Should the Rs be pronunced differently?

[CSHY]

For my ears the two Rs in "urinate" [ˈyo͝orəˌnāt] and "uranium" [yo͝oˈrānēəm] are pronounced differently by native English speakers. The former pronunciation has an /ɘ/ sound before the /ɹ, or the R is realized as /ɚ/ in general North American accent, while the latter does not have it.

And in "area" there should be an /ɘ/ before the /ɹ/ while in "aria" there should not be one.

Did I hear them correctly?

 

[jutfrank]

There may be slight differences among speakers in how the preceding vowel is pronounced, but you should attempt to pronounce the /r/ sound the same way in both words.


/ˈjʊr.ɪ.neɪt/ or /ˈjʊə.rɪ.neɪt/

/jʊˈreɪ.ni.əm/ or /jʊəˈreɪ.ni.əm/

 

[dunchee]

or the R is realized as /ɚ/ in general North American accent

Out of curiosity I consulted some dictionaries, and these are what I’ve found (some, in a way, matches what you described):

1. Urinate Definition & Meaning | Britannica Dictionary
(It was Merriam-Webster’s Advanced Learner’s Dictionary – an AmE dictionary)
urinate /ˈjɚrəˌneɪt/

2. Urinate Definition & Meaning | Dictionary.com
(The Random House Dictionary – AmE)
urinate /ˈyʊər əˌneɪt /
---
(Collins English Dictionary – BrE)
urinate / (ˈjʊərɪˌneɪt) /

3. urinate | meaning of urinate in Longman Dictionary of Contemporary English | LDOCE (ldoceonline.com)
u‧ri‧nate /ˈjʊərəneɪt $ ˈjʊr-/
('$': separates British and American pronunciations: British on the left, American on the right)

And more. I’ll leave “uranium” to you. The bottom line is /r/ sound (or /ɹ/ in IPA) stays the same in all varieties of "urinate."