Audio is really unbalanced, I don't know what to do =(

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Level 1

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Audio is really unbalanced, I don't know what to do =(

Okay so I noticed recently that the audio on my PowerMac G4 isn't centered but instead comes out the left speaker a lot more than the right. I just check the speakers with my mp3 player and the speakers are perfectly fine. And when I switched them back to the PowerMac playing the same song, the audio being mostly on the left was very apparent =( Garageband does the same thing so it's not just iTunes. Any ideas? I use this thing for audio editing so it would be a real shame if sound card is borked...

PowerMac G4 Quicksilver (2001) 384mb RAM at 733mhz, Mac OS X (10.4.11)

Posted on Mar 26, 2011 1:08 PM

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Answer 1

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BDAqua

Level 10

238,997 points

Mar 26, 2011 1:21 PM in response to tanner1294

One other place to check besides the Sound Pref Pane is Audio Midi Setup in Applications>Utilities.

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Answer 2

tanner1294 Author

Level 1

14 points

Mar 26, 2011 1:35 PM in response to BDAqua

Thank you so much!! I opened the Audio Midi Setup and the slider for the right speaker was about 20% lower than the left one. I turned them both to 100% and now they're equal when I change the volume 🙂

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Answer 3

BDAqua

Level 10

238,997 points

Mar 26, 2011 1:42 PM in response to tanner1294

Great news, thanks! 🙂

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Answer 4

Apr 5, 2011 7:32 PM in response to tanner1294

The "Balance" settings will not stick in Audio MIDI Setup. It will change immediately when you press the volume keys up or down.
You need to set the L/R Balance precisely in the center in the SOUND panel of System Preferences (I wish Apple would set an "OPTION + CLICK" default to get it back in the center...)

Also, you will need to do this for ALL outputs, so if you plug Headphones in, it will go to the last setting for Headphones and go back to the off centered setting.

Confirm that you are centered by looking at Volume up / down presses in Audio MIDI Setup!

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Answer 5

tanner1294 Author

Level 1

14 points

Apr 5, 2011 7:47 PM in response to bdozoretz

Sorry to say this but the balance did stick. All's I did was move the sliders both to 100% and they've stayed balanced since. This trick works with numerous pieces of software that utilizes sliders that change in conjunction with one another. (Mac, Windows, Linux, etc.)
As for headphones, I have no say considering this happened to me on a desktop.

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Answer 6

Sep 30, 2013 8:25 PM in response to tanner1294

I'm not sure about the value sticking since I just did it and perhaps not enough time has passed yet, but I can confirm that in dead, I had to do this individually for both the builtin speakers and the headphones (OSX Mountain Lion 10.8.5).

Best,

Vlad

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Answer 7

BDAqua

Level 10

238,997 points

Sep 30, 2013 10:34 PM in response to KindnessIsNiceDuh -K.I.N.D.-

Hello, fele free to open a new question to get the most helpers in on what seems a different problem. 🙂

https://discussions.apple.com/community/desktop_computers/power_mac

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Answer 8

Sep 30, 2013 10:47 PM in response to BDAqua

Thanks BDAua I appressiate the suggestion.

As it happens this was exactly the issue I was having, and the solution worked perfectly. 🙂 I just wanted to add a post myself to support a statemnet made by an earlier post, and to show (for the benefits of other readers) that this slight anoyance can still ocure even on OSX 10.8.5. I guess this was just kinda record keeping for anyone whe finds this page with a search engine.

Thanks to everyone who contributed, and helped resolve this. 🙂

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