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How can I fix my audio balance randomly shifting

Anonymous
2023-12-15T14:42:17+00:00

I have an OMEN by HP Gaming Laptop 16-wd0xxx with Windows 11.
This laptop has left and right audio channels and can do spatial sound from its speakers, or well it used to. For a few months now I've been experiencing a problem where the sound keeps moving position randomly. I'll be watching a video only to hear the voice move and almost only come from the left channel and move side to side a bit like the volume balance is changing but it isn't. Sometimes it even sounds like it moves back making the sound more muffled and low. I have noticed sometimes when manually changing the audio balance that at times when the sound has moved too the left and I turn the left channel almost off that the right channel is almost dead at times. All of this happens even if I have Mono audio switched on.
It doesn't constantly do this and how severe it is also varies like the right channel mostly isn't dead but rarely does more than 3 hours pass without the sound shifting from the center to the left

Audio enhancements and Spatial sound are off, all drivers are up to date, audio balance remains the same when this happens and changing the balance doesn't stop it from happening
I do not experience this problem when I plug in my earphones, it is only the laptops speakers
NIVIDA High definition audio
Realtek High definition audio

Windows for home | Windows 11 | Performance and system failures

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  1. Anonymous
    2024-01-14T15:09:49+00:00

    Hello, so I've gone through most of your suggestions now as well as I could since I don't know why but you liked the same thing which I think was supposed to be 4 on three different points and I don't know why you linked it in the first place as it's only for Windows 10. I know since I tried and my computer itself told me so

    1. The troubleshooter does absolutely nothing, I've even managed to run it when it was really bad but it couldn't detect anything.

    2: The sound issue happened even on the separate local administrator account. It felt like the issues were less pronounced which is why it took me extra long as I wanted to be absolutely sure the issue was still there and it is, that might simply have been a coincidence, I don't know, part of what's so tricky about this is how it shifts and comes and goes.
    Recently it worked fine for over an entire day only to come back and now for over a day closing in on two there's barely been more than an hour or two without the sound leaning constantly to the left, right now it's been shifting all the time for a good 8+ hours, the sound gets lower then louder, moves a bit to the right then back coming only from the left. My right channel isn't crackling as much as yesterday when I think I could hear it at times even when no actual sound should be playing

    I have yet to do a clean boot in part since what you linked as instructions was something unrelated and even then only meant for Windows 10

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  2. Anonymous
    2023-12-16T11:48:20+00:00

    Hello Johannes~，

    Welcome to the Microsoft Community！

    I am very sorry to hear about this problem you have encountered, it seems to be a rather tricky problem. First of all, I would like to encourage you that the measures you have already taken are very correct, you have turned off audio enhancement and spatial sound effects, as well as making sure that all drivers are up to date. These measures usually solve most audio problems.

    From your description, I can see that the problem you are experiencing is a random shift in audio balance. This can be due to a number of factors. I've noticed that I don't encounter this problem when plugging in headphones, it only happens with laptop speakers,

    1. In this case, reinstalling the driver does not solve the problem, then you can try to use the troubleshooting tool that comes with Windows 11 to resolve the problem. You can find this tool in "Settings" and it can help you diagnose and resolve various audio issues. The steps are as follows:
    • Windows Search and Open Settings -- System -- Troubleshooting -- Other Troubleshooting -- Click the Run button after playing the audio at ----, wait a while for it to complete, and test if this issue can be resolved.
    1. You can try to create a new account to test whether random deviation of audio balance still occurs after login. If the same problem does not occur, it indicates that the configuration file of your user account is faulty.

    For details about how to Create an account, see "Create a new Local Administrator user account" in the following link.

    If you need to restore the account configuration file, See the "Copy files to the new user profile" section in the linked document.

    Here are the links:

    Fix a corrupted user profile in Windows - Microsoft Support

    1. This may happen if some third-party application changes some Settings or affects system files

    I recommend trying a clean boot which starts Windows with a minimal set of drivers and startup programs. It can be used to determine whether a background service or program is interfering or causing a problem.

    For detailed steps, see this document link:

    Fix a corrupted user profile in Windows - Microsoft Support

    These steps of "clean boot" might look complicated at first glance. However, to avoid any trouble for you, please follow them in order and step-by-step.

    1. Use the system file checker

    You may consider using the System File Checker tool to repair lost or damaged system files, as detailed in the following links:

    Fix a corrupted user profile in Windows - Microsoft Support

    1. After completing the above scheme, you should be able to find the root of the problem, if the above scheme can not fix the situation, I recommend you to try the operation of non-destructive repair:

    A non-destructive repair is performed using an iso image file for repair and upgrade, and using a Windows 11 ISO file for repair. Performing the iso file repair operation will not affect your files, but it is recommended that you back up important files just in case. For details, please refer to the following document links:

    How to: Perform a Repair Upgrade Using the Windows 11 or Windows 10 - Microsoft Community

    After a non-destructive repair, if your media creation is normal, then you should not experience this problem again, if your situation is still continuing, it indicates that there is a problem with your hardware, it is recommended that you contact the manufacturer's technical support department or take your laptop to the local repair center. They will be able to provide more in-depth diagnostics and solutions.

    You are welcome to share the progress of this issue with me, and please feel free to reply if you have any other questions on this issue. Thank you for your patience and cooperation, I wish you all the best!

    Best Regarts ,

    Morning | Microsoft Technical Support Community

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