[Desertblood]

Is it just me or does the FiiO e7 make the mids muddy? I feel like the mids are a lot more forward straight out of the laptop.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Channel imbalances are a part of practically all headphones out there, especiialy in the upper mid to treble ranges. As long as the imbalances don't cover a large range of frequencies, it's something we have to live with.

The ones that I particularly don't stand for is bass imbalances.

 

[sappl3s]

  Hey Fidelio X2 crowd, been having some issues and wonder if anyone could help me. 
 
Basically, I've had two X2's with the same exact problem, and I don't know if I should get another replacement or something else is causing this issue. The issue being that they sound unbalanced, and the left ear sounds heavier. It's very subtle, but when I switch my headphones around, the heaviness stays on the left side of the headphones, not my ears. The effect seems to be most noticeable when it comes to vocals and low bass. The effect becomes most noticeable when I set everything to mono.
 
I can also prove that it isn't my ears, because when I use a tone generator and generate a tone between 30 and 150Hz and listen to each side from the outside, I can hear more vibration coming from the left side. I've tried the headphones on five different sources with the same result. I've used other headphones and they do not have the issue. I've done blind hearing tests where I will close my eyes and try to balance the headphones and I always end up setting the balance to the right.
 
I find it very hard to believe that I've gotten the same problem twice in a row, although it could be possible. Still, just the fact that I haven't heard this issue anywhere on the internet for these headphones and I just happen to get the issue twice in a row is really making me insane. There are plenty of people who have posted reviews on these headphones with no issue existing, and these are people who would probably notice an issue like this right away.
 
Should I go ahead and go for a third replacement, or is there something else I should look for that is causing this problem? I'm honestly starting to consider it's my own mind and that I am really just insane.

I have this issue as well with mine. It's subtle but its there. the left side is a tad bit stronger/louder and it can actually be really annoying in a lot of songs. I also thought maybe I was going insane but it looks like others are having the same issue.. I wonder if theres anyway we can fix this? Or do we just keep sending them back until we get a pair that works right?

 

[obsidyen]

It could be a quality control issue, meaning most (all?) X2s have the same problem.

 

[sappl3s]

Yeah that's possible. Maybe we'll be hearing more about it as more impressions of these keep rolling in. For now I am honestly thinking about sending them back and maybe waiting for this issue to be resolved because It's quite annoying.

 

[bizkid]

My pair doesn't have any imbalance issues. I use Foobars "downmix channels to mono" DSP to make sure it's not the recording.

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Run sinegen and move the slider slowly. I guarantee that there will be imbalances. There is NO headphone that is perfectly balanced at every frequency.

 

[obsidyen]

Run sinegen and move the slider slowly. I guarantee that there will be imbalances. There is NO headphone that is perfectly balanced at every frequency.

 
I'll test when I get home.

 

[Baycode]

@obsidyen I know you don't believe in burn-in but:
 
Please cook the X2's and if you're still having the same problem send em back for warranty. 
 
Don't think of imbalance and do not focus on it while listening (if you can).
 
Please pass the 200h mark and report again.
 
 
(IMO: Always swap the channels while making trials. Always use different recordings. Be sure that your jack is clean. If possible try different sources).
 
 

 

[obsidyen]

  @obsidyen I know you don't believe in burn-in but:
 
Please cook the X2's and if you're still having the same problem send em back for warranty. 
 
Don't think of imbalance and do not focus on it while listening (if you can).
 
Please pass the 200h mark and report again.
 
 
(IMO: Always swap the channels while making trials. Always use different recordings. Be sure that your jack is clean. If possible try different sources).
 
 
 

 
I'll do these too. As I said I noticed it whilst listening to The Beatles songs but kind of forgot about until I saw aboutseven's post today. At the time I thought "I may be imagining this."  

 

[ZorgDK]

My X2's have arrived from Amazon.it. The left phone has more bass/volume than the right one, treble seems even. I tested with mono dsp in foobar. Not sure, maybe I can live with it. 
 
edit: I do like them otherwise. they look good and the sound is impressing. 

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

Confirmation bias at it's best.

Now everyone will hear imbalances and return them. Then they'll get a new headphone, not test imbalances, and be happy.

Anyways...

Enjoying my X2 immensely. Making me just sit down and listen to music, which is something I actually don't do much (I use headphones mainly for other media).

 

[SonicWarrior]

  Well my X2's are on the truck for delivery today! I'm perched in my window listening to my HD650's and scanning up and down the street for the truck. I guess there are far worse vices than headphoneitis  
 
I have the X1's boxed up and ready to go back (as I messed up and ordered those by mistake). It was hard not opening the X1 box just to check them out. But I didn't want to tempt the wrath of Amazon.com.
 
The X2's are going to spend some time at work so I did order a carry case that should show up Tuesday. I broke out the old Headroom BitHead just in case the IOS devices don't power these well enough on their own.

Jazz,
 
I saw your review in Amazon and looks like you are enjoying it . Can you do a P7 comparison in sound signature and quality?
 
Thanks

 

[aboutseven]

Channel imbalances are a part of practically all headphones out there, especiialy in the upper mid to treble ranges. As long as the imbalances don't cover a large range of frequencies, it's something we have to live with.

The ones that I particularly don't stand for is bass imbalances.

The imbalance sounds a lot more than simple imbalance you would get with your average headphones. It is actually ruining the listening experience for me. Don't get me wrong, these headphones sound absolutely amazing, and I'm actually really torn about this. I'm going to have to return them and just wait it out and see what other people are getting with burn in. I'd rather not burn them in myself and then go over the 30 day period that I can return them in case the problem doesn't go away.
 
Also the imbalance I'm getting is in a pretty large range, pretty much the entire low range and some mid is off to the left. The entire song sounds to the left when I set the music to mono. Not trying to get people to stop buying them or return them, I am honestly hearing what I'm hearing.

 

[SonicWarrior]

  I spent the last couple of hours listening to random songs, and that imbalance in the 5-6 kHz range was pretty obvious in a good deal of what I listened to. It's impossible to completely EQ out. Also I think the upper mids might be a bit too laid back? The bass-to-midrange balance was fine with everything I've listened to over the past few days. Contrary to Tyll's experience, I might be hearing what the InnerFidelity measurements of the X2 indicate.

Please correct me if I am wrong. I don't see any substantial  channel imbalance in Tyll's measurements. All is a 5db difference in 5-6 Khz and I see these imbalances in other cans as well (HD 800 and 600 at 10KHz)