[Rob N]

I believe Grado’s (RS1’s,PS1’s etc) are supposed to have a channel balance of 0.05db.I have heard a few pairs of PS-1’s and could hear a definite imbalance between channels on one pair compared to two others,the sound was somewhat shifted to the left.It may have been that this pair was a one off and all the other pairs of PS1’s have much tighter channel balance.Has anyone heard more than one pair of PS1’s or other pairs of Grado's?

I have noticed differences in channel balance for the older HP1 and HP2 phones but I presume this is more to do with age then anything else.

 

[Banfi T.]

There are other topics debating Grado quality control issues...it seems to be a real problem...

 

[SNR]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob N I believe Grado’s (RS1’s,PS1’s etc) are supposed to have a channel balance of 0.05db.I have heard a few pairs of PS-1’s and could hear a definite imbalance between channels on one pair compared to two others,the sound was somewhat shifted to the left.It may have been that this pair was a one off and all the other pairs of PS1’s have much tighter channel balance.Has anyone heard more than one pair of PS1’s or other pairs of Grado's? I have noticed differences in channel balance for the older HP1 and HP2 phones but I presume this is more to do with age then anything else.

http://www6.head-fi.org/forums/showt...ght=grado+sr60

 

[Blitzula]

I've owned a number of the modern Grado line headphones, and the channel imbalance is there, particularly at low volume levels.

 

[Rob N]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Blitzula I've owned a number of the modern Grado line headphones, and the channel imbalance is there, particularly at low volume levels.

If it only occurs at low volume it's more likely to be imbalance in the volume control of your amp.I'm talking about channel imbalnce at any volume even using a stepped attentuator and comparing to another pair of PS-1's for instance

 

[en480c4]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Rob N If it only occurs at low volume it's more likely to be imbalance in the volume control of your amp.I'm talking about channel imbalnce at any volume even using a stepped attentuator and comparing to another pair of PS-1's for instance

Exactly... Most volume pots have poor tracking at the low end, so if your gain is set high enough that you never get past 9 or 10 o'clock on the amp, there's an increased chance of balance issues. It doesn't show up with less-efficient cans because for an amp with the same gain, you use more of the range of the pot.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Try switching around the pads to be sure.

 

[kramer5150]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kram Sacul Try switching around the pads to be sure.

Yeah and make sure your fit is symmetric from left to right. IMHO bowl pads are very sensitive to positioning and fit.

Garrett

 

[chillysalsa]

Do you have a digital multimeter?

You can roughly check the matching by measuring the resistance of each channel.

Left is tip > ground, right is ring > ground. You should have them less than 1 ohm of each other, at about 32 ohms.

 

[Gigabomber]

I felt that my ms-2is had a large imbalance in the 10k to 12k bands that was accentuated by the lower volumes i listen at. Doobooloo chimed in saying that imbalance was a real problem as well.

Also should note that I think it comes down to the fact that testing say five hundred pair of cans in their entire waveform would not be too easy, but some companies and cans just seem to be matched better than others for whatever reason. I have found that the grado waves i have seen have a wide gap, but that impression is a bit of a leap because i formed it from VERY few samples.