[mystaku]

Hello Everyone! 
 
I bought an Audio Technica ATH M50 headphone 3 days back and I'm loving it so far but there's this small problem that's bugging me. 
 
I mostly listen to electronic music and I love the bass-rumble feeling. However, I noticed that in some of the tracks, the left ear cup rumbles more than the right earcup. Not significantly but one can tell the difference easily. If i adjust the balance to 25% right everything's fine but I can't help thinking there might be some problem with my headphones :/
 
Is it just me? Or you guys too have faced a similar "problem"?
 
 

 

[jackwess]

Switch sides for listening, check if the same happens.

 

[mystaku]

Done! This time my right ear experiences more rumble than the left year so yeah it's not really a problem with my ears i guess. 
 
I actually set the balance to 100% right and 100% left and it seems the bass is slightly more in the left earcup(the one in which the wire is connected) then the right earcup.

 

[mystaku]

Bump. Can anyone help me out? Do you think it might be because of my onboard laptop sound card (IDT HD) I've bought them from the authorised dealer of my country so I don't think these are fake. 

 

[Amorgan]

Have you tried plugging them to another source? 

 

[mystaku]

@Amorgan - Yup! Tried that. Problem persists

 

[bcasey25raptor]

Every headphone i have does that. It's the song. I can assure you.

 

[mystaku]

@bcasey25raptor - Every headphone? Really? I'm can't get myself to believe that :| I actually tried playing 7 different bass-heavy songs and this left-right balance problem happened in all the cases. 
 
PS : I've turned the equalizer on with the 70 & 180 Hz frequencies set at 7.5 dB. I'm using Winamp. 

 

[bcasey25raptor]

It's placebo effect. Also some headphones have an inbalance.

 

[shintarom]

I had the same problem with my Macbook Pro as the source.  Go to Settings - Sound - Output and make it's set to the middle.  Mine wasn't for some reason and it fixed the problem.

 

[Florimer]

I actually think i have that problem with my ATH-M50 too =( Except for bass - everything seems to be in the middle. But the thread is long ago dead... so no chance on reviving it, i guess.

 

[SomeGuyDude]

  It's placebo effect. Also some headphones have an inbalance.

 
First of all, that's not what the placebo effect is.
 
Secondly, if the headphones have an imbalance, it wouldn't be psychosomatic. It would be an imbalance.

 

[Koolpep]

So many factors....such an old thread.
 
However, I have the same experience with most of my heapdhones (and different sources, different DACs, different amps), most pronounced with the DT880 and least with the T90. It's always the left channel being more pronounced. Funnily it's also what you read most of the times with other people talking about imbalances, it's in 80% of the cases the left channel being louder. I wonder if there is a pattern?
 
Anyhow in the end it let me to believe that it's my ears or really badly matched drivers. Some frequencies I can hear better with one ear than the other. Nobody has a perfect balanced hearing, some have it a bit "off" like me. That's it. 
 
I also heard the theory that during mixing a lot of producers mix a bit "to the left" depending on the classic layouts of where to position singers, instruments etc. in a recording studio. So if the drummer is slightly on the left, he should naturally be louder there.
 
Also, potentiometers have imbalances. Reduce the volume of your source and crank up the amp a bit more and see if the imbalance continues...even good pots can have an imbalance in the lower range.

 

[CasualCans]

Hi, I'm a Noob here and I had exactly the same problem with a ATH-m50x that I bought online in India. 
 
I finally built up a test jig with both left and right channels driven in parallel from the same channel of my laptop and I measured the output using a microphone connected to an oscilloscope ( yes, I have a small lab at home ). The output of the mic was about 15% lower on the right side compared to the left when playing a 100Hz test tone.
 
Cheers,
Sant

 

[CptnAbhi]

  Hi, I'm a Noob here and I had exactly the same problem with a ATH-m50x that I bought online in India. 
 
I finally built up a test jig with both left and right channels driven in parallel from the same channel of my laptop and I measured the output using a microphone connected to an oscilloscope ( yes, I have a small lab at home ). The output of the mic was about 15% lower on the right side compared to the left when playing a 100Hz test tone.
 
Cheers,
Sant

 
I am having similar issues with my recently purchased Mdr-100aap.
So is this a fault with the cans or the audio source or the recording. 
really worried as this was my first venture into expensive headphones.
Should i return them? Please help guys!!!