Weirdest Headphone Issue (Amplification?)

[djhipnotikk]

so i recently got a pair of Behringer HPS3000's off a guy selling all his old studio gear. not sure how old they are, but they're in good condition (externally, at least). the issue is this: when plugged into an old (late 80's) 16 channel powered mixer (from the same guy), the sound is really weak. the bass is usually fine, but the mids are super faint, and the highs way too loud. when i plug my other headphones in (that have always worked fine), the sound is normal. i tested the Behringer's on some other devices to see what was up - my synthesizer produced really faint sound, but the 2 channel Behringer mixer i have sounded fine. this made me think that it was a problem of not enough power going to the headphones, since it also sounded fine when plugged into a home theater amp (late 80's as well). i finally found my 1/4''-1/8'' adapter so i could try it on my MBP, and the sound was really faint again, the highs were cracking and the sound was "pixelated" almost. it sounded really dirty. so i messed with the settings in the system prefs, and when i pan the left or right, everything sounds normal, and sound comes out of both sides, regardless of whatever side the sound is panned to. when panned center, it sounds like crap.

what gives?

[Jester]

Well unless those particular phones are faulty mate, i don't think they are the problem . I have a pair of hps3000's myself and have had no troubles with them. They do seem go better with some serious juice behind them tho, maybe thats what the trouble is?

[djhipnotikk]

are they the ones that look like this?



i guess the power source i get, but the fact that it gets louder when panned hard left or hard right (and still comes out of both sides of the phones) is just mind boggling.

[Jester]

yep those are the ones. weird issue!

[alien2k]

so i messed with the settings in the system prefs, and when i pan the left or right, everything sounds normal, and sound comes out of both sides, regardless of whatever side the sound is panned to. when panned center, it sounds like crap.

what gives?

It is defently a wired issue, but normally wired issues are 2 issues combined

THe first part of the problem I really don´t know the solution, I mean probably those headphones need a powerfull output to be connected.

Then when you use the adptaer I think you were probably using a cheap mono one, that is why it couldn´t pan and sounded bad. The stereo 1/4 - 1/8 adapters have another contact line for the stereo channel.

I would get that sorted and then make sure that the headphones an its cable is not damaged

Cheers!

[djhipnotikk]

It is defently a wired issue, but normally wired issues are 2 issues combined

THe first part of the problem I really don´t know the solution, I mean probably those headphones need a powerfull output to be connected.

Then when you use the adptaer I think you were probably using a cheap mono one, that is why it couldn´t pan and sounded bad. The stereo 1/4 - 1/8 adapters have another contact line for the stereo channel.

I would get that sorted and then make sure that the headphones an its cable is not damaged

Cheers!

thanks for that, the mono/stereo issue has gone over my head before, i don't know why i forgot it now :P but the 1/8'' male part on the adapter looks just like one on a pair of headphones i've used without issue. i'd think if the 1/8'' part was stereo, the 1/4'' would be too. i could be wrong. it was cheap :P (but seriously should those things be expensive!?)

the other problem with the mono theory is that i was still getting "stereo" sound when the prefs indicated that all the sound should be from the left, or from the right. i'm baffled, but at least i know the main issue lies in the power source, and that my mixer used for djing gives enough :P

thanks again