Monitor issues

[RundgrenRules]

I have a pair of Yamaha HSM50 monitors. I am sure they will work fine for my purposes but I noticed something tonight. I can take one track and pan it hard right and it will sound a fair deal louder than the same track panned hard left. Instruments that were supposed to run straight up the center of the sound field seemed to come from the right. The computer tower is near the right monitor, and I have curtained walls about a foot behind. Desk is in the middle of the wall's length. I engaged a -4db 500hz shelving bass cut on the right monitor, thinking this would help. Not really. Seems to be a fairly close frequency response from the two. It is a matter of volume or rather perceived volume. Whenever I have the right monitor set at +4db and the left set at roughly +6db, the sound image becomes much more balanced, panning works better, and center instruments seem good and centered. Is it a bad thing to have different settings for the volume on the two monitors or is it common, not something to worry about? Also, any suggestions on basic monitor setup, some good tips on getting the most accurate sound from your monitors where they are. They cant really move out from the wall, i simply don't have room. Anyways, THANKS!!

Matt

[A LaMere]

I'm unsure which monitors you're referencing... but I've seen this exact same thing with KRK monitors and Event monitors that are active anyways....

Do you know how to do the white noise, flip-phase type test to determine the balance between the two? 'tis helpful..

This can also be a simle issue of you not sitting in the true center also...
Sometimes I think the speaker on the left side is louder on my monitors because I tend to sit and lean over to the left of my desk... Yep, I'm serious.

Are you just panning them in a computer program? "in the box"??

[RundgrenRules]

I am unfamiliar with any type of testing to help determine balance. Whenever I noticed the issue, I took some time to really align the monitors and get anchored in true center and pan and listen and pan and listen and pan and listen again. Yeah it is just the panning in Sonar, the stereo panning law is set to 0db center, sin/cos taper, constant power. Thanks!

[Master Tang]

Looked at the PDF, and if there is a volume knob on the back of each speaker instead of one control on the master monitor, make sure they are at the same level. Chaeck that all swithces are the same for each speaker as well.

If all that is okay, check your settings in your soundcard. Make sure there isn't an off balance pan in the Windows controller as well.

If both of those are in the middle, check your connections.

Should that fail, it's probable that the amp in the monitors has issues.

[aussie_techie]

software and cables would be the first thing to check, what kind of cables are you using? if your unsure of where software settings could be and/or cant test a cable then just swap L/R.

[jmcdaniel_ee]

I have the same problem with my Event TR8's. I swear the right speaker is lower in volume even when their back knobs are set the same. I can really tell when I pan around short bursts of pink noise. I have menier's disease (an inner ear disorder) so I occasionally have ringing in my right ear, and I figured my problem was related to that. But it's encouraging to hear someone else with this problem, so I know it's not my ears or (even worse) my mind playing tricks on me.

[ScottyD]

Me too... my problem is all the damage I've done to my ears over the years. I have learned to somewhat compensate for my lop sided hearing...

-ScottyD

[A LaMere]

Originally Posted by A LaMere

I'm unsure which monitors you're referencing... but I've seen this exact same thing with KRK monitors and Event monitors that are active anyways....

Absolutely sure that different active monitors have different volume levels outputting from the speakers... Actually, all monitors I've ever used have needed a bit of adjustment to achieve a good balance...

.... and I just quoted myself... how cool is that!!??

[shaddai]

Think the answer might be the cheapo pots they put in those monitors, or that they're always hot? I finally replaced the pots in one of my ASP8's with $2 worth of resistors instead.

Todd