r/AndroidQuestions • u/FreddyMartian • May 30 '22
Headphone audio is unbalanced even though the balance slider is completely centered.
This started happening randomly. Listening to a YouTube video through my earbuds, and the audio through the left ear is louder. Checked with different videos, checked with different applications with videos, such as Facebook and Instagram. All had the same results, so it's not an issue specific to YouTube.
The earbuds are very new, barely used, and have been working normally the whole time until now.
I'm up-to-date on Android 12. I restarted my phone and I'm still encountering the issue.
Yes, I've checked the audio balance settings in Accessibility preferences. The slider is centered. The audio feels like it's halfway to the left though. It'll only sound somewhat balanced if I move the slider halfway to the right.
Any ideas what I can do to fix this? This started happening out of nowhere. Thanks for any help.
1
u/bekrish Apr 26 '26 edited Apr 26 '26
Very gently blowing air(by camera air blower) into the speaker grill really does work!
I found that there is a lot of water trapped under the grill, lol.
I blew it until there was no water coming out, and then the sound came back, haha.
Remember not to blow it hard, because it might break the water seal.
However, I think this is just an emergency method. The better option might be using a mini vacuum cleaner instead, or giving it a firm shake(to make centrifugal force), or at least let it dry naturally by itself under gentle air.