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Channel Imbalance? Need help with what's likely a dumb question:

post #1 of 8
5/3/10 at 4:03pm
Thread Starter 
So ok.... I've used alot of sources over the years. Mostly main stream sources like iPods or what not. I'm about to make a plunge and buy a hifiman. Heard someone say that with my iems (ortofons/w3's) that it will be hard to get past the channel imbalance before the volume becomes too loud. What does that mean is my question? Is that one chanel being out of sync with the other? I've never heard this with any sources before... Wondering why this happens with the hifiman but not my crappy iPod?
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post #2 of 8
5/3/10 at 5:53pm
I've only been using speakers and RS1i's with the HM801 so far, but I have not detected any channel imbalance. The default amp is really sensitive to the volume pot though. I tend to adjust the volume infrequently.

- ed
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post #3 of 8
5/3/10 at 6:01pm
Im not sure if this is what they are talking about, but a lot of amps at low volume the left and right output is at a different db (loadness). As you turn the volume up it tends to right itself and equal the volume of both channels. So if you have sensitive iems, they tend to be louder at low volumes which could be anoying if there is a channel imbalance. You would then have to turn the volume up to get equal db from the left and right which may be to loud for your taste.
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post #4 of 8
5/3/10 at 6:47pm
Thread Starter 
Hmmm... That makes alot more sense but why does this happen with high end equipment and not with my iPod?
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post #5 of 8
5/3/10 at 8:29pm
Normal DAP's have digital volume pots which more or less are balanced to within 1/100 of a percent. It is just a feature of the SOC. The HiFiMan isn't an SOC, so the final word is its output stage (amp) and that has no other rule to obey than what obeys amps of its kind.

If it was a digital out, then we'd have a different story to tell.
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post #6 of 8
5/3/10 at 8:38pm
It's because the hifiman uses an analog volume potentiometer instead of controlling the volume in software or with a digital control. This is a problem with many, many analog potentiometers. It's the exact reason why the new amps from RSA and headamp have digital volume controls. They are balanced even at the lowest setting.
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post #7 of 8
5/3/10 at 9:36pm
Thread Starter 
That's very interesting! I'm learning alot but I still have more questions. As always, any help would be apretiate! For example; Why does it use analogue? Is it advantageous in some way? Also, what are the implications of it? So I'll always be stuck listening to my music at a volume I may not be happy with? Can I adjust the gain in the hifiman amp to give me more options in this regard? Analague sounds very inconvenient... :-(
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post #8 of 8
5/3/10 at 9:51pm
It is, if you are trying to use analog on a tiny device. For full size amplifiers, there are better options available for attenuation. Unfortunately portable players are so small and there aren't a lot of quality, tiny potentiometers.

I think the reason they went with analog is cost/ease of implementation. They also might be trying to avoid the degradation of signal quality by leaving attenuation out of the digital domain.
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