Oppo 105 favoring one channel


Hi everyone! My Oppo 105 seems to be favoring the right channel slightly over the left. Now, before you ask any questions, here’s the system and the troubleshooting I’ve done:

System:

Sources: Oppo 105 (digital); Hagerman Trumpet MC phono stage

DAC: Schiit Gungnir

Amp: Schiit Ragnarok 2/Yamaha 801

Speakers: Reference 3A MM Gen 2

Cables: Acoustic Zen and Belden ICs/ Nordost White Lightning speaker

Troubleshooting:

  1. Swapped speaker cables - no difference (i.e., right side still favored)
  2. Swapped speakers - no difference
  3. Swapped inputs on the amp - no difference
  4. Swapped amps - no difference
  5. Run IC’s straight from the Oppo to amp, bypassing the external DAC - no difference
  6. Tried both balanced and unbalanced outputs from the Oppo - no difference
  7. Listened to both CD and Tidal playback - no difference
  8. Yet when I play from my phono stage, the sound is even and instrument placing is where it should be, even when using the IC’s I had used with the Oppo
  9. One thing i haven’t done yet is try a different digital source - mainly because I don’t have one.

Is this a thing? I would chalk it up to speakers or, more likely my room acoustics except for the perfectly balanced soundstage generated by the analog components. Thoughts?

 

128x128simao

@simao 

🤘Awesome! Glad you were able to get it worked out. Now just keep that remote out of the sofa cushions!

Problem solved! And for a much cheaper solution than I had anticipated.

@designsfx That solved the problem. When I went to the Audio Setup menu, the right speaker trimmed 2 db higher than the left. Whew! What a relief. Thank you for the solution. And yes, I did just now find the Oppo app on Aptoid! 

@clearthinker I had been thinking the same thing. I've had several infections in my left ear over the years and I was wondering if the hearing had dropped off. I'm glad it hasn't. 

@hrlywd I was thinking that, too. Due to a closet cutout, the left side of my rear wall is several feet deeper than the right side, and I was wondering if I was hearing the right side louder because of closer reflections. I brought up one of those bamboo tri-panel room dividers to act as a surrogate wall, but noticed no difference. Thank you for the guidance, though. 

@curiousjim Please! I'm not an audiophile Philistine. But maybe I should try it... 😉

 

Not certain if this could make the difference, but are the settings the same in the speaker placement configuration? Distance / Trim Size?

When did the channel imbalance start?  Was the system and the room arrangements the same before you heard the imbalance?  Did you ever hear this issue previously?

Could it be a change in your hearing?  Sometimes if one of my ears gets a bit blocked I hear a reduced volume on that side.  If it's definitely not your ears...

If the imbalance suddenly came on with the same system and room arrangement and you are sure of what you are hearing (?get a decibel meter and measure a sine wave tone from equal distance and height) then one of your components has an issue.  Probably only one as lightning doesn't strike twice....

Re-check the phase and tightness of your connections and continue to test by swapping components in and out.  Possibly take the components to a friend's house and swap them in turn into his system.

@simao 

Not certain on this but if you try “Aptoid” you may be able to find the Oppo app for Android there. If not- it’s back to the ol’ TV!

@jeffseight Good to hear that. The 105 is a forever piece for me. Until it isn't. But until then it is. 

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@designsfx ​​​​@knighttodd Thanks for the remote and set-up suggestion. I'lll lug the unit to the closest tv and use the visual interface to adjust balance and such. Oppo stopped providing firmware years ago, but their app still works on Apple devices (though not, as far as I can tell) with Samsung devices. In fact, I can't even find it in the Play Store. 

I have 2 105's. When I use the remote it always changes the balance on my Audio  Research ls28se pre. 

Yes, switched those cables, too. Still the same result. I also swapped R and L speakers and the sound stayed on the right. Again, this phenomenon is NOT present when I'm running analog. 

Hey Erik. Yes, I tried crossing the speaker cables and the sound migrated accordingly to the left

@simao 

Wondering if you’ve tried to reset the channel output assignments from the app or via remote? I believe you can adjust balance and frequency (large/small spkrs) from there- maybe something to try and it might assist in determining just how far out of adjustment it is. It would help if you could playback a test tone and measure the difference between the two.

I have a 105 D and it seems that Oppo’s first recommendation was to reinstall the latest firmware. I’m not certain of what the last firmware update was but I believe you can find it AVS forum under Blu-ray player threads. Hope this works out!