Few specific beats/tones appear on either left/right in Audio Technica M50X

Question

I just got my new m50x. I'm new to this audiophile world, Coming from Philips O'neil bend headset and Skullcandy navigator.

I have been testing m50x a lot by downloading flac version of various songs and also those that I know every beat by heart.

At times a particular beat like guitar/drum/flute/maracars (thingy) appear on just one side for some particular songs and for some songs one side in particular is tad bit louder. I also tired interchanging their sides which helped at times for few and other times didn't.

If I change the mode to mono from stereo(which I seriously don't like) then it seems to be fine.

I would like to know whether its a problem with my headphones or something else.

Addition :

Well the thing is I used to rarely notice left/right panning in Skullcandy and O'neil unless I listen to some sort of relaxation/hypnosis on youtube.

I did m50x headphone testing online for all sort of frequencies and panning. It seems to be fine. Like you said may be it's just more clarity or so in m50x which makes it easier to notice.

By the way I got these because my other headphone's detachable wire broke. I tried swapping with Samsung's stock earphones and the interesting thing is few beats ( in flac files) which were panned left/right in m50x where exactly panned opposite in stock ones (which I could hear only if I concentrate little too much) and also if any side was slightly louder say left in m50x then it was right in earphone. (Yes, I was wearing correct sides with earphones. I double checked)

Answer 1

It sounds like the experience you're talking about is totally intentional!
Elements of a song, e.g. tablas, are often slightly or even fully 'panned' to the left or right channel for artistic effect. It helps keep the song dynamic and interesting.

Listen to this: (You may need to click the title to listen to it on YT)

"Sympathy For The Devil" by The Rolling Stones; a classic example of panning elements of a song left and right to great effect.

Do you think this is what you are experiencing?

Addition:
So why didn't you notice this with your older headphones?
That is an interesting question really. Maybe you could try swapping between the headphones, see if you can hear the difference. If you have an audio editor, you could create a simple audio file, with sounds panned hard-left, then hard-right, then centre and see how it sounds on both headphones and maybe on your different devices too.
I have read about stereo leakage problems on Macs before, which might explain it. But other than that, I'd say it must be the design of the headphones. Consumer headphones(skullcandy etc) generally have a tuned frequency response with heavier bass, and as bass is usually centred and is believed to be harder to hear in the stereo field, maybe this drowns out the left-right separation. Adding to that, the clarity of a flat frequency response which is the nature of monitor headphones, maybe you can simply hear the separation more clearly with these new headphones.