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Thanks tester — that's really useful info. I'll just have to make sure my ears are well calibrated! A few were quite a bit out. I balanced them all again and was careful to check the tension of the spokes near any wobbles before making any adjustments. It all sounds within a semitone at least now.
Now to try it with a 3x...
El_sabor
How far out is your tension? If you're doing it by ear, an octave difference in plucked tone is a 4:1 tension ratio, so a semi-tone is about 12% difference in tension*. If the rim is circular before you start, you should easily be able to get every spoke in a symmetrical wheel within a quarter tone. If your wheels are circular but the tension is more unbalanced than that, either the rim wasn't circular to start with or, more likely, you're letting some spokes do more than their fair share of pulling and the rim stiffness is holding the wheel circular in spite of, rather than thanks to, the spoke tension.
*mathematicians please check, I think this is right.