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Sennheiser hd 58x left right balance

Aryan

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Jun 12, 2024
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Heyy first time poster. Recently got into headphones and got myself a “good” headphone the sennheiser hd 58x. They are great headphones I have never listen to music like this before. Like the music has expanded I can hear details in specific directions like forward and backwards which I think is what people call soundstage. But the problem I have had recently is both the earcups I can hear different part of the song. Like they expand the music in each earcup and it’s like two different part of the songs and it’s not coming together. What I mean is that I feel like both ear cups are playing different part of the same song and it’s not coming together I can feel a gap in between and it’s annoying me. What is this gap or am I being delusional and it’s doesn’t exist or is there a problem with my headphone and one is louder so I Can hear more details on one and the other is quieter?
 
Well, in a stereo recording the two channels are playing (some) different parts of the same song.

So there will be a bit of getting used to listening to some tracks where (for eg) guitar is all in the left and horns all in the right with vocals abd drums more middle.

But I wonder if it's as extreme as you suggest perhaps either you have some effects enabled somewhere in your playback chain or if they are out of phase. Have you ever disconnected (or connected initially) the cable to the cups and one is back to front.
 
which I think is what people call soundstage. But the problem I have had recently is both the earcups I can hear different part of the song. Like they expand the music in each earcup and it’s like two different part of the songs and it’s not coming together.

Some mixes have some sounds "hard panned" left or right so they only come out of one side. That can sound perfectly natural with speakers (one guitar player might really be on the right side of the stage), but it may not sound right headphones.

I perceive hard-panned sounds coming directly from the left or right headphone ('the truth"). Otherwise, I perceive the "soundstage" as coming from somewhere around my forehead. Neither of these bother me. Headphones are simply a "different experience" than speakers. And I don't listen to headphones that much anyway.

There are headphone amplifiers with a "crossfeed" control that blends the left & right channels.

Audacity (a free audio editor) can do that, or it can blend the channels to mono (the same thing in both sides). You can experiment with Audacity but it's not a convenient permanent solution because you'd have process all of your digital files, it's only useful on digital files, and you'd have to keep a headphone copy along with the original.

or is there a problem with my headphone and one is louder
It's easy enough to turn the headphone around on your head to make sure it's not your ears. ;) A mono recording might help too.

which I think is what people call soundstage.
It turns-out that most people don't get a realistic soundstage. Most people hear the sound coming from inside their head!!! Headphone Soundstage Survey. As much as people talk about it, that surprised me. It's obviously an illusion and I knew it didn't work for me, but before seeing the survey I thought I was an exception.
 
First listen to a recording in mono.
When it still sounds 'weird' to you and does not with other headphones it may be that one of the drivers is connected in reverse polarity (very small chance).
When it only is observed in stereo then look for crossfeed if it bothers you.
Could also be a matter of just getting used to the presentation of a headphone.
 
So I tired all of your suggestions and I found a couple of things. First I made sure to plug the wire in properly and listened again still felt like one was louder then I went in listen to the song in mono audio and this I found interesting. Not sure if because i was hearing one side louder than other when I listened to mono audio the right side felt very numb. Not sure if it’s the right word but it was like because I’m used to that side being louder it felt it was still loud but very numb like my brains telling me it’s always been louder so it should be loud. But finally when I turned the headphones around left to right that felt like it was even. But when I put it back on normally I still feel that right side is louder. The solution I found is to squish the left side closer to my ear and that makes them both loud.
 
Well, I'm happy you figured it out. I'm sure we all are. Happy listening.
 
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