Audio 'Imbalance' on Sony WH-1000XM3s

[Purpletooth]

Hello all,

(Apologies in advanced as I am quite unfamiliar with audio related terminology and so I am trying to articulate the issue as best as I can)  

After purchasing a pair of Sony WH-1000XM3's I noticed that the audio coming out of the right ear-cup was slightly louder and noticeably more developed than that being produced by the left ear-cup. This issue is to an extent which is subtle but something I find incredibly irritable after prolonged use. I initially thought it may simply be the stereo, however, what I find particularly strange is that this was not an issue I encountered on the newer WH-1000XM4s or Bose 700s (Both of which are owned by household members). I typically use the headphones for study where I have either white noise (Such as recordings of Thunderstorms) or music playing and for both instances the right ear cup proved to be the 'dominant' producer of audio. Vocals and bass especially often feel off centred as a result of this audio imbalance, something that is particularly noticeable when listening to podcasts or watching YouTube videos in which voices sound similarly off-centred.

Some things to note:
-The devices I have been using to connect to the headphones: iPad Pro, Laptop running windows 10 (Problem persists when connected to either device)  
-I have tried putting on the headphones backwards and can confirm the issue is not with my hearing but the headphones themselves. This was further confirmed by getting them looked at by a few members of my household, some of whom noticed the problem, however, others failed to identify the issue entirely.

Just to provide a bit more information on what I have so far tried to do, sadly none of which have worked:

- Factory reset (Twice) 
- Fresh Reinstallation of Sony Connect app, running default settings
- Resetting Bluetooth settings on both of my devices  
- Set Audio settings to Default on both of my devices 
- Forgetting and then pairing the headphones again 

This pair of WH-1000XM3s are actually not my first pair but rather a replacement unit after returning my previous pair for having the exact same issue. This is beginning to prove very frustrating for both myself and the retailer of the headphones and any help or information would be greatly appreciated. Perhaps this is normal with this model?

If you need any more details please do ask and I will try my best to provide information.

Thank you all, your time is most appreciated. 

[Peter_S.]

Hi,

Does it also happen when you use the wired connection?

If so, I would recommend to return this pair of headphones as well.

Cheers

Peter

[Purpletooth]

Hello there,

Thank you for the reply.
 
After using a wired connection I can confirm that the issue is still present, albeit, the imbalance very slightly improved. 
Returning them likely is the best course of action, It's just that I particularly like the WH-1000XM3s out of all of the headphones I have tried and I doubt I could keep returning and re-ordering the same headphones if the problem continued across different units as it has already done so. I may just need to return them and cut my losses with Sony. 

Thanks Again,
C.B. 

[Joe_Dohn]

Have you perhaps tried the Sound Position settings on the Headphones Connect app?

I'm not 100% sure if it would help since you've said you can still hear a difference when wired, but I'd say it's worth a shot since you'd prefer to keep the headphones.

Hope this helps!

- JD