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August 26, 2007

troubleshooting

My mysterious sound balance issue

Posted Aug. 26, ’07, 5:14 PM PT by Thomas Gagnon-van Leeuwen
Category | Troubleshooting

soundbalance.jpg

A while back, I was wondering if my left ear was gradually becoming deaf: the sound coming from my left headphone definitely seemed fainter than the right. After a little bit of poking around, it turned out it was my Mac’s fault: the sound balance slider in System Preferences, the one that adjusts how the sound output is balanced between left and right, was definitely a little on the right side. I firmly put it back in the middle, satisfied to find out my hearing was fine (at 16 years old, it’s quite a relief).

Problem solved, right? Er… no. A few weeks later, noticing the same phenomenon, I popped open System Preferences and, you guessed it, the slider had gone back to its slightly unbalanced spot. Basically, the story ends here: every once in a while, I have to re-adjust the slider, because I haven’t found the cause of the problem. Is it a secret keystroke I sometimes inadvertently press? A third-party app gone wild? Or the most likely culprit, a malicious leprechaun?

The moral of the story is this: if you ever experience a similar issue, remember to look in the Sound panel of System Preferences. And if you have any insight on why I’m cursed with this mysterious problem, feel free to leave a comment.

Update: it looks like we have a solution! Check out my follow-up post.


12 Comments

wackybit Author Profile Page said:

It happened to me before, maybe when I was on a macbook, but now (Macbook Pro) it's not a problem anymore. i also dont know what's the problem

August 26, 2007 5:25 PM
Paul said:

I have this too every week or so. I've read up on it and the conclusion is always "its a known bug that won't be fixed".

Why?! How on earth can it be happening?!

August 26, 2007 5:27 PM
Christopher Bowns Author Profile Page said:

It's not just you: Ambrosia has a post about it, and I've had it happen more than a few times. The closest thing to a regression that I've seen is "When you adjust the volume with the keyboard keys, the balance occasionally gets whacked up."

I always have fun when I realize it's happening: it constantly amazes me how quickly my brain goes, "Wait a second, this isn't right."

August 26, 2007 5:42 PM
steve kit said:

Dude, you're 16?
Props to you.
You write like an adult.

August 26, 2007 5:59 PM
Alex said:

Well, that has never happened to me, but I'll remember it. I use a MacBook Pro.

August 26, 2007 6:33 PM
Alex said:

Maybe it's a friend, sibling, coworker, etc. pranking you? I once pressed Cmd-Opt-Ctl-8 on my brother's iMac...

He called me to ask what was wrong with it, and I couldn't keep a straight face.

August 26, 2007 6:35 PM
Christopher Bowns said:

Just found this: balanced, a daemon for keeping your sound level balanced. And here's an Apple article that claims to have fixed this in 10.3. So much for that fix.

August 26, 2007 6:54 PM
Thomas GvL Author Profile Page said:

Hey guys, thanks a lot for all the (quick) replies.

Christopher's link is interesting: it indeed appears this is completely random. I opened System Prefs, and started quickly adjusting the volume up and down with the volume keys, and the slider was slightly moving to the right and back to the middle. Weird!

I guess it becomes really noticeable overtime as it gradually inches to the right (or left, for some people). Might do a follow-up post on it, thanks for the comments (keep them coming).

August 26, 2007 7:00 PM
Joe D. said:

I verify that this problem persists in 10.4, although it might not happen quite as much. I had this issue with my iMac on 10.3 and my Powerbook on 10.4, but no problems yet with my Macbook Pro on 10.4.

@ Thomas: are you on an Intel Mac? I wonder if that has anything to do with it...

August 26, 2007 7:10 PM
Dan H said:

Doesn't Skype automatically adjust the balance away from the side where the microphone is located when you use it on a PowerBook?

August 26, 2007 7:28 PM
CJ said:

Woot - I am so happy there are other people with this problem. Forever I thought it was just me (my own fault for not really looking into it).

It happens to me every few weeks or so (powerbook G4). I am almost certain its a keystroke that i hit by accident. Only I cant seem to figure it out.

Strange Apple seem to be ignoring this one.

August 27, 2007 3:09 AM
jayH said:

i think this is a third party software being a boob. it happens constantly on my powerbook, which is full of third party software... it has NEVER happened on my iMac, which only has VLC installedfrom a third party vendor...

i can't figure out why it happens, but it's very noticeble to me because the sound on the powerbook becomes even lower than it already is at high volume... so when i can barely hear a song i check system preferences and ta-da, it's unbalanced... i wish i knew what was causing it so i could get rid of it...

August 27, 2007 6:51 AM

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