Neither Android nor Windows give a shit about people with hearing loss

[cloneman]

You would think in 2019 that something as basic as OS-wide Left-Right Balance adjustment would be available on every platform, but it's notably absent on many versions of AOSP Android that I've used , as well as in most sound card drivers builtin with Windows 10.

 

After losing some hearing on my  left ear, I've had to rely on elaborate hacks to boost/equalize the volume on that side, notably, installing Peace Equalizer on Windows, and Viper4Android on Android. These solutions have some limitations:

 

Viper is annoying to install and often breaks on new android versions. Many people don't have access to root.

Peace Equalizer is an overkill solution for basic L/R balancing, and requires a reinstall everytime you have  new sound device (such as a pairing a bluetooth headset or connecting to a different USB port)

 

For platforms that tout "Easy of access" for things like high contrast and font size, this seems like a glaring omission to me. It's not like they never had L/R balance, it's just that they keep removing and re-adding it willy nilly with different versions of Android or different soundcard Drivers (windows).

 

Rant over...

[Olaf6541]

I know Windows 10 has functionality to balance left and right:

 

 

According to Google Android has similar functionality (if your phone even has two speakers), but it depends on which version where you can find it.

[cloneman]

Depends on the Audio Driver. I guess my primary complaint is with Bluetooth Headphones and the Logitech G933. The "Balance" button is missing on mine. My internal soundcard does support L/R, so at least there's that. But on my laptop, no such luck.

[cloneman]

Bluetooth. Trekz AfterShockz

[Zodiark1593]

Not sure about Windows as I've never had the option missing to balance headphones. As far as Android goes, I'd probably just say stop punishing yourself,  kick it to the curb already and get an iPhone, since Android doesn't seem to suit your needs well enough in this regard without necessitating excessive measures. 

 

(Some Android devices have it, but is extremely hit or miss)

[vanished]

I've never wanted to change balance but I somewhat understand your frustration with audio and lack of features in general, and definitely sympathize with your situation.  I really wish more devs would focus on providing good settings and features in this regard.  Some things that I personally think are very basic and should be offered by any stock system include the following:

• Volume (obviously... never found something that missed this thankfully lol)
• Ability to map any one or more channels to any one or more others
  • this includes taking one channel and sending it equally to all others, or flattening all of them to mono, or cloning stereo to surround, or other adjustments to deal with unconventional setups where things are plugged into unexpected ports, etc.
• EQ
  • essential for dealing with poorly mastered content, poor headphones/speakers, or hearing impairment
• Compressor + make-up gain
  • pretty essential these days imo, too much content has excessive dynamic range, either intentionally (movies) or due to incompetence (youtube creators) imo.  People complaining of "ear rape", "jump scares", "rip headphone users", etc. is common enough I'm sure you're aware of the issue.  This solves it completely.
• Pitch shift
  • handy for just having fun tbh, but also for retuning instruments, music for playing to, etc. as well as niche cases (See below)
• Ability to apply any one or more of these independently on all input and output devices and channels
  • volume + independence = balance control
  • pitch shift + independence is something I once saw someone want due to being deaf in one ear and wanting some perception of stereo space for gaming purposes

I have all of these options on Windows using "Equalizer APO", and I'm glad you've found various solutions at times, but hopefully with more pressure like this these features can become more standard.