[Zonium]

Is this new version or custom of EMU Teak? Never seen cable connectors on earcups.

https://zeppelinandco.com/products/emu-teak#

 

[Teebs]

Hi all.
I've recently received a beautiful pair of EMU with PH cups. However, after several hours of listening I've noticed a slight channel imbalance. It's especially noticeable with vocals as they seem to play louder on the left side. Tried through different sources with the same results.
Anyone had channel imbalance issues on a new unit? I have a new cable on order to test out and determine whether or not this is a cable issue. Would rather avoid having to send these all the way back to Singapore..

 

[KamijoIsMyHero]

Hi all.
I've recently received a beautiful pair of EMU with PH cups. However, after several hours of listening I've noticed a slight channel imbalance. It's especially noticeable with vocals as they seem to play louder on the left side. Tried through different sources with the same results.
Anyone had channel imbalance issues on a new unit? I have a new cable on order to test out and determine whether this is simply a cable issue. Would rather avoid having to send these all the way back to Singapore..

Imbalances can happen with driver variances on certain frequency ranges such as the vocal range. A slight difference may be within QA tolerances. If the imbalance is throughout the whole frequency range, I recommend getting it replaced sooner.

My E-MU walnuts developed a noticeable channel imbalance after a few months, not sure why. I was out of luck in terms of service since I bought from Drop and apparently E-MU won't do warranty replacement if not bought directly from them.

 

[kamikazeing]

Hi all.
I've recently received a beautiful pair of EMU with PH cups. However, after several hours of listening I've noticed a slight channel imbalance. It's especially noticeable with vocals as they seem to play louder on the left side. Tried through different sources with the same results.
Anyone had channel imbalance issues on a new unit? I have a new cable on order to test out and determine whether or not this is a cable issue. Would rather avoid having to send these all the way back to Singapore..

I went through two different pairs some time back, both bought brand new from Drop, both with very nasty channel imbalances in the vocal region too, before I gave up and returned the last pair for a refund. Thankfully Drop was great about it, but yeah very disappointed with E-MU.

 

[CT007]

I went through two different pairs some time back, both bought brand new from Drop, both with very nasty channel imbalances in the vocal region too, before I gave up and returned the last pair for a refund. Thankfully Drop was great about it, but yeah very disappointed with E-MU.

I liked ModHouse Argon T60RP more than Teak, but still not very good/much

 

[Teebs]

Well it's pretty frustrating. I can somewhat correct the balance by adjusting the left side anywhere from 10%-20% lower through windows, but while this fixes the vocal region, the low end/ bass then becomes significantly unbalanced as well.
Still waiting for a new cable to arrive to see if that may be the source of the issue, otherwise it'll be going back to Mr Chan.
Other than that, I'm really liking the overall sound from these. Far more organic sounding than my Ultrasones. If anything, this sounds like an incredibly refined XB500.

 

[AT Khan]

Well it's pretty frustrating. I can somewhat correct the balance by adjusting the left side anywhere from 10%-20% lower through windows, but while this fixes the vocal region, the low end/ bass then becomes significantly unbalanced as well.
Still waiting for a new cable to arrive to see if that may be the source of the issue, otherwise it'll be going back to Mr Chan.
Other than that, I'm really liking the overall sound from these. Far more organic sounding than my Ultrasones. If anything, this sounds like an incredibly refined XB500.

Hmm... sad for sure, and very surprising to me.

I'd never expect channel imbalance on these, I've tinkered them like Frankenstein, multiple solders, bad solders, multiple cables/connectors swaps and stuff. I'd never imagined channel imbalance issues on these in stock form, first time I'm reading about it and suddenly, that's like four pairs you guys just highlighted.

Did you try reversing the cables L/R somehow, to rule out cable/connector issues?

 

[Teebs]

Hmm... sad for sure, and very surprising to me.

I'd never expect channel imbalance on these, I've tinkered them like Frankenstein, multiple solders, bad solders, multiple cables/connectors swaps and stuff. I'd never imagined channel imbalance issues on these in stock form, first time I'm reading about it and suddenly, that's like four pairs you guys just highlighted.

Did you try reversing the cables L/R somehow, to rule out cable/connector issues?

I did try reversing the L and R connectors and funnily enough I thought it had solved the issue for a sec. Turns out my brain was just adjusting to the flipped sound, but it soon became very apparent that the right side was still noticeably quieter in the vocal region.
It's actually OK when listening to music with no vocals. However, videos and music with vocals sound really off. As mentioned above, I'd have been fine with correcting the balance myself through windows but while the vocals can be corrected, the rest of the frequency range then becomes unbalanced.

New cable arriving next week so fingers crossed this resolves the issue, and that the stock cable is the culprit.

 

[oatp1b1]

Thinking of replacing the cable on my Teaks. Any suggestions that are less than $100? It's been a while since I last read up about it but iirc E-MU chose to use some sort of finicky connectors that make replacement a bit difficult. Is Oppo PM-2/HD700 cables the same, or do I remember incorrectly?

 

[mildmannered]

I used someone called audiophile ninja on Etsy in the US, no issues and less than $100

Thinking of replacing the cable on my Teaks. Any suggestions that are less than $100? It's been a while since I last read up about it but iirc E-MU chose to use some sort of finicky connectors that make replacement a bit difficult. Is Oppo PM-2/HD700 cables the same, or do I remember incorrectly?

 

[dstarr3]

Thinking of replacing the cable on my Teaks. Any suggestions that are less than $100? It's been a while since I last read up about it but iirc E-MU chose to use some sort of finicky connectors that make replacement a bit difficult. Is Oppo PM-2/HD700 cables the same, or do I remember incorrectly?

I bought this HD700 cable for my Teaks from a brand called Youkamoo. I've bought quite a few cables from them now and they've all been aces.

https://a.co/d/6iU8V49

 

[Teebs]

Thinking of replacing the cable on my Teaks. Any suggestions that are less than $100? It's been a while since I last read up about it but iirc E-MU chose to use some sort of finicky connectors that make replacement a bit difficult. Is Oppo PM-2/HD700 cables the same, or do I remember incorrectly?

I ordered this one from skyaudiocables on ebay. Bunch of customization options, very friendly seller. https://www.ebay.com/itm/174643572430

 

[Darksoul]

I bought this HD700 cable for my Teaks from a brand called Youkamoo. I've bought quite a few cables from them now and they've all been aces.

https://a.co/d/6iU8V49

Hey, excellent recommendation. It's excactly what I was looking for.

 

[The Third]

I ordered this one from skyaudiocables on ebay. Bunch of customization options, very friendly seller. https://www.ebay.com/itm/174643572430

Been running skyaudiocables on the Teaks for the last 2 years. Excellent cables, he also offers balanced cables.

 

[The Third]

I did try reversing the L and R connectors and funnily enough I thought it had solved the issue for a sec. Turns out my brain was just adjusting to the flipped sound, but it soon became very apparent that the right side was still noticeably quieter in the vocal region.
It's actually OK when listening to music with no vocals. However, videos and music with vocals sound really off. As mentioned above, I'd have been fine with correcting the balance myself through windows but while the vocals can be corrected, the rest of the frequency range then becomes unbalanced.

New cable arriving next week so fingers crossed this resolves the issue, and that the stock cable is the culprit.

For a 500 euro headphone I'd find this unacceptable. Would email chan if I were you, see if you can get a new set of drivers mailed to you. My Teak's are mostly balanced except around the 9khz area when running a frequency test, but never faced real world issues since 2020.