about the unbalance... it's completely due to my noobiness and carelessness...   I didn't realize that the two sets of gain controls are controlling left and right channels separately... I thought they are for input 1 and input 2 separately.   I'm confused by this design though... Why...

Problem resolved! I posted in the main M-stage thread already, but just want to post in this thread again so that someone with similar issue might find the discussion useful in this thread.   The cause is the 3.5mm to 1/4 converter coming with Q701.  When I change it to the old one...

You save my day!! The problem is Q701's 3.5mm to 1/4 inch converter that comes with it!   I changed it to the old one coming with my AKG 240, and it solves the issue! It works with DT880's converter, too.   I'm so stupid.... in retrospect, the cause was quite obvious, when Q701 sounds...

Thanks. Setting it to 20dB, the Q701 still sounds funny, and ER4P is unbalanced: left side is a lot more upfront than right.   I will probably try to go to a local stereo store and find a better source to test Q701 again... Since it requires more power than ER4P to drive, it's possible...

I am sure I get the gain setting correctly: white dots on the graph represent the white switch bottons. 20db sounds the loudest.   I am OK with the sound of Q701 directly out of iphone's headphone jack. It does feel flat and underpowered, but everything is clear. With M-stage, even though the...

That's the strange thing...   The Q701 sounds clear and normal directly through iphone's or PC's headphone jack, so I would assume it's not Q701's issue...   ER4P sounds normal with both PS3 and iphone as the source and M-stage in between, so I assume it's not the source or M-stage's...

I set the gain to 0db, and the ER4P sounds fabulous now, but Q701 still has a pretty dissapointing SQ. I'm so surprised that using just 10dB gain would distort the sound so much... Is my unit potentially defective?   Thanks!  

Aha, setting the gain to 0db fixes the unbalance for EP4R! Thank you!!!   The Q701 seems to improve, too, but the SQ is still no where what other people described for the M-Stage+Q701 pair....     This confirms that the issue lies with M-stage. There doesn't seem to be any other...

I recently got my M-stage, and am really confused by it:   1) Using iphone or PS3 as source, the Q701 sounds very unclear, rough, distant. However, the sound is balanced, and with good sound stage.   1) I found my old ER4P earphone, and connect it to M-stage. Using the same source, the...

Thanks for the reply!!!!!!   I did some more testing, and it gets weirder. I think there is definitely something not right with my M-stage.   1) I found my old ER4P earphone, and connect it to M-stage. Using either PS3 or iphone as the source, the sound is clear, nothing like with Q701...

I finally purchased a Matrix M-stage to go with my Q-701. I connect my iphone to it via a 3.5mm to RCA, and the sound quality is very dissapointing, not even as good as directly using iphone's headphone jack.  The sound stage is much improved, but the sound is not clear, quite distant, and...