Left Channel Treble Imbalance

Hi everyone!

First time posting here, but I've been lurking for ages now, lol!

I'm in the the UK and not long ago, I bought a used MPC 2500 at a bargain price with the full version of JJOSXL and 128mb of RAM installed. Unfortunately, the device has a few problems, which are actually not too bad for a device of this age - the headphone input doesn't work (it's very, very quiet and can squeak a lot when you initially plug a cable into it), the jog wheel also doesn't work (I've already tried switching mode 1 to 2, etc.), the screen can also start to flicker, which can be fixed by closing popping it up back again.

Anyway, I'm able to live with all the above-mentioned, but I'm also struggling with one that unfortunately renders the device almost useless to me - I love the 2500 because of its compressor and EQ, but I noticed yesterday (and I think it happened just yesterday), that the left channel has slightly less treble than the right, which is in a way very subtle effect, but at the same time it isn't, because when, for example, the drums start to clip and saturate, you can hear that specific top-end crackle more on the right channel than on the left - the left channel is noticeably muffled, which when applied to the entire mix makes it sound shifted more to the right, even there are no volume differences between the two per se. To eliminate few possible issues, I already tried mono and stereo samples, as well as panning them to see what's going on (and panning them actually higlights the issue even more - I can post an audio samples if anyone wishes).

Any ideas on what could be the problem here? Dying capacitors? Does anyone know who I could perhaps turn to for a diagnosis and a repair or what I could check or read on my own to get to the root of the problem?

Thanks.

Capacitors, dry joints, any number of things. It just sounds like you need to stop "accepting" the small faults and just get in there and service the thing, give it good look over, address all the issues.
There's zero reason it can't work fully and correctly, there's some cost involved yes, but they're great machines.
Treat it like one.

Thank you, Mr. Anselmi. You are undeniably right.

Hey theskelly! That treble imbalance sounds tricky. It could be aging capacitors, but sometimes a simple cleaning of the jacks or checking cables helps. I know how frustrating tech issues can be—I run a site about Surah Yaseen (https://suraheyaseen.com/), and reading it helps me stay focused when dealing with challenges like this. Hope you get your MPC 2500 sorted!