Sennheiser HD 598SE Panning Issue

[Graystripe]

Hello!

I have just purchased a pair of Sennheiser HD 598SE's from Amazon. I was really excited to use them, but unfortunately they are slightly louder in the left ear cup (where the wire is connected), and slightly softer in the right ear cup. I've tested them on my Retina Mac Book Pro 2013, iPhone 6 and Traktor Kontrol S4 (in an attempt to get a wide-ish range of amplification with both the 1/4" and 3.5mm cables). In every case, they are louder in the left side and softer in the right. This issue does not occur with my V-Moda Crossfade Wireless headphones or the Apple EarPods earbuds, so my audio sources seem to be OK.

 

One possibility is that the headphones are simply not getting enough power (I don't have a DAC or Amplifier on hand), but from what I understand less power should cause distortion, especially at louder volumes; these headphones sound fine, even at higher volumes -- the issue is with panning.

 

Troubleshooting steps I've tried so far:

• Tested multiple devices (Mac with all devices connected, and without devices connected; iPhone 6; Traktor S4)
• Tested with both included cables (plugged in all the way) 
• Played back various song formats (mp3, flac, wav, aiff) 
• Tested both on OS X and Windows (on same computer)
• Tested with mono playback and with flipping headphones (to make sure I'm not going deaf) 
• Tested with actual songs and a test tone at various frequencies (although it can be argued that a test tone is an actual song)

 

Any suggestions before I bother Sennheiser about it?   Thanks!

(Also checked authenticity on their website just in case, and yes, they're legitimate) 

[FloRolf]

Sometimes this occurs at lower listening volumes so try to increase and see if it goes away. 

If it doesn't or it's too loud for you I'd just send them back and get a new pair. 

[Graystripe]

2 hours ago, FloRolf said:

Sometimes this occurs at lower listening volumes so try to increase and see if it goes away. 

If it doesn't or it's too loud for you I'd just send them back and get a new pair. 

Thanks! I've emailed Sennheiser in an attempt to see if there's a known fix or just RMA. 

I'll mark it as solved once they reply to see if anyone else can swoop in with any more info in the meantime.

[SSL]

Probably rampant channel imbalance. It happens; headphones in this price range aren't channel matched.

[Hans Christian | Teri]

I've had a similar issue with headphones with removable cables in the past. Try a bit of contact cleaner on the connectors, it has often sorted it out for me. If anything it's worth a shot.