voice not in the center of the headphone? what the?

[chesebert]

I was critically listening to some female vocals last night and have notice that depending on the passage, some times I feel the voice is little to the right, sometimes little to the left, but more right than left, and I can aparently change the position by resetting the headphone on my head.

This is on sr325i with Pimeta. I also tried sr80 which i have laying around and it doesn't seem to do that, admittantly sr80 has no soundstage to speak of. bad driver? mismached? bad source?

 

[SockMan!]

Perhaps higher-end headphones make channel seperation more apparent due to their greater accuracy? I could be wrong, but my headphone upgrades tend to make things sound more 'stereo'.

If that's the case, then it really is a part of the music you're listening to rather than a problem in your equipment. It's difficult to tell though, at least it is for me.

 

[JefferyK]

Try another recording and see what happens. Sometimes the lead vocal isn't centered exactly, and sometimes it doesn't stay in one place.

Jeffery

 

[joelongwood]

In order to assess the situation accurately to determine whether it's the headphones or your ears, or possibly the source or amp, you really need to listen to a mono source/recording. Older integrated amps, receivers, and pre-amps usually had a switch for mono, sending identical signals to the speakers/headphones.
That said, I find that I have to shift some of my headphones on my head to get a centered sound because my left ear is ever so slightly lower than my right. By shifting the headphones down on the left a bit, the transducer is centered on my ear and the sound is dead center.
Hope this helps.

 

[JefferyK]

And sometimes the hearing in your ears doesn't match. Oy! That's when the balance knob comes in handy.

Jeffery

 

[chesebert]

ok..I had my whole family listen to my headphone, with reservation ofcourse..lol, and after subject them to 1 hour of torture, I have concluded that some of my CD are just baddly recorded, and ofcourse what I use to compare (sr80) itself has some problem with driver balance. So nothing wrong with 325i, but something wrong with 80 (damn I used that for 3 years without realizing it). so using sr80 as reference to judge 325i was little dumb on my part...hohoho....now I just have to send sr80 back to John for a repair (since realizing the problem, I have started notcing it more in the 80 making it almost impossible to live with anymore...grr

)

 

[South_Korean]

i have bad hearing in one ear.... that happens to me at lower volumes tho, so i crank it and the channels even up.

 

[mintyfresh]

I use a sonic implement specifically designed for audiophile quality phones called the Quistip Ultra U50. It is a 0.05 cm cylindrical rod encased in methylcellulose to resist hydrophilic contaminants and overlaid with lightweight, flexible monofilaments comprised of 99.995% pure cellulose. The filaments are weaved into a Type-0 matrix shroud, which, when introduced into the ear canal, is effective in removing organic barriers to sound transmission. The matrix shroud is superior to other competing implements in that it uses the patented Platinum Ratio weave which uses a titanium-molybdenum bonding compound. This very special and exclusive manufacturing process has been found by several reviewers on MasterHiFi.com to be over 27% more clarifying. It only costs $850.95 for a box of 20, so I think it's a steal. It makes all your sound equipment that much better -- brings the highs to a new level of ethereal clarity, and lows are more robust. It even removes the veil. They also come in a custom-made teak wood container which tends to keep the filaments maximally pure. You can get the container for only $150 from custom manufacturers who are experts in filaments, and a custom cellophane wrapper made in Norway from reindeer hide, which is meant to repel certain types of cellulose destroying mold, keeps the wood of the container 50% more effective. The wrapper is rare so it's about $2000, but you can get them used on eBay for $1700.

 

[Kram Sacul]

Try swapping the pads around. Most of the time I think the vocals are more to the right too. In fact, alot of recordings seems to have more stuff going on to the right of the soundstage.

 

[GiMione]

"I use a sonic implement specifically designed for audiophile quality phones called the Quistip Ultra U50. It is a 0.05 cm cylindrical rod encased in methylcellulose to resist hydrophilic contaminants and overlaid with lightweight, flexible monofilaments comprised of 99.995% pure cellulose. The filaments are weaved into a Type-0 matrix shroud, which, when introduced into the ear canal, is effective in removing organic barriers to sound transmission. The matrix shroud is superior to other competing implements in that it uses the patented Platinum Ratio weave which uses a titanium-molybdenum bonding compound. This very special and exclusive manufacturing process has been found by several reviewers on MasterHiFi.com to be over 27% more clarifying. It only costs $850.95 for a box of 20, so I think it's a steal." --Mintyfresh



Um, yeaaah...did anyone else catch that, or am I just dumb?

 

[mrkangpae]

He means you should try cleaning out your earwax. Mintyfresh, you have way too much time on your hands.

 

[EdipisReks]

sticking q-tips in your ears is a bad idea. ear wax removal kits are much safer.

 

[arspy87]

I've noticed this, too. My nose, throat, and sinuses have been severely unhappy lately, and I think it's screwing with my ears. :-/

 

[TM2 Rampage]

I'm gonna guess that it's a normal part of the recording.

 

[chesebert]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kram Sacul Try swapping the pads around. Most of the time I think the vocals are more to the right too. In fact, alot of recordings seems to have more stuff going on to the right of the soundstage.

hmm..interesting you noticed that too. Is that true for most recordings cuz its really annoying with these better phones, never realize anything like that on the sr80.