Audio imbalance issue, left speaker louder than right

[Lydecker]

Just purchased this laptop directly from HP. Upon first setting up, I noticed that Cortana was only coming out of the left speaker, or predominately from the left. Once everything was setup, I tested audio with music files, Youtube, Netflix, Amazon Prime. The audio is mostly coming from the left speaker, with the right speaker being very faint.

The odd thing is, when testing audio from the sound settings (the chime for left and right speakers) the balance is equal. I have of course checked the actual balance and both speakers are set to the same value. I can pump up the right speaker or lower the left, but that doesn't solve the problem. Doing either of those things creates lower and less defined overall volume.

Headphones play in perfect stereo and bluetooth headphones play in perfect stereo--it's just the laptop's built-in speakers.

Since the volume of the test chimes is equal across both speakers, I have to assume there is some sort of driver issue, but I have not been able to figure it out.

When looking in device manager under "Sound, video and game controllers", I have

AMD High Definition Audio Device

AMD Streaming Audio Device

Realtek(R) Audio

This laptop does not have Realtek HD audio manager, and I am wondering if it should. And I have found no GUI for the AMD audio.

I would hate to have to return this very nice machine based on this one issue that should be correctable, so I'm really hoping some people out there may have some thoughts.

Again, testing the audio in sound settings properties gives equal volume to the left and right. It's everything else where the audio is 90% coming from just the left speaker.

I can provide any additional info needed.

Thank you.

[praveenbv]

Hi@Lydecker,Welcome to the HP Support Community!

This is a wonderful location to converse with the community, get assistance and find tips! I see from the post that you are having issues with the audio not working properly on your HP notebook. Don't worry as I have a few suggestions which should help you resolve this issue.

To provide you with an accurate solution, I'll need a few more details:

Could you provide me with the exact model of the PC? Use this link to find it:  https://support.hp.com/in-en/document/c03754824  (Ensure you do not share any of your personal information such as serial, phone number, email ID, etc...).

Have you recently made any changes on the PC before the issue started?

Have you tried to uninstall and reinstall the audio drivers?

Have you tried to run audio test from F2?

In the meantime, let's try these steps here: 

Perform a Hard reset on the notebook: 

Many startup errors and other problems can be resolved by decreasing the amount of power stored in hardware components. Decreasing stored power is sometimes referred to as a "Hard Reset". Use the following steps to perform a hard reset on a computer:

1. If Windows is open, click Start and then Shutdown.

   If Windows is not open and the computer has power, press and hold the power button on the computer until the computer shuts off.

2. With the power off, disconnect the power cord from the back of the computer.

3. With the power off and the power cord disconnected, press the power button on the computer for 5 seconds. The power light indicator on or near the power button might turn on briefly but then go out.

4. Reconnect the power cord and turn on the power.

Next thing, I would suggest here is to uninstall the audio drivers from device manager: 

Right-Click on start button> click device manager> expand sound video and game controllers>then select the sound drivers and right-click on it and uninstall the audio drivers.

Then check the box delete the software for this device.

Now restart the computer and then update the Bios, Chipset and Audio drivers on your PC from our HP support website, using this link.

Also, download and install HP support assistant on your PC. It should automatically download and install the latest updates and drivers for your PC.

Refer this link to know how to use HP support assistant.

If the issue persists, I would suggest you could try to run the test on the audio from F2 (Please remember to capture the failure ID for further assistance).

• Hold the power button for at least five seconds to turn off the computer.

• Turn on the computer and immediately press the F2 key repeatedly, about once every second.

• The HP PC Hardware Diagnostics (UEFI) main menu is displayed.

• Select Component tests.

• Please initiate a test on the Audio - The Audio Playback Test checks your system to make sure the audio device is functioning properly. During the test, a few music notes are played in sequence and then repeated. This test takes 1 minute to complete. Click Audio, then click Run once. Choose either the speakers or the headphones. When asked, enter the number of notes you heard.

Hope this helps! Keep me posted.

Please click “Accept as Solution” if you feel my post solved your issue, it will help others find the solution.

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Have a great day!