Headphone Stereo Balance Issue

[jonallen356]

This issue seems to have been discussed before here...

 

But that thread someone asked for an update a year ago and nobody has responded. So I'd like to bring it back up because I'm trying to get this issue nailed down. I just bought a used Helix and discovered this issue after the return window had closed. I don't really have time to send it to Line6 to be repaired and can't justify that cost. So I'm trying to figure it out.

 

The Problem: When I plug my headphones in, I get full clean signal in my left ear, but quieter signal in my right with some distortion. It sounds like the cable is broken or something. I have done troubleshooting on everything I can think of. The headphones are good. It's not the signal path because audio coming through the USB connection to the computer is doing the same thing. It is consistent across all patches.

 

So my best guess is that it is actually a hardware fault on the board. But, like I said, I don't really want to send it in to Line6 and the previous owner already has had work done to it which would void the warranty.

 

Does anyone have any insight on what the fault might be with the hardware and if it's something on the circuit board that can be replaced? I am experienced with electronics and soldering, so I'm not worried about doing poor work. I just need help identifying the issue so I can get it resolved quickly.

 

I greatly appreciate any help!

[theElevators]

Make sure you don't have weird headphones with a microphone built-in.  That could cause issues. 

[jonallen356]

On 2/6/2023 at 12:41 PM, theElevators said:

Make sure you don't have weird headphones with a microphone built-in.  That could cause issues. 

 

Thanks for the reply, but the headphones are fine. I have ruled them out as the problem. They are very nice Sennheiser studio monitors and work perfectly when plugged into other audio sources.

[PierM]

Sorry for your problem, but you cant really isolate the offender along that audio pipeline, just by assumptions. It needs to be tested on a bench and pass few core tests. Many are the components that could potentially short that path to ground if faulty, so that would be like rolling the dice.

 

Bring it to a service bench. My 2 cents. :)

 

(all you can do, without doing even more damages, is to check the headphone TRS jack on the PCB. Search for shorts, or unsoldered bits.) 

 

 

[waymda]

On 2/7/2023 at 2:26 AM, jonallen356 said:

The Problem: When I plug my headphones in, I get full clean signal in my left ear, but quieter signal in my right with some distortion. It sounds like the cable is broken or something. I have done troubleshooting on everything I can think of. The headphones are good. It's not the signal path because audio coming through the USB connection to the computer is doing the same thing. It is consistent across all patches.

Am I reading this wrong in that you seem to be saying the audio sent to a DAW via USB exhibits the same characteristics as the headphones? If thats the case it really could be anywhere.

 

You say you've done all the troubleshooting you can think of, but I will ask anyway, have you factory reset the device and tested it before loading any back-ups? Software gremlins can be pretty weird.

 

Does the issue occur with streamed audio?

 

If yes to a factory reset with no result then I second a bench test.