Sony A818 sound problem

[dan2009]

I am having a problem with the Sony A818 - On certain songs, some of the instruments sound very quiet. It sounds like when the balance is set too far to one side and some of the instruments are on the other side although I know that is not the case. All the settings on it (e.g. equalizer) are at the default setting. Can anyone help with this please?

[CrowdAds]

[Andreas]

Are you sure VPT(Sourround) isnt set to karaoke?

[dan2009]

Yeah, the VPT is set to none. The problem only happens on a few songs.

[The DarkSide]

I've had this happen when I had true bass enabled on my S618, some of the vocals were almost inaudible. Thats the only thing I really can think of.

[frimframsauce]

i don't think an audio bug would affect only certain songs.
perhaps thats just how the songs encoded/recorded.

[dan2009]

I was comparing the sound from the A818 with the sound from my PC. It seems that the left channel is very quiet! Both the left and right part of the headphones sound at equal volume but the instruments from the left channel on my PC were very quiet on the headphones when listening to the A818. I don't think it can be a problem with the headphone socket and there is no balance option anywhere on the player (even if there was and it was set to far to the right, the sound would only be coming from the right hand side of the headphones). So the only songs it affects are ones that have the instruments on the left channel! Any ideas or does it look like I will have to send it back?

[frimframsauce]

....if both sides have equal volume then the player should be fine.

try some test tones on it.
use different headphones.
or clean your ears out
a player won't selectively fail to decode on only certain songs. if the audio output hardware is borked it will do it consistently. i think its your encode or something is set wrong

what are these certain songs anyways.

[dan2009]

Both sides are at equal volume but are pretty much putting out only the right channel. I have tried different headphones and still have the same problem. I think all songs are probably equally affected but the songs that sound bad are ones that have an instrument entirely on the left channel. The songs that sound the worst are:

ACDC - You Shook Me All Night Long (the intro lead guitar is virtually inaudible unlike the rhythm guitar. Tried playing it on my PC and the intro lead guitar is on the left channel)

Ramones - Blitzrieg Bop (just doesn't sound right)

[dan2009]

Does anyone have any ideas? If not it looks like this is gonna have to go back to Sony!

[swarmer]

Originally Posted by dan2009

Both the left and right part of the headphones sound at equal volume but the instruments from the left channel on my PC were very quiet on the headphones when listening to the A818. I don't think it can be a problem with the headphone socket and there is no balance option anywhere on the player (even if there was and it was set to far to the right, the sound would only be coming from the right hand side of the headphones).

Try the same headphones with your PC (while listening to the same tracks of course). Also, try each of them with a different pair of headphones, if possible.

[swarmer]

Originally Posted by dan2009

Both sides are at equal volume but are pretty much putting out only the right channel. I have tried different headphones and still have the same problem. I think all songs are probably equally affected but the songs that sound bad are ones that have an instrument entirely on the left channel. The songs that sound the worst are:

ACDC - You Shook Me All Night Long (the intro lead guitar is virtually inaudible unlike the rhythm guitar. Tried playing it on my PC and the intro lead guitar is on the left channel)

Ramones - Blitzrieg Bop (just doesn't sound right)

oh ok, missed that. I guess you'd better exchange it. You probably got a defective unit. I was very happy with the sound on my A818, until it died (my fault).

[mugs101]

have you tried the stereo settings? that can also help as it makes both sides equal and/or you can re encode the mp3 by using software e.g. wavemax.