to get it to snap into the adapter. It could also be the other end of the 1/8" cable. Check the output from the Pro 40 on each channel separately. One output channel should be panned to the left and the other to the right. These are just ideas. If you have a Pro 40, I'm sure you've tried all of these. It is possible that the adapter is defective, but I've never had any problems with Hosa (except for the extra push to get the cable to snap into place - but that is rare).

so, is this a stereo 1/8 female to a dual mono 1/4 male?

Yes. TRS - Tip Ring Sleeve. "While a TRS and stereo 1/4" use the same plugs, the input signal going into the cable are quite different. You already know stereo but a TRS is a balanced signal. Balanced means two indentical signals are sent, one into the TIP which is in phase and the other signal is inverted 180 degrees out of phase which goes to the RING. When plugged into a mixer or preamp/amp that accepts a balanced signal, the RING gets inverted back in phase with the TIP and then both signals are summed. It you didn't invert the RING back in phase, sound cancellation will occur.Why is this important? Any noise that enters the cable will be equal in both TIP and RING. By inverting the RING, the noise from each side will be now out of phase with each other and thus cancel each other out without cancelling out the original signal. Add a low impedance, you can run MUCH longer cable runs compared to an unbalanced signal without sound degradation and noise intereference via the cable. Another plus is a 6dB gain from summing the TIP and RING.If you don't plan on running long cable runs, an unbalanced cable will still work fine with the ES. You'll also have 6dB less gain to work with which might be a problem if your amp, preamp or mixer doesn't have sufficient gain to make up for it. Compared to other unbalanced acoustic pickups, the ES is on the low output side in unbalanced mode."

If I plug in a 1/8" mono source, will I get the same output on both the L/R channels? Or will I only get sound from the L(mono) channel?

It's stereo. So you are correct to expect that a 3.5mm mono plug as the source will give you audio on one phone jack and silence (ground) on the other.

Brand	Hosa Technology
Product Dimensions	15.24 x 2.54 x 7.62 cm; 39.69 Grams
Item model number	YMP434
Manufacturer	Hosa Technology
Colour	Red,Black
Are Batteries Included	No
Item Weight	39.6 g
Guaranteed software updates until	unknown

Technology HosaTech 6 inch YMP-434 3.5mm TRSF to Dual 1/4 inch TS Stereo Breakout Cable

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