Headphones - one sides louder than the other

So, I've have Beyerdynamic DT 770 headphones, a ASUS Xonar DX soundcard and I'm currently running Windows 10. A while ago I noticed that my right speakers where always at maximum volume - when I decreased the volume it only silenced that left speaker, the right however stayed the same.

I checked my headphones on another PC and everything is fine, therefore I assume my problem is net headphone releated.

At first I tried adjusting the balance, but I tunred out that my balance setting only wokred for a particular volume. This means every time I change the general volume, I have to adjust the balance as well.

Then I decided to update my drivers to UNi Xonar 1816/1822 v1.75a r2. But this did not solve the problem.
After googeling my problem, I discovered that a process called "HsMgr.exe" might be the culprit, since the 32bit and 64bit version are automatically started and I was able to get rid of the problem - for a while - be removing one of them from autostart.

This morning my problem returned and I got rid of the problem by installing the default ASUS drivers (they are supposed to work under Windows 10). However, later in the afternoon I was unable to control my left speaker. I solved this problem by restarting...

Has someone else this issue? Was someone else able to solve this issue once and for all?

Likely buggy software with the sound card. Do you have the same problem in a different OS (W7 maybe) or when using the mobo headphone out?

1 Like

I had this problem once when using Windows 8 and the default drivers - restarting solved this issue - and never after that. Even after installing the custom drivers.

I cannot simply try i different OS, since I don't have dual boot, nor any spare HDDs left at the moment.

I have not tried the mobo out yet. But, as you already pointed out, I think this is a software + w10 issue and it could be fine with my mobo out.

Yeah, my intuition is telling me that W10 is being fucky and the sound card is having issues on a driver level with it. I expect that it wouldn't be a problem in Windows 7 (where I expect them to have the drivers and software figured out very well), that is why I asked if you could try it with W7. If the problem doesn't exist with W7, then it is likely a driver issue. Should try to contact Asus and see what they have to say about it.

EDIT: said isn't when I meant is. Fixed now.

1 Like

same here

Unfortunately I can't just plug the card into my notebook. This would make things easier :D

I could actually try that. I also posted this issue on the site where they make these custom drivers. Maybe they know something about this (and how to fix it).

Or they might be willing to refund you or send you a new one if they think it is hardware or something. Or they might just tell you that you are SOL. No way of knowing, but at this point, you don't have many other options. Sucks that you don't have a spare hdd. I would definitely just stick to W7 if that fixed the issue. But no sense in reformatting your hdd if you don't know for sure. You could get an external dac/amp which likely won't have this issue as they don't have as much need for complicated drivers. Of course that means spending more money though, so maybe a last resort.