asked Grok

Says pretty much. No wonder it gave you an inaccurate answer.

Balance controls do not normally increase levels, they only attenuate one side.

With the headphone you can make the test simply by wearing it the wrong way left / right, with balance centered.
Check this out.

GolfPutter wrote:

ramses wrote:

Sure. Wondering why you ask for this. This I would regard as "common knowledge".
Balance control has existed since the invention of stereo sound (65+ years).

This is the first time in my entire life ive noticed channel imbalance.

I referred to your question about what balance control does.

I must of missed the class on 'common knowledge' at university. Any books you can recommend? I might be missing other 'common knowledge'.

ramses wrote:

Sure. Wondering why you ask for this. This I would regard as "common knowledge".
Balance control has existed since the invention of stereo sound (65+ years).

This is the first time in my entire life ive noticed channel imbalance.

I referred to your question about what balance control does.

Sure. Wondering why you ask for this. This I would regard as "common knowledge".
Balance control has existed since the invention of stereo sound (65+ years).

This is the first time in my entire life ive noticed channel imbalance.

An additional reason for "imbalance" can be that the 2nd channel is weaker for whatever "electrical" reason.
Switch L/R, if the problem moves, then this has nothing to do with your ears.

Your ear out of balance explanation seems to be not correct.
It can be one ear has more hearing loss than the other one. In some frequencies, normally high freqs.

You may go to an ear labor and let measure your hearing as accurate as possible.

Then make according corrections on the music with an EQ.

Totalmix output channel EQ can do this.

The channel balance control (often just called the "balance" knob) on a hi-fi amplifier adjusts the relative volume between the left and right stereo channels.
What it actually does

At the center position (usually with a detent/click), both left and right channels output at equal volume.
Turning it toward the left increases the left channel's level while decreasing the right channel's (or vice versa when turning right).
It does not boost the overall volume or add power — it simply attenuates (turns down) one channel relative to the other to restore proper left-right balance at your listening position.

This keeps the total perceived loudness roughly similar while shifting the stereo image (the phantom center and soundstage) left or right.

Thank you