[JonnyRocket]

The volume is lower in the left ear of my Sennheiser IE8s. I tried wiggling each earbud at the connector piece. I also cleaned the connectors with alcohol. I tried wiggling the 1/8 jack to no avail. I switched each bud and put the left bud on the right wire and the right bud on the left wire, nothing helped. I'm thinking of prying off the screen and seeing if any wax got down in there. Has anyone pulled the screens out of earbuds before? I'm out of ideas in how to fix these, I really love them so I don't want to see them go. I'm out of the warrantee. Any help would be appreciated as there isn't much on the Internet about fixing earbuds. Thanks.

 

[kimvictor]

Have you tried putting the left ear piece into your right ear? It could be your hearing....
 
But more realistically, I suggest few things.
1. Make sure the source is ok. Just try another iem with them, and see if there's any imbalance issue.
2. Clean the nozzle. As you guessed, it could be wax. There is a wax guard, so unless that's torn, it should be easy to clean.
3. It could be your filters. The filters(dampers) of iems rip easily. If it's the damper, you can easily replace them.

 

[JonnyRocket]

Thanks for your help. I did try switching the earpieces and different sources. Im going to try prying off the screen and seeing if any thing got stuck down there. Do you know where the filters are located by any chance?

 

[kimvictor]

Thanks for your help. I did try switching the earpieces and different sources. Im going to try prying off the screen and seeing if any thing got stuck down there. Do you know where the filters are located by any chance?

 
Likely near the nozzles. It is located between the driver and your ears, so the nozzle is the place you want to look at.

 

[lin0003]

Maybe it is the cable. Maybe swap the sides and see what happens. 

 

[kimvictor]

  Maybe it is the cable. Maybe swap the sides and see what happens. 

 
He did.

 

[lin0003]

Right, sorry, didn't read the OP properly. 
If you can't get it working again, maybe you can just send it over to Sennheiser and they will fix it at a small fee or replace it with the IE80. 

 

[kimvictor]

  Right, sorry, didn't read the OP properly. 
If you can't get it working again, maybe you can just send it over to Sennheiser and they will fix it at a small fee or replace it with the IE80. 

 
Good point. It'd be nice if they replaced it with IE80.

 

[Rip N' Burn]

I've seen pictures of an IE8 taken apart. They don't have acoustic filters just a metal screen at the end of the nozzle. It might be that earwax has gradually filled in the perforations of the screen. Try using hydrogen peroxide 3% solution to dissolve any earwax adhered to the screen. Dip the nozzle in the solution for several minutes and make sure that only the screen is submerged. Don't go all the way up the nozzle or you might damage the driver.

 

[kimvictor]

  I've seen pictures of an IE8 taken apart. They don't have acoustic filters just a metal screen at the end of the nozzle. It might be that earwax has gradually filled in the perforations of the screen. Try using hydrogen peroxide 3% solution to dissolve any earwax adhered to the screen. Dip the nozzle in the solution for several minutes and make sure that only the screen is submerged. Don't go all the way up the nozzle or you might damage the driver.

 
That sir, is a very scientific and realistic solution!

 

[Rip N' Burn]

Thanks and I hope it solves his issue. OP, have you already pried off the screens?

 

[JonnyRocket]

I've seen pictures of an IE8 taken apart. They don't have acoustic filters just a metal screen at the end of the nozzle. It might be that earwax has gradually filled in the perforations of the screen. Try using hydrogen peroxide 3% solution to dissolve any earwax adhered to the screen. Dip the nozzle in the solution for several minutes and make sure that only the screen is submerged. Don't go all the way up the nozzle or you might damage the driver.

This is what happened^^^. I took off the screen and put them back in my ears for a listen and there're working great now! Looks like wax got stuck in the little pinholes of the screen and couldn't be removed by a conventional cleaning. They work great now, just have to clean the screen. Thanks for your help guys!

 

[KoRni]

Hello guys,
This is my first post here and I start with grave digging, but with a reason - few posts from head-fi are top results in google when it comes to one IE8 channel (right / left - doesn't matter) being quieter and - after trying different things for more than a year - I think I finally found a solution.
Note that this solution will probably not help if you've totally lost sound in one / both channels.

The issue is with the connector - not the cable pins, but the sockets in the earpieces themselves. You need a very thin needle that can easily fit in these sockets and a bit of an alcohol. I strongly suggest IPA.
Just spray a bit of the alcohol on the needle, remove the excessive amount (should be just a tiny drop on the tip), then insert it into the socket and rub it back and forth against the socket walls few times. Repeat several times going around and pushing against different spots of the socket walls (yes, this is still about restoring the sound in IE8...). The needle insertion should be quite easy and for at least ~2 mm deep - if it's not, you need a thinner needle. Repeat for the other socket (and proactively for the other earpiece) and voilla - no more sound level difference.

I've tested this solution for half a year before posting, just to make sure it works, as previously tried solutions provided no fix or (accidentally, it seems) up to two weeks of solving the issue - then it returned. Posting it in these few top posts suggested by google - hopefully I won't get banned as a spammer, really doing this in a good faith.

Cheers!
KoRni