Do my phones favorite the Right side?

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davdud101
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2012/12/03 17:57:56 (permalink)

Do my phones favorite the Right side?

Hey, everyone. I currently use a pair of Sony MDR-NC7's for 'studio' work. However, I left them in a bag on the floor in my room on day, and accidentley stepped on them, and broke off the right can (that was the only damagew done, the phone itself was fine). I was able to glue it back on and they work just as good as before...
Except for that (even BEFORE they were broken!) it seems my headphones tend to favor the right side; sometimes it's bass, sometimes it's mid, sometimes it's highs- they just put 5%-to-10% more volume of a range of frequenices over to the right side, and it bugging me, because it seems to be screwing up  my mixing a little bit.
Is there any fix for this in the short run? Anyone had a similar problem?

 
Mics: MXL 990, MXL R80, 2 x MXL Tempo XLRs, Cobalt Co9, SM48, iSK Starlight
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#1

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    Cactus Music
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    Re:Do my phones favorite the Right side? 2012/12/03 22:01:48 (permalink)
    First off , no one should use one source for mixing. You need a few dependable references, most common is of course some good near field monitors, Head phones are a small part of checking mixes and a very bad "only source" reference.  Pretty rare to mix on any set of phones and have that translate to every other known system. 
    Sounds like yours are not even close to being dependable so  I would put those aside to use for studio tracking and get a new pair and some monitors. 

    Johnny V  
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    #2
    bitflipper
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    Re:Do my phones favorite the Right side? 2012/12/03 23:36:29 (permalink)
    Unequal response in headphones is not at all unusual. It could be something fixable, like a cold solder joint, but more likely it's just component tolerances between the two speakers. Pull any two speakers of the same model out of a bin and chances are there will be differences between them. It's one of the reasons expensive headphones and speakers are expensive: they're manufactured to tighter tolerances.

    I'd be saving up for a new set of cans.


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    #3
    The Maillard Reaction
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    Re:Do my phones favorite the Right side? 2012/12/04 08:20:07 (permalink)


    David,
     When I listen to your stuff on Soundcloud I can hear a lot of talent.

     Is there any chance you can find someone too mentor you near your home?

     I know that you can sense that you have something to share with the world... I'd like to see you get there.

     
     Your sense of structure and harmonic arrangement are very strong.

     I'd say you need to start doing what ever it takes to get your self set up with some monitors and a better set of head phones so that you may use your natural talent to make the mixing decisions that you need to be making.


     Please remind me again... how old are you and how long have you been at this?

     If my recollection is correct you are perfectly poised to work with a mentor... and I'm not recommending a "teacher" but rather a mentor. It seems to me like you have had some great teachers already... now you need someone who can guide you on a more personal level... but it has to be someone who will guide what you already have going on rather than someone who wants to inject you into some system that they have for instruction.

     You're already out of the gate, so to speak, you are ready to get help from someone who can handle working with someone who has the talent you exhibit.

     I don't want to seem to belittle all the help you can get here... but I think you need someone local to help you with a few basic things about your setup before you'll get the maximum benefit from the type of disassociated discussion that occur here.
     

     Searching out mentors is a skill... I encourage you to try to get good at it because I, personally, think you could really benefit because you are poised and ready for it.

     Good luck on your journey.

     all the very best,
    mike



     
    post edited by mike_mccue - 2012/12/04 08:21:23


    #4
    Guitarhacker
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    Re:Do my phones favorite the Right side? 2012/12/04 08:52:37 (permalink)
    I have a few headphones that I use from time to time... 

    A cheap Yamaha set I got on sale for $30 (half off sale) and some really old radio shacks that I bought for $40 back in the day.... I hate using them but keep them for when I have a singer in the studio and I need to hear what's happening in the box...

    I also use ear buds to monitor.... not often but on occasion. I have the nice noise canceling ones so they do actually sound pretty good. 

    I noticed that the ear buds were sounding off balance one day while listening on the MP3 player.... one side seemed to have lost it's highs and some volume. I switched ears and the problem followed the right bud.  A closer examination showed the minute holes in the screen to appear to be clogged with debris (ear wax looking stuff) Yuck.... time to can the buds.... 

    A new set of buds solved the problem. 

    You need a reliable and accurate way to monitor the mix to be able to get it right. 

    Can't mix what you can't hear. 

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    #5
    davdud101
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    Re:Do my phones favorite the Right side? 2012/12/04 21:17:24 (permalink)
    Thanks for the replies so far! I'm going to use some of you guys' replies to answer others' questions with thie response, so you'll probably want to read through the whole thing.
    It's totally true that mixing on a single source is a silly thing to do- everything performs differently. But lets's consider me to a 15-yr-old high African-American who's only been in the 'meat' of the business (forsaking pure MIDI for VSTi's) for about 2 years (see what I did there?).
    I should probably get a job soon, but I don't want to detract from my music-writing time (or my me-time, for that matter), so for now, I have these, a pair of $10 Skullcandy earbuds, and some Skullcandy knock-offs.  Additionally, I have my in-monitor speakers, some piece-of-junk $10 stereo speakers, a set of decent other speakers (which are unfortunately too quiet for practical use), and a cd/stereo system that I can probably use for something.
    I bet a mentor would be wise for me, to help 'build on' what I've started. Thanks a bunch for that, Mike!
    I'll admit I didn't know they were less stringent for cheaper/lower-end headphones! That's something I'll have to keep in mind for sure.
    I guess at this point, it'd much more beneficial to see what I can do to upgrade. Any good idea for the forseeable future?

     
    Mics: MXL 990, MXL R80, 2 x MXL Tempo XLRs, Cobalt Co9, SM48, iSK Starlight
    Cans: Hifiman HE4XX, AKG M220
    Gear: Cakewalk BBL - PreSonus Firepod - Alesis Elevate 3 - Axiom 49
    DAW: Win10, AMD FX-8300, 16GB DDR3
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