[SonicWarrior]

 
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.

Can you provide the exact track and the time in track where you see this issue? I would like to sweep in some other headphones?

 

[aboutseven]

  Can you provide the exact track and the time in track where you see this issue? I would like to sweep in some other headphones?

All music I listened to sounded off balance, especially songs with vocals. If I were to imagine the singer on a stage, I'd imagine them off the left a bit, and wouldn't be able to get this image out of my head. Low bass in any song sounded like it was heavy left as well. There were no specific moments, entire songs would sound off balance.

 

[Byrnie]

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).

I used to be the same way given as I used to just use headphones solely for gaming (and sometimes movies/anime). When I tried out some higher-end amps that changed and I now sit down quite often and just listen to music .

 

[fabripav]

So these just arrived. So comfortable 

 and dat soundstage!
 
Quote:

  It would be awesome if a current owner of the X2 could tell me how Muse sounds on them? I listen to muse A LOT! So its important to me that they sound good with the muse songs.

Muse are my most listened band ever on last.fm. They sound great (just like every other band really...). Their bassy sound fits these cans.

 

[rabbitsfoot]

  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.

 
I'm hearing the bit of too laid back in the upper mids also. It's not as apparent on all material but definitely not as clear as the Beyerdynamic Dt150's.  Love the bass and presentation/sound field openess as on the X1. Treble can be a bit too splashy on some material for mel. Not sure if I have a defective pair here. I upgraded from the X1's and don't hear much difference in the bass levels though I don't have the X1's anymore for a direct comparison. The bass is excellent with good quality and quantity.  I don't remember hearing the X1's treble as being too splashy but do remember a similar 'thinness' compared the the DT150's. I haven't been able to find a frequency response chart for the DT150's so the mids may actually be more forward than neutral and this may skew my perceptions. All of this-my opinions and observations.

 

[Change is Good]

I've been using these, exclusively, for the last few days. If these have imbalance issues, I haven't noticed....

 

[rhythm is life]

  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)

 
Sorry, I should have said imbalance in the frequency response. The channel balance is OK on my pair.

In Tyll's measurements there is a big dip at 6 kHz. This might have been a red flag for me, but I have a 2-year old ATH-M50 that has a similar dip, and it never bothered me much. I experimented with boosting this dip, but I never felt like more than a 1 or 2 dB boost was necessary. The M50's 9 kHz peak bothered me a lot more, and it's true in general that peaks stick out more than dips. The measurements also show a very small peak between 4 or 5 kHz. There should be no peak at all here, in fact, the compensated frequency response should be falling in this range. 
 
The dip at 3 kHz is surely the culprit for my laid-back upper mids impression; this is exactly where the upper mid response should be peaking. I really hope that this is some sort of quality control problem and not a fundamental design/tuning flaw.

 

[sappl3s]

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).

I will run some more tests on mine, but It's pretty apparent in nearly every single song that there's more bass coming from the left cup. Maybe this is only an issue on some peoples sets. Who knows, but it IS real. I love the sound of these and if I return it will probably be for another pair and hope for the best that I don't get the same issue.

 

[aboutseven]

  I will run some more tests on mine, but It's pretty apparent in nearly every single song that there's more bass coming from the left cup. Maybe this is only an issue on some peoples sets. Who knows, but it IS real. I love the sound of these and if I return it will probably be for another pair and hope for the best that I don't get the same issue.

Here is a test you can do that I did. Find an online tone generator and then set the tone to something like 120Hz, then turn the volume up so you can hear from the outside, which shouldn't take much being that they are open headphones. Just listen to each side with the same ear. When I did this, each side sounded different, with the left side sounding like there was more vibration coming from that side, while the right side sounding weaker. I could hear the difference from 30Hz to 150Hz.

 

[rabbitsfoot]

   
Sorry, I should have said imbalance in the frequency response. The channel balance is OK on my pair.

In Tyll's measurements there is a big dip at 6 kHz. This might have been a red flag for me, but I have a 2-year old ATH-M50 that has a similar dip, and it never bothered me much. I experimented with boosting this dip, but I never felt like more than a 1 or 2 dB boost was necessary. The M50's 9 kHz peak bothered me a lot more, and it's true in general that peaks stick out more than dips. The measurements also show a very small peak between 4 or 5 kHz. There should be no peak at all here, in fact, the compensated frequency response should be falling in this range. 
 
The dip at 3 kHz is surely the culprit for my laid-back upper mids impression; this is exactly where the upper mid response should be peaking. I really hope that this is some sort of quality control problem and not a fundamental design/tuning flaw.

Actually, the 3k range has to be handled pretty carefully as this is the frequency we-as humans-are most sensitive too. Too little and we couldn't differentiate some sounds-speech being of the utmost importance- and too much is like poking a sharp stick in our ears. Many headphones and speakers with a slight dip in this area- precisely to keep that 'offending frequency' out.

 

[Stochastic]

I can't personally hear any left/right channel imbalances on my set.  I tried using SineGen and still couldn't detect any left/right imbalances.  It could just be my ears, though.
 
I spent the weekend doing a fair amount of listening on the X2s and I'm liking them even more than I did initially.  They certainly aren't perfect, but I'm nevertheless having a lot of fun rediscovering cherished songs.  Treble is still slightly bothersome with certain recordings, but with other recordings they sound glorious.        

 

[Jazz1]

I did reply on Amazon but for some reason I'm not seeing it. In a nutshell I think the X2 places me right in the middle of the auditorium. That is where I want to be. The P7's place me a few rows back. But as you probably know closed vs. open headphones offer different sound signatures. I'm not a bass head but the bass sounded better without amplification on the X2. The midrange on the X2 was better without amplification and DAC. The highs better sans external amp and DAC on the X2.

With desktop amplification and DAC things even out between the two. the P7's scale up nicely. The X2's remain true to their good sound but they don't incredibly improve. This result does them both credit.

I prefer the sound of the X2 straight out of my IOS devices vs. the P7's. But therein lies the rub. i prefer the P7's on the go because I'm more apt to be using them in a noisy environment. If I were on a road trip I'd bring them both and would most likely add an external monile amplifier /DAC just to wring out the best from the P7's The desert island scenario doesn't work for me.

 

[SonicWarrior]

I did reply on Amazon but for some reason I'm not seeing it. In a nutshell I think the X2 places me right in the middle of the auditorium. That is where I want to be. The P7's place me a few rows back. But as you probably know closed vs. open headphones offer different sound signatures. I'm not a bass head but the bass sounded better without amplification on the X2. The midrange on the X2 was better without amplification and DAC. The highs better sans external amp and DAC on the X2.

With desktop amplification and DAC things even out between the two. the P7's scale up nicely. The X2's remain true to their good sound but they don't incredibly improve. This result does them both credit.

I prefer the sound of the X2 straight out of my IOS devices vs. the P7's. But therein lies the rub. i prefer the P7's on the go because I'm more apt to be using them in a noisy environment. If I were on a road trip I'd bring them both and would most likely add an external monile amplifier /DAC just to wring out the best from the P7's The desert island scenario doesn't work for me.

How does the sound stage, imaging, depth and instrumentation compare (both with and without DAC/Amp)? I am sorry I am bombarding you with questions .. Just couldn't control the excitement.. One thing I greatly admire the P7 is about it's ability to take a different avatar depending on how it's powered. Like from Clark Kent to Superman. Even without a DAC/Amp, it sounds best from my ipad 3rd gen than my iphone 6 plus and 2011 macbook pro.
 
Regarding the mids, I have now got my P7 burned with more than 500 hours and it is very, very well settled. No more mid-bass boost and I find the mids perfect (this part probably my brain). Maybe, once your X2 puts more hours, you may find the sound even more pleasing..

 

[Mad Lust Envy]

The mids on the X2 are neither forward or recessed. They're pretty much on the neutral line for the most part. People who say it has recessed mids are either used to forward mid sounding headphones, or instantly calling them recessed because the bass is full.

All in all, the X2 is a neutrally toned headphone. Not neutral in that its curve is perfectly straight, but that tonal quality is neither too warm nor too bright. Its pretty much down the middle. Depending on the track, it can either sound warm or bright.

I don't need to test these for too long to say they are going to be a huge hit if enough people get their hands on them.

Those looking for an all purpose headphone, look no further.

 

[SonicWarrior]

The mids on the X2 are neither forward or recessed. They're pretty much on the neutral line for the most part. People who say it has recessed mids are either used to forward mid sounding headphones, or instantly calling them recessed because the bass is full.

All in all, the X2 is a neutrally toned headphone. Not neutral in that its curve is perfectly straight, but that tonal quality is neither too warm nor too bright. Its pretty much down the middle. Depending on the track, it can either sound warm or bright.

I don't need to test these for too long to say they are going to be a huge hit if enough people get their hands on them.

Those looking for an all purpose headphone, look no further.

Thanks MLE. This nails it perfectly.