The left earphone is thumping bass like it should, but the right one sounds like someone stuck a tiny pillow in front of it. Frustrating. Especially when you know exactly what it should sound like – because the other side works perfectly fine.
Good news: most of the time this isn't a hardware defect but something much more mundane. Let's go through it.
Why does the right earphone sound different?
There are a few reasons, listed here in order of likelihood:
- Ear cushion fit – Bass needs a tight air seal between your ear and the driver. If the right ear cushion doesn't sit as snugly as the left one, bass frequencies leak out around the edges. This is by far the most common cause. Glasses frames, earrings, or just differently shaped ears are enough to cause the difference.
- Blocked driver – In-ear headphones collect earwax and dust in the sound channel. Over-ears less so, but the driver's protective mesh can still gather grime.
- Software glitch – In ANC headphones, the noise cancellation calibration can go haywire. A factory reset clears the calibration.
- Balance setting – The audio balance slider on your phone or computer might be slightly off-centre. Embarrassing but common.
- Physical defect – The rarest option, but possible. The driver or its wiring is damaged.
How to fix it
Go through these in order. Don't skip straight to the last one.
1. Check the fit
- Take the headphones off and put them back on carefully. Make sure the ear cushions sit tight.
- Over-ears: gently press the right cup against your ear. If the bass comes back, the problem is the fit.
- In-ears: try different sized tips. Your right and left ears are rarely identical – feel free to use a different size on each side.
2. Clean them
- In-ears: clean the sound channel and mesh with a dry, soft brush. Earwax is bass enemy number one.
- Over-ears: check the driver's protective mesh. Give it a gentle blow or use a soft brush.
3. Check the balance setting
- iPhone: Settings > Accessibility > Audio/Visual > Balance. The slider should be in the centre.
- Android: Settings > Accessibility > Audio balance. Same deal, centre it.
- Windows: Settings > Sound > Headphones > Properties > Levels > Balance.
4. Factory reset
- Do a factory reset on your headphones. You'll find the instructions on your product's own support page here on valco.support. The reset also clears the ANC calibration, which might be behind the issue.
5. Test with another device
- Connect the headphones to a different phone or computer. If the problem persists on every device, the fault is in the headphones. If it doesn't, the fault is in the source device's settings.
6. AUX cable test (over-ears)
- Plug in an AUX cable and try them wired. If the bass returns to the right earphone, the problem is with the Bluetooth connection or the ANC circuit. If the problem stays, it's likely the driver.
If nothing helps
If you went through all the steps and nothing changed, it might be a driver defect. It's rare but not impossible – electronics will be electronics.
Shoot us an email at info@valco.fi. Include:
- Order number
- A photo of the headphones (just for identification)
- A short description of what you tried
Our service team in Kajaani will fix the device. We don't bin headphones just because one driver is acting up.
And if all of this felt like a lot of faffing about: that right ear cushion fit thing solves this in roughly seven out of ten cases. Start there.
