Yep! And some headphones are more finicky than others- I gave up entirely on getting consistent readings on the Verums. The experienced people make it look easy.
Haha, the fact that I mistrust my own ears only adds to the concern, really. Part of why I wanted to investigate channel balance on the one pair was because I caught a bit of skewing listening to mono tracks, but that could be anything from one pad being more squished than the other to volume pot being too low.
Having fun though, definitely want to investigate and check out lesser known cans.
Listen to a mono pure tone for a minute or three. If it is not dead-centre, then you have to decide if it the 'phones or your ears that are out of balance!
@Thad E Ginathom what if the channel imbalances only manifest at specific frequencies, because of how easily random variables in enclosures can affect sound? ;)
I did try that and it seemed to me primarily in the center, but occasionally shifted around. Been wanting to get a fresh set of pads in to confirm but so far it's so subtle that it's well within the realm of nervosa
My main concern is that one channel seemed consistently higher (by 1-2dB) than the other from sub-bass through midrange, and the headphones I had lying around all had angled pads so reversing on EARS rig was difficult. I did try swapping pads between cups and cables too to see if that might've been the cause but it was neither, so it's either driver/enclosure or mic stuff.
"if the channel imbalances only manifest at specific frequencies"
It did occur to me that some stuff might happen with music that doesn't happen with a single-frequency tone.
In the end, you are the perceiver, and it is down to your perception. And if you cannot find an actual fault, you might just have to live with it as just the way it is. Or use that balance control!
So I fired up REW and tried frequencies from bass going up to mid treble (low volumes cuz I'm scared of damaging my hearing). Made sure my ear canals felt "right" since the left one's been dry for the last few months. No discernible deviation from center, but then again further experiments give me reason to think it's the EARS at fault more than my ears :))
I might be stating the obvious, but afaik you have to use different calibration files for left and right with the EARS and you need to calibrate the SPL reading in REW.
Yup, I use the channel-appropriate supplied calibration files. Difference is much larger before compensation, but most headphones and what IEMs I have lying around are consistently ~1dB apart in the lower half of the audible spectrum (log scale :P)
@Thad E Ginathom listening to stuff in mono I sometimes caught things panned off to the one side. I took a bunch of measurements and consistently got right side a bit louder over a broad swath of the FR, but only ever a dB or two, ergo high likelihood it could be placebo.
Don't always get it and don't have many headphones on hand to confirm, so I'm still undecided.
It's odd that you're getting that imbalance in the lower frequencies, since SPL calibration in REW is performed at 300Hz. If you performed the procedure as described in the manual, used the correct sens factor and calibrated at the correct (sensitive) side, then there's reason to suspect that your calibration files for left and right are inconsistent and you might want to contact miniDSP support.
Yup, followed the instructions in the manual and calibrated everything to the sensitive side. I plan to contact them soonish, just wanna make sure it's not the headphones themselves first. Just plan to confirm beforehand
I've a friend who's got an in with a local audio shop. Could lug the measurement rig there and borrow some cans, but at the same time I worry it might come off as douchey.
This is where my not liking IEMs very much comes back to bite me in the butt, haha! I could use the Galaxy Buds (not 100% sure about the squiggles I posted even though I spent a long while matching insertion and depth), or could try with smaller bullet ones that fit the pinnae.
Really do appreciate the help, thanks! Also, sorry for the trouble. Would be embarrassing if it turned out the headphones were just bollixed, or I was putting consistently uneven pressure on the cups during measurement, haha.
Haha! I'm still very much in B camp I'd say; nothing beats personal experience (provided decent baselines and all that are established) but measurements are excellent for identifying subtler flaws or IDing stuff I might wanna demo.
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