HD-580 Weirdness

[CingKrab]

Hi all:

Today I noticed that my 580s seemed to be louder on one side than the other. The problem reversed itself when I put them on backwards. I thought it might've been the AV-710 control panel acting up again, so I adjusted the volume and I used a tone generator to test it. While using the tone generator, I discovered that if I press the top of the earcups down (towards myself) on the right side (the quieter side), the tone sometimes changes (goes higher and makes a twinging sound). Is this indicative of the intermittency problem?

 

[Bosk]

I remember reading somewhere that the 580's don't have "matched drivers" in the same way that the later models do.

It's just a guess but perhaps one of your drivers is slightly out of spec compared to the other?

It could be the cable at fault too, perhaps.

Good luck with them!

 

[CingKrab]

Hmm the thing is I've had these headphones for about 8 months, and I've never had this problem. I've accidentally yanked the cable loose once, but they've been fine after I connected them properly. I've tried reconnecting them, but no luck. Is there anything I should try or do before I take them apart?

 

[dallasstar]

Go to Windows' volume control, and shift the wave-out's "balance" icon to your preference. (control panel -> sound and audio devices -> advanced.

 

[CingKrab]

lol the AV-710 isn't set as my primary audio device. I use foobar and kernel streaming to bypass kmixer. Doing this also doesn't solve my potential hardware problem; if I decide to resell my 580s one day I'm pretty sure the buyer wouldn't appreciate this imbalance.

 

[Hunter_Killer]

Plug your cable in tighter. There shouldnt be a discernible difference in volume just because "the drivers arent matched".

 

[G.H.]

It could be the position of your headphone that made the imbalance. Try to position your drivers closer to the entrance of your ear channels, maybe it could help.

 

[koladd]

It remember the same problem occured to me before. With the HD580 I used to have, sometimes it gives unbalanced channels, pretty much depending on the Amp I use. I listened out of three amps with HD580, CMOY, Szerkerez and my Yamaha Compact Stereo at home. With the Yamaha, the channel problem is not obvious. But I remember with one of the first two amps there's a noticable difference. Output impedance of the amps might play some role I guess. But I don't know the theoretics. The HD600 I have now doesn't have this problem. It's hard to say. I find it hard to believe that channel matching could make such a difference. But my experience told me that Sennheiser might have treated these two cans with different attention.

Quote:

Originally Posted by CingKrab Hi all: Today I noticed that my 580s seemed to be louder on one side than the other. The problem reversed itself when I put them on backwards. I thought it might've been the AV-710 control panel acting up again, so I adjusted the volume and I used a tone generator to test it. While using the tone generator, I discovered that if I press the top of the earcups down (towards myself) on the right side (the quieter side), the tone sometimes changes (goes higher and makes a twinging sound). Is this indicative of the intermittency problem?