Headphone Balance Test: Which Side Is Quieter?

How to run the balance test

1. Put your headphones or earbuds on normally and turn your device’s volume down before you start. The Test volume slider starts low; raise it until the noise is clear but comfortable.
2. Press Start balance check. Pink noise switches between the left and right channel every second, and the L and R labels light up with the channel that is playing.
3. Listen to a few switches. If one side sounds quieter, move the slider toward its label a little at a time until both sides sound equally loud. The slider only ever turns the other channel down, so nothing gets louder than your test volume.
4. Press Save: worn normally. The slider returns to the centre.
5. Swap sides: turn over-ear or on-ear headphones round so the left earcup sits on your right ear, or swap the earbuds if they fit either ear. Now the L label lights up while you hear the sound on your right, so move the slider toward the label that is lit when the sound is quieter. Match the loudness again and press Save: sides swapped.

Reading the result

The readout shows how much the slider turned the other channel down. R +3.0 dB means the right channel needed 3 dB more to sound as loud as the left, so without the correction it plays 3 dB quieter. Anything within 1 dB either way is reported as matched.

The swapped match tells you whether the headphones are the cause:

• The same earcup is quieter both times. The difference travels with the headphones: it is in the earbud or earcup itself (a clogged mesh, a failing driver, a damaged cable) or in a balance setting on the device, which turns one channel down whichever ear it reaches.
• The quieter sound stays on the same side of your head both times. The headphones and your device’s settings aren’t the cause. Check the fit on that side first: a different ear tip size, or the Ear Tip Fit Test described below for AirPods Pro. If the difference stays on the same side with other headphones too, this test can’t tell you why; a hearing professional can check it.
• Matched both times. Your headphones are balanced. If music still sounds off-centre, look at the app’s own balance, equaliser or spatial audio settings, or try a different recording.

If the headphones are the quieter side

Check the balance setting first: it costs nothing to fix, and a slider nudged off-centre turns one side down in everything you play. The same menus hold Mono audio, which sends both channels to both ears and makes any left/right check meaningless.

• iPhone and iPad: Settings › Accessibility › Audio & Visual. Mono Audio is a switch there, and the Balance slider is under Stereo Audio Balance.
• Samsung Galaxy: Settings › Accessibility › Hearing enhancements, where you’ll find Mono audio and Left/right sound balance. Samsung notes the balance doesn’t affect phone calls.
• Pixel and other Android phones: Google puts balance and mono under the audio adjustment options in Settings › Accessibility; menu names vary by phone.
• Windows and Mac: the same settings that silence one laptop speaker; the laptop speaker test shows where they are.

Then clean the quieter earbud. Apple’s article on one AirPod not working asks you to take off the ear tips and check each AirPod’s speaker mesh for debris, make sure the Balance slider sits in the middle, put both AirPods in the case for 30 seconds, and reset them if that doesn’t help. Its cleaning guide applies to most earbuds: wipe them with a cloth slightly dampened with fresh water and dry them with a lint-free cloth, never run them under water, never use sharp objects or abrasive materials, and keep liquid out of the charging port. AirPods Pro ear tips come off and can be rinsed with plain water (no soap), then must be completely dry before you put them back.

For wired headphones, move the cable near the plug and near the earcup while the noise plays: crackles or dropouts point to a broken wire. For Bluetooth earbuds, forget them in your Bluetooth settings and pair them again.

AirPods and other earbuds with head tracking

Spatial audio with head tracking moves the sound image as you turn your head, which throws off a left/right comparison. On iPhone, open Control Center, touch and hold the volume control, tap Spatial Audio at the lower right and choose Off, which turns off both spatial audio and head tracking. Apple saves that choice per app, so do it while your browser is playing the test.

The fit matters as much as the hardware. On AirPods Pro, open Settings › Bluetooth, tap the More Info button next to your AirPods, then Ear Tip Fit Test (Acoustic Seal Test on AirPods Pro 3). Apple says a good seal gives better noise cancellation and a rich bass sound, so a tip that doesn’t seal makes its side sound thinner and quieter.

To check that both channels reach the right ears at all, use the left/right speaker test.