How do I adjust audio balance of my Android phone headphones out?

Question

My earphones are unbalanced - one is louder than the other, so I need to adjust the sound volume balance to get it right. How can I do it on Android?

Please provide more information! What phone do you use? Is the phone rooted? — reubenjohn, May 04 '14 at 12:07
It is Samsung Galaxy Ch@t GT-B5330 (Android 4.1.2). Rooted, yes. I just thought there is to be an official generic way to do such an essential thing like this. — Ivan, May 04 '14 at 13:28
Possible duplicate of Altering left-right sound balance on Android 6.0.1 — Matt, Dec 14 '16 at 18:56

reubenjohn · Answer 1 · 2014-05-05T07:52:08.623

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There is a possible quick solution, depending on the phone in consideration:
Go to Settings->Sound->Music Effects and depending on the phone, you may by default have an app that controls the music effects within which you should easily find your desired setting.

But if your phone is rooted, a more reliable solution would be to install the music effects app/driver: Viper (basically a 3rd party audio driver for android) which can be turned on or off at will.

The app, in addition to being able to fix an unbalanced stereo has a powerful and wide spectrum of amazing sound enhancement options which is a must have whether you have an unbalanced stereo or not!
In fact I can't enjoy music with it turned off anymore :( - - - - ;)

edited May 05 '14 at 07:52

answered May 04 '14 at 12:15

reubenjohn

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There is no such menu like "Music Effects" in my phone. I have also installed an app called "AudioManager" but can't find balance there either. – Ivan May 04 '14 at 13:33
@Ivan Extended my solution in response to the extra information you provided. – reubenjohn May 04 '14 at 14:32
So. It took some time but I have rooted the phone finally and installed Viper. So how do I use it to change balance? I can see equalizer and other stuff I don't think I need but no ballance so far... – Ivan Sep 22 '14 at 23:32
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This is a bit old but for the record in response to @Ivan, you have to go to Menu -> UI Settings -> Expert for Viper to show you the setting to change the balance. You then have to scroll all the way down to Master Gate (Limiter) -> Channel Pan to change the balance. Unfortuntely, it only has a predefined list of ratios in increments of 0.1 which, in my case, it slightly inaccurate causing the audio to still be slightly unbalanced, but it's better than nothing. Sound like an issue to report to the developers :P – jaxrtech Aug 04 '15 at 16:45
There seems to be a working way without installing third party apps to do this. On a rooted phone, edit /system/etc/mixer_paths.xml, in <path name="headphones"> edit or add <ctl name="RX1 Digital Volume" value="83" /> <ctl name="RX2 Digital Volume" value="83" />, changing the default 83 where needed. RX1 appears to be the left channel, RX2 the right one. Based on the source file. – karolba May 05 '17 at 01:47
jaxrtech's comment must be added to the ansewer. – Steve Moretz Sep 27 '21 at 21:58

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 13 '14 at 05:47

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System > accessibility > Hearing

I am using LG G2

answered Sep 13 '14 at 05:47

DJ RayD

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This isn't a stock Android feature unfortunately, so the Hearing controls aren't available on many (most?) phones. – calum_b Dec 15 '14 at 10:26
Doesn't exist on my Razer Phone 2 – Aaron Franke Apr 09 '20 at 22:55

score 5 · Answer 3 · edited Jun 10 '20 at 13:47

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Stock Android 10.

Settings -> Accessibility -> "Audio and On-Screen text"

There you have the option between Mono Audo and Audio balance.

Device: Google Pixel 2XL

edited Jun 10 '20 at 13:47

Community

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answered Jan 18 '20 at 12:07

Mark

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All I can do is turn Mono on or off, there doesn't seem to be any other settings on my Razer Phone 2. – Aaron Franke Apr 09 '20 at 23:00
Depends on the version of android Pixel is stock android so can't comment on Razer. – Mark Apr 15 '20 at 12:52

How do I adjust audio balance of my Android phone headphones out?

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