Headphone cups sound different than one another? Bad QC / fit?

Submitted by t-visADL t3_10ltqdl in headphones

So I'm having a bit of an interesting experience right now. Finally got bored of my past headphones (Sennheiser HD569) and finally opted for a more up-market upgrade (HIFIMAN HE-R9). I went into an audio store to properly audition them and really enjoyed them, but after having some more time with them at home I'm starting to notice something odd.

I'm not sure if it's a fit problem but the left side of the headphones seem to sound a lot better than the right. Wider soundstage, slightly more punch. The right side comparably sounds a little closer and I can feel part of the inside cup touching the top of my ear a little bit.

Is this bad QC or have I genuinely gone insane? I can't ignore it because I swear they sound different but I can't tell.

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pinkcunt123 t1_j5z08rk wrote

Play your music in mono and see whether or not the sound is leaning to one side. If that is the case, I got bad news for you:

Channel imbalance has come to haunt your headphone.

Can be a driver issue, or a simply a pad issue.

I once ordered Dekoni pads for my 660S and one was a lot deeper than the other, so the sound was tilted more towards the shallower ear pads.

To verifiy, whether ot not it is the pads, simply switch them (if possible) between left ant right. And if the sound now leans to the other side, its the pads. If not, its the drivers and you should put in a warranty claim.

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t-visADL OP t1_j5z3d5n wrote

I’ll give this all a shot tomorrow hopefully, though I’m getting a gnawing feeling it’s a fit issue since I can feel it touching my ear on the right only.

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t-visADL OP t1_j64771p wrote

Just tested them on mono and it sounded pretty much perfect. I can’t switch the pads since I’ve noticed now that they’re actually asymmetrical and only work on the respective cups.

In stereo the left side just sounds… fuller, wider. Right sounds a little less impactful and closes in.

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PolarBearSequence t1_j5yx0ce wrote

Have you tried wearing them the wrong way around to see if really depends on the headphone?

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t-visADL OP t1_j5yy16v wrote

Gave it a shot. Fit felt a bit weird and still (albeit less) mildly leaning toward the left.

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PolarBearSequence t1_j5yyhyg wrote

Do you have any other earphones for comparison, just to make sure your ears aren’t causing the problem? Hopefully it’s the headphone.

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t-visADL OP t1_j5yzd0f wrote

Popped the Senns back on. I hate to admit it might be the headphones purely because of the fit.

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PolarBearSequence t1_j5z5eln wrote

Be happy that your ears aren’t the problem, that would be worse. Are you still within the return period?

If it’s the fit, there’s not much you can do… maybe try pad rolling, but that might be throwing good money after bad.

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t-visADL OP t1_j5z8v4u wrote

The store I’ve purchased from don’t do returns I think so assuming this is a real issue and not me being weird then I’m fucked.

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llysender t1_j60d2cp wrote

Just curous are you using the stock cable? Because of neeeding to compromise for the blue mini the middle ring needs to empty otherwise it will short the right positive and cause issues.

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t-visADL OP t1_j60d73n wrote

It is the stock cable actually.

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llysender t1_j60h207 wrote

sadly it sounds then that its a issue with the headphone, nothing much you can do about that.

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