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DaVinci Resolve

How to Fix Audio Only Playing in One Ear in DaVinci Resolve

• 3 mins read

When you’re deep into editing a project in DaVinci Resolve, encountering audio only playing in one ear can throw a wrench in your workflow. Often, this one-sided conversation with your headphones is not a sign of artistic eccentricity but a simple mishap in the audio settings.

Luckily, with a few tweaks under the hood of DaVinci’s sprawling audio panels, you can resurrect the full-bodied stereo sound that envelops and engages, rather than perplexes, your audience.

Summary

  1. Audio Only Playing in One Ear? Check Audio Clip Settings
  2. Check the Audio Pan Control in the Mixer
  3. Check Output Preferences

Audio Only Playing in One Ear? Check Audio Clip Settings

You may be wondering why is my audio only playing in one ear “why is my audio only playing in one ear, but truth be told, the reasons are not as important as the solutions. First, verify that your audio clip is properly configured in terms of channel assignments:

Check Audio Clip Settings
  1. Open DaVinci Resolve and navigate to the Edit or Fairlight page.
  2. Select the audio clip that is giving you trouble.
  3. Right-click the clip and select Clip Attributes from the menu.
  4. In the Audio tab, ensure the audio channels are correctly mapped:
  • For stereo clips, the left and right channels should match. 
  • If it is a mono clip, you can assign the audio to both channels if you want it to play equally in both ears. Just change ‘mono’ to ‘stereo’. That’s it! 
Changing mono to stereo in DaVinci Resolve

Check the Audio Pan Control in the Mixer

Sometimes, audio only plays through one ear because of incorrect panning in the mixer. You can fix this by adjusting the pan settings:

  • Go to the Fairlight page by clicking the Fairlight tab at the bottom of DaVinci Resolve.
  • On the right side, locate the Mixer panel. If it’s not visible, go to View in the top menu and select Mixer.
Check the Audio Pan Control in the Mixer
  • In the Mixer, each audio track has a vertical strip. The pan control is located just above the volume fader. If it’s not there, it means that the pan control is turned off, and this is not the issue you’re looking to solve
he pan control is located just above the volume fader in DaVinci Resolve
  • If the pan control is pushed to the left or right, the sound will be directed toward one ear. To fix the issue, adjust the pan slider to the center so that the audio is evenly distributed between both left and right channels.

Check Output Preferences

Another potential cause of the problem is incorrect output settings in DaVinci Resolve. To verify and adjust the output settings:

  1. Go to Preferences > Video and Audio I/O.
  2. Verify that the sound is properly set and that there are no issues with the audio output device. Maybe it’s not the clip’s fault after all?

If you still can’t connect after checking the channel settings, there may be other reasons such as:

  • Audio codec problems: An audio codec from the clip must be compatible with DaVinci Resolve.
  • Sample rate and bit depth mismatch: Ensure the clip’s sample rate and bit depth match the project’s settings to avoid mismatches.
  • Corrupted audio files: If the audio file itself is damaged, you might need to replace or repair it.