The present invention includes methods and devices to compensate for gain and phase imbalance for OFDM and other multi-carrier symbol transmission systems. More particularly, methods and devices for determining compensation parameters are provided. This invention may be applied to a variety of standards utilizing OFDM technology, including IEEE 802.11a, Hiperlan/2 and MMAC. Further description of the invention and its embodiments are found in the figures, specification and claims that follow.